Why isn’t Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks playing vs Steelers for SNF?

The Dallas Cowboys’ injury woes got worse when they ruled out wide receiver Brandin Cooks for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this week. They’d already been dealing with the loss of two injured defensive stars (Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence), so losing their WR2 was just salt in the wound.

Cooks placed on Injured Reserve

Cooks had to have a procedure done on his knee in New York last week to fix a meniscus issue that had been bothering him since training camp. Unfortunately, he developed an infection in his knee during that procedure. Last week, he had a surgery to get it cleaned out, but it was bad enough to place Cooks on Injured Reserve.

He will miss tonight’s Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as the next three games against the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and Atlanta Falcons. He will only be eligible to return to the field on November 10, when Dallas plays the Philadelphia Eagles.

Without Cooks in the lineup, the Cowboys will count on Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks, KaVontae Turpin, and Ryan Flournoy behind WR1 CeeDee Lamb.

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Cooks wasn’t exactly off to a hot start as it was. He caught their first touchdown of the season against the Cleveland Browns in the season opener, but through the first four games, he’s totaled just nine catches for 91 yards and that one score. He had a similarly slow start last season before eventually finding his groove in Week 6, but this season, he’ll have to wait even longer to prove he can get back to form.

With Cooks and DE DeMarcus Lawrence on IR, Dallas signed linebacker Nick Vigil to the 53-man roster and elevated defensive end Carl Lawson and cornerback Amani Oruwariye from the practice squad.