Tag: injury replacement

Amari Cooper, Jaylon Smith added to roster, make 6 Cowboys in Pro Bowl

Wide receiver Amari Cooper and linebacker Jaylon Smith will represent the Cowboys on the NFC all-star team as injury replacements.

The Dallas Cowboys will now have a party of six representing the club in Orlando for the 2020 Pro Bowl. Linebacker Jaylon Smith and wide receiver Amari Cooper were added to the NFC roster on Thursday as injury replacements for Carolina’s Luke Kuechly and Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, respectively.

Smith and Cooper will join running back Ezekiel Elliott and offensive linemen Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, and Travis Frederick, who were named to the all-star event in mid-December.

For Cooper, it will be his fourth Pro Bowl appearance in five seasons as a pro. The last two have come as a member of the Cowboys; his previous two were as an Oakland Raider. Cooper led all Dallas pass-catchers this season in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He finished 2019 as the 8th-leading receiver across the league, with a career-best 1,189 yards.

This will be Smith’s first trip to the Pro Bowl in his third year of action. During an overall down year for the Cowboys defense, Smith led the team with 142 tackles and added nine pass breakups, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception over the course of the season.

Cooper, a 2020 free agent, will certainly be able to use the acknowledgment as part of his pending negotiations as he looks for a long-term deal with the Cowboys. Smith, who many felt was snubbed in 2018 but had a down year in 2019, now has an award that will in many minds justify the big contract extension he received in the offseason.

There is still a chance quarterback Dak Prescott joins the group, as two NFC signal callers, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, are currently on the team but their teams are still alive in the chase for a Super Bowl appearance.

The Pro Bowl will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Sunday, January 26.

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