The wins and losses don’t carry over, but preseason games most definitely matter. They are everything to the young men trying to land a job and continue their dreams of playing the sport they love at the highest possible level.
And the tough breaks that can come with playing football- even when the score supposedly doesn’t count- can hurt just the same.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys still await official word on MRI test results concerning rookie linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and his left knee, but reading between the lines of comments made by those in the locker room, the team is bracing for bad news.
“You never want to see any of your guys get hurt. That’s what’s so tough about these games,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters immediately after the 22-18 exhibition loss in Seattle. “You say your prayers, and hopefully the imaging points in the right direction. He’s had an incredible camp. We talk about him, it seems like, almost every other day [in these press conferences]. I just hope he’s okay.”
Prayers is not a word that’s thrown around lightly by the professionals in these kinds of moments. But the fact that the 23-year-old Texas native had to be carted off the field speaks to the apparent severity of his injury, which he suffered after making a tackle in the first quarter of Saturday night’s contest.
DeMarvion Overshown looked to be fine right after making this tackle but then he grabbed his left knee pic.twitter.com/DBqta2gc2e
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 20, 2023
Overshown walked to the sideline on his own and was even seen walking to the locker room in street clothes after the game. But the subdued tone with which his coaches and teammates answered questions about his status certainly casts tremendous doubt on what was expected to be a strong first-year campaign for the former Longhorn.
“He was climbing the charts,” McCarthy explained. “He showed up right away in the offseason program. You could see it when we got to Oxnard, his ability to fly around. He has excellent command for a young player.”
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While official results from that MRI are not yet known, Overshown himself was already looking for silver linings in the early morning hours of Sunday, reminding his social media followers that he is “Still Blessed.”
Still Blessed🙏🏾
— DeMarvion Overshown (@AGENT0__) August 20, 2023
As for his Cowboys teammates, linebackers Devin Harper, Jabril Cox, and maybe rookie Isaiah Land likely stand to see a lot more action as the preseason winds down. Damone Clark, already expected to play a huge role in just his second season, sounded as if the entire Dallas linebacker corps is preparing to be another man down for a while. (Malik Jefferson sustained a foot injury last week.)
Although Clark, too, was offering some words of hope to a higher power.
“Injuries are a part of the game,” he reminded after the loss. “All we can do is just pray, leave it in God’s hands, and keep moving forward.”
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