Wednesday saw multiple developments on the Cowboys roster, with several notable players being upgraded as the team prepares to host Arizona on Sunday afternoon. It’s a game the Cowboys need to win to maintain hope of earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed entering the postseason.
Safety Malik Hooker and defensive tackle Trysten Hill were activated off the Reserve/COVID list; both took part in practice Wednesday. Hooker was placed on the list Dec. 23; Hill had been in protocol since Dec. 18.
Left tackle Tyron Smith participated in individual drills, lending further credence to Stephen Jones’s prediction to a Dallas radio station on Monday that he would make his return in Week 17 after sitting out the past two games with an ankle injury.
Running back JaQuan Hardy and wide receiver Brandon Smith have been taken off the Practice Squad/COVID list and are back on the practice squad.
Wide receiver Noah Brown has been designated for return from a groin injury; he’ll begin his 21-day observation window and can be moved to the active roster within that time.
The Cowboys have added linebacker Devante Bond to the practice squad. That signing comes after losing Francis Bernard to a groin injury against Washington and then the COVID watchlist the next day. Bond is just the team’s fifth healthy linebacker, behind Micah Parsons, Leighton Vander Esch, Keanu Neal, and Luke Gifford.
Bond was a sixth-round draft pick by the Buccaneers in 2016 out of Oklahoma. He logged 36 tackles over three-plus seasons in Tampa in a tenure that included injuries and a suspension, then was released partway into the 2019 campaign. Chicago signed Bond in late 2019; he bounced on and off their practice squad until January 2021.
Bond practiced Wednesday and wore No. 51.
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