Adding a very concerning injury to the embarrassing insult of a 31-10 defeat, the Cowboys lost right guard Zack Martin in the first quarter of Sunday’s game in Buffalo.
But early indications are, at least from Martin himself, that his injury is not serious and that he should be good to go for next Sunday’s interconference clash with Miami.
The six-time first-team All-Pro lineman took what appeared to be a hard, direct shot to the left knee as he collided with Buffalo defensive end Greg Rousseau in a collapsing pocket around Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott.
After staying down on the turf for a few minutes, Martin was able to walk off the field with assistance. He spent some time in the sideline medical tent and was eventually declared out with a quadriceps injury.
Zack Martin's injury. It is not clear what the injury is based on the replay pic.twitter.com/boSAOlFmxY
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) December 17, 2023
In the hours after the game, Martin told media members that he also believed at first the injury had been to his knee.
“I got hit deep in the quad,” he explained per Patrik Walker of dallascowboys.com. “We went to the tent, it stiffened up and wasn’t firing for me. A fluke thing. Hoping to treat it and get it ready to go on Sunday. I feel good about that.”
Head coach Mike McCarthy said he is less concerned now after having spoken to Martin in the locker room.
“He told me he’s going to be okay,” the coach said.
Martin is expected to get further testing done on Monday once the team is back in Dallas and will likely go easy this week in practice. But Martin’s optimism about being back in the lineup next Sunday is welcome news for Cowboys fans, who watched Prescott come under fire for most of the game against a fierce Buffalo pass rush.
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T.J. Bass, the undrafted rookie out of Oregon, came on in Martin’s stead and finished out the game. He performed well, despite having big shoes to fill.
The 10-4 Cowboys will travel to Miami to play the Dolphins in Week 16. The Dolphins defense currently ranks second in the league in sacks, with 48 through 14 games.
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