The Dallas Cowboys will have to make the miracle run owner Jerry Jones desperately wants to believe is possible without their starting offensive line intact. Left guard Connor Williams, who missed the team’s Week 11 win over the Detroit Lions after arthroscopic knee surgery but returned after just one missed week is done for the year.
Williams tore his ACL in the Thanksgiving loss to the Buffalo Bills and on Sunday, Dallas placed the second-year player on injured reserve, ending his season. The designation opened up a spot on the team’s 53-man roster and the club signed versatile offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch to fill the void.
The @dallascowboys placed G Connor Williams (Texas) on Reserve/Injured-Knee and signed T Caleb Benenoch (UCLA) on Sunday.
— Dallas Cowboys Public Relations (@DallasCowboysPR) December 1, 2019
Williams will have surgery something in the month of December and as of now his readiness for the team’s offseason work is unknown.
Benenoch has spent time on three different NFL rosters prior to this, having been drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 selection process by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He actually worked out for the Cowboys during that process.
The Nigeria native started all three seasons at UCLA playing both right tackle and the guard positions. At 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds, he’s an exceptionally quick athlete.
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The Cowboys had hoped to be better prepared for such an injury, when they drafted Penn State guard Connor McGovern in the third round of this year’s draft, but after missing training camp the Cowboys placed him on IR after he made the team’s initial 53-man roster.
That move would have allowed him to recover from his pectoral injury and be activated at some point after eight weeks, but with him missing such a large part of the offense’s installation, it does not appear the team has any thoughts toward activating him down the stretch of the season.
Xavier Su’a-Filo, a six-year veteran, will start in Williams’ place.
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