Dallas Cowboys 2022 preseason round-up: Injury update, Trevon Diggs, Micah Parsons…
The Cowboys are just three days away from training camp, and most players are ready to go. But could this be Zeke’s last season in Dallas?
Injury updates ahead of training camp
Training camp is just around the corner. Only three more days to go! We have a healthy Dak Prescott for the first time in a few years, but not everyone is lookin’ so hot. As we know, WR Michael Gallup is still out and expected to miss possibly even the first few regular season games. For training camp, Dallas will likely put him on the physically unable to perform list. If he stays on that list once regular season starts, he would probably miss more than one or two games. For now, though, it’s as expected. Linebacker Jabril Cox is still recovering from his torn ACL, but it looks like he should be ready to go for training camp. Rookie linebacker Damone Clark could possibly miss the entire season, as he is to have surgery for a neck injury in the spring. He will be on the non-football injury list at the start of camp.
Cowboys bringing back the throwback white helmets
The Cowboys announced yesterday that they’re bringing back their throwback white helmets with the throwback uniform. They’ll rock the look on Thanksgiving Day when they take on NFC East rivals, the New York Giants. Maybe wearing the uniforms from their glory days will bring them some good luck. The last time they wore the throwbacks (the helmets themselves date back to 1960), was in 2012. When they wore them on Thanksgiving in 2006, Tony Romo had himself a five-touchdown day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The next time, in 2009, former WR Miles Austin had a Cowboys record 250 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs. Come on, jerseys. Help them win!
Diggs and Zeke call out PFF “fake stats”
The Pro Football Focus grade given to Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs insists that he gave up 1,000 yards to receivers that he guarded.
Diggs and teammate Ezekiel Elliott slammed the PFF rating, calling it a “fake stat”, and pointing out that it is not a fair representation. Diggs had 11 picks, 10 pass deflections, and two pick-sixes last season. That should be what the grade is based on, and yet it seems the PFF is assuming the risk he takes is greater than the reward.
Is this Zeke’s last season with Dallas?
NFL insider Bobby Belt has implied that this season could be RB Ezekiel Elliott’s last in Dallas. Zeke is going into his seventh season with the Cowboys, and has been the main running back during that time. Elliott is currently on a four-year, $50 million contract, which seems to be the possible problem. He’s expensive. And perhaps not worth the cost.
“Zeke could rush for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns this year and I think he’s still probably done here,” Belt said on the “Washington Football Talk” podcast. “They need to move on. That contract has been such an albatross for them, one of the worst deals in football and, as much as they love his toughness and things like that, it’s about time to rip off the Band-Aid. He’s not the same player anymore.”
Since he signed that contract, Elliott has dealt with injuries and had the two worst seasons of his NFL career. If the Cowboys wanted to get out of the contract, it would cost them less than staying in it.
Micah Parsons gives back to families in need
The Cowboys star defender, LB Micah Parsons, is doing his part to give back to the community. Last month, he hosted a giveaway to send fans money to buy gas as the prices were soaring. On Friday, he tweeted that he would give 75 free pizzas to families in need in Parker, Texas. He later changed it from 75 to 100.
Parsons himself went to the Pizza Hut to meet the fans. Not only is he a defensive monster (he had 13 sacks last season, in case you weren’t watching), but he’s a decent human, too. We love to see it.