The Dallas Cowboys got a big break on Saturday as they learned the extent of a scary injury suffered in Friday night’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Dallas, already thin at defensive tackle, saw promising second-year standout Neville Gallimore writhing in pain on the turf after being involved in a tackle pile. Injured by teammate Brent Urban, Gallimore was in obvious discomfort even as he left the field, gingerly holding his left arm close.
Head coach Mike McCarthy didn’t sound very optimistic in the post game presser, indicating the team would learn more once back in Dallas. The evaluation has been made and the good news is the injury is not season ending. Gallimore suffered a dislocated elbow, but had minimal structural damage. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he’ll miss four-to-six weeks of action.
#Cowboys DL Neville Gallimore, who left with an injury last night, suffered a dislocated elbow with minimal structure damage, source said following the MRI. He’s out 4-6 weeks, with nothing torn. Basically best-case.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 14, 2021
That means that Gallimore could potentially return as early as Week 2, when the club travels to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. The Cowboys open the NFL season on the road against the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers on Thursday, September 9, which is one day shy of the four-week mark. The team then has 10 days to prepare for the Chargers and if things play out for the better, Gallimore could be back in the starting lineup by then.
Dallas is thin, but they did get a great effort out of rookie Osa Odighizuwa on Friday night. Also, the team has not let on what their plans are for another three-technique in Trysten Hill, who hasn’t yet practiced this offseason. He’s currently on PUP. Dallas also has players such as Urban and Ron’Dell Carter who could play on the interior as well.
Hailing from Oklahoma, Gallimore took over the starting job in 2020 when Hill went down with the ACL tear he’s still recovering from. The coaching staff has raved about the second-year jump he’s made after a tumultuous 2020 for the entire organization.
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