It’s bad enough the Dallas Cowboys suffered a tough 20-17 loss in the season-opener vs the Los Angeles Rams but they also got hit with a plethora of injuries. Tight end Blake Jarwin suffered a torn ACL, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch broke his collarbone, and backup offensive tackle Cam Erving sprained his MCL.
With all three heading to injured reserve, this created spots on the Cowboys 53-man roster. The first spot was filled by veteran defensive back Brandon Carr. The team then filled two of those holes with outside resources, signing linebacker Rashad Smith and offensive tackle Alex Light from the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals practice squads.
Carr rejoined the team just before the season-opener and was in uniform Week 1 after being promoted from the practice squad but never saw the field. Now that he’s on the active roster, his role should increase to the point where he could challenge current starter Darian Thompson to play opposite Xavier Woods.
Smith, an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic, adds depth to fellow linebackers Joe Thomas and Luke Gifford who look to not only step up in Vander Esch’s absent but now Sean Lee, who is headed to injured reserve and will be out for six weeks after having sports hernia surgery.
Cowboys elected not to promote LB Francis Bernard from practice squad, signing LB Rashad Smith off Bears’ PS instead. But they’ll be protecting Bernard for a second straight week. No other team can sign him. This was only way Dallas could have both Bernard and Smith in building.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 15, 2020
Light, also an undrafted free agent, played for the Green Bay Packers for his first two seasons in the NFL. However, he only played in 16 games with no starts. He was waived by the Packers on September 5 and signed to their practice a day later, only to be released on September 10. On September 14 he was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad before signing with the Cowboys a day later.
The Cowboys are thin at tackle with La’el Collins and Erving on injured reserve. Light gives them depth behind Terence Steele who started Week 1 opposite veteran Tyron Smith.
With injuries galore, the Cowboys have done some nice patchwork to fill out the roster as they look for their first victory of 2020 vs the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday.
In addition, the Cowboys backfilled their practice squad with corner Rashard Robinson and strong safety Steven Parker.
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