It must- finally- be game week. After an extended offseason and surreal training camp that at times seemed to be about anything but the Xs and Os of football, the countdown to kickoff passed the T-minus one-week milestone, and Cowboys Nation suddenly turned its collective attention in unison to the injury report.
The news that linebacker Sean Lee and offensive tackle La’el Collins would start 2020 on injured reserve caused some concern, though that worry lessens with the new rules this season regarding IR. Since both players will be eligible to return after just three missed games, focus shifted to the secondary and the status of Xavier Woods.
On Tuesday, team owner Jerry Jones expressed optimism that Woods would be ready to play come Sunday night.
Woods was assumed to be one of the team’s two starting safeties in Week 1. But a groin strain has kept the fourth-year man sidelined since August 30, and the surprise release of veteran HaHa Clinton-Dix just days later left major question marks on the Dallas defense’s back end heading into the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
“Everything’s on ‘go’,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “It would really be a surprise if he didn’t get out there Sunday night. I think he got a good checkup yesterday, and he should be moving around out there this week in a good way.”
Despite Jones’s encouraging report, head coach Mike McCarthy was more reserved in remarks to the media when asked about the Week 1 prognosis for Woods and fellow DB Chidobe Awuzie.
“We’ll know more Wednesday,” McCarthy explained on Monday. “We had a walkthrough today. So far, so good.”
Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan also admitted that things in the Cowboys secondary aren’t set in stone less than a week to go before the first game of the season.
“There are still some questions unanswered today,” Nolan said. “But they’ll be answered at the end of the week. I believe we’ll get a few of the guys back, but it has been a little bit of a struggle. We had to move some guys around, but I think in the end, it will actually help us because we had the opportunity to play some guys in some different positions that we were hoping to when we started out, but not really knowing if we would be given the chance. As it turns out, we were. As the week goes along, we’ll make some decisions as to who is actually going to line up where when the game begins.”
Darian Thompson has impressed in camp, and Donovan Wilson has shown flashes. Beyond that, the Cowboys are frighteningly thin at the safety position; rookie corner Reggie Robinson is repeatedly mentioned as a possible option to slide back in a system that emphasizes positional versatility among defensive backs.
Even the eleventh-hour addition of Brandon Carr- the former Cowboys cornerback who ended up playing safety last season in Baltimore- is likely a depth move that will pay off later in the season, so Woods’s availability for the season opener is of critical importance against the likes of Rams receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods.
Dallas coaches raved about Thompson, presumed to be named the other Cowboys starter in Week 1.
“Darian’s done an excellent job just from our interaction,” McCarthy said of the journeyman who spent time with the Giants and Cardinals before joining the Cowboys in 2018. “It started back in the spring with the virtual [work sessions]. He’s a very smart, instinctive football player, not only on defense but on special teams. He’s had a heck of a camp.”
“Darian is a very good football player,” Nolan echoed. “He’s smart. He’s tough. He takes coaching extremely well. And those are the things that come to mind right away. He’s done a very good job; he pays close attention to all the finer-detail coaching points in the things we do. He’s done a good job. I’ve been pleased with him.”
But Thompson has just four starts over the past two seasons. As pleased as the coaching staff may be with his progress, they would almost assuredly feel better were he not asked to be the most experienced safety on the field in Week 1. Woods and his 29 starts in that same span would be a key anchor in a defensive backfield already pegged as the Cowboys’ weak spot heading into an otherwise promising season.
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