Dak Prescott has had his top trio of receivers for exactly two outings out of 11 so far this season. Now as the team tries to turn around a disappointing two-game losing streak for the regular season’s all-important home stretch, the Cowboys look to have their three-headed pass-catching monster back in action.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was set to participate fully in Sunday’s rare practice, head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters in a conference call earlier in the day. With the Cowboys on a Thursday-to-Thursday game schedule following their annual Thanksgiving Day tilt, the Sunday session is the equivalent of a normal Wednesday.
McCarthy said that the day would be “abbreviated,” calling it a “light practice” due to the team having already played two games within the last seven days.
“I see CeeDee Lamb going through the whole work day today,” McCarthy said.
Lamb suffered a concussion at the end of last Sunday’s loss in Kansas City and spent all week going through the steps to return in time for the Thursday game against Las Vegas. The team believed he was ready to play, but Lamb was not cleared by an independent neurologist and subsequently ruled out of Week 12. Prescott said he learned of Lamb’s status Wednesday evening.
Veteran wideout Amari Cooper has missed the past two games while in the COVID-19 protocol. He tested positive for the virus the day before the Cowboys’ Week 11 game at Arrowhead Stadium; his unvaccinated status mandated a 10-day quarantine that scratched him from the lineup for both the Chiefs and Raiders meetings.
Michael Gallup missed Weeks 2 through 9 with a calf injury. The three played together in the season opener and again in Week 10. In Thursday’s loss, Gallup was the only one of the three in uniform.
Cooper will “be back in tomorrow,” McCarthy said, referring to Monday, “and we’ll work him back in to see where he is with his conditioning and so forth.”
McCarthy admitted that there is concern as to how game-ready Cooper will be after battling the virus in at least some capacity over the past week and a half.
CeeDee Lamb (concussion) will be at practice today and should be available Thursday. Amari Cooper (COVID) is expected back Monday and Mike McCarthy said conditioning is a factor after a 10-day absence.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) November 28, 2021
“I talked to [head athletic trainer] Jim Maurer this morning about Amari particularly,” McCarthy shared, “and he just felt the conditioning was going to be something that we’re going to have to get a hold of tomorrow, obviously, for any player coming off of a 10-day stretch. So we’ll know more tomorrow with a chance to work.”
As much as the Cowboys would have liked to make this Thursday-to-Thursday stretch a completely normal week, the league implemented new COVID protocols following the Thanksgiving holiday, knowing most players, coaches, and staffers would be in close contact with family and friends.
Extra testing and masks around the facility were already required by the league. The Cowboys moved to a new format that included virtual participation for Sunday and Monday’s sessions.
“The plan is get the players tested. That has been going on all morning,” McCarthy explained. “[They] come in and get their breakfast to go. And make sure they have their pads, and equipment is ready to go. We will start with a noon meeting. And we will have meetings throughout the afternoon. After the meetings conclude at 3:15, the players will come to the Star. We will work on the field from 4:15 to about 5:30.”
It should be a smooth transition, thanks to the routines established in 2020.
“We have three plans,” the coach elaborated. “The standard plan is the norm we have been in up to to this point. And then we have the virtual format that we are going utilize today and tomorrow. And we have the last year plan where had everybody spread out six feet. So that is something we may look to do in the future coming back off the bye weekend. We have those three plans in place. Going through the experience last year, it’s just a matter of which plan we are going to be in.”
With four days remaining before their next game in a tough New Orleans environment, the Cowboys hope they can plan on having their top two receiving options (in yards and touchdowns) back when they get to the Big Easy.
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