Trevon Diggs, Tyron Smith suffer Week 8 injuries in Cowboys win over Vikings

The Cowboys played without their franchise quarterback and lost their left tackle, top wideout and corner at various points of the game. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys escaped their trip to Minnesota with a sixth-straight win, but they did not escape unscathed.  During the second quarter of the contest they lost left tackle Tyron Smith for the remainder of the contest to an ankle injury. Smith was listed on the practice report as limited throughout the week with the ankle, and he was unable to finish the first half.

Then, on the game’s final drive, cornerback Trevon Diggs had his leg crashed into, injuring his ankle as well.

The worse injury news appears to be related to fourth-round rookie linebacker Jabril Cox. Cox was injured on special teams and it appears his season may be over due to an ACL tear.

The game’s hero, WR Amari Cooper, was in and out of the lineup on the game-winning drive. While catching two big targets to get Dallas into scoring position, including one off the defender’s chest, he continued to go to the sideline and work with a hamstring massager to try and get the troublesome muscle to respond. At one point, he laid on the ground rolling over a neon softball to try and work out the kinks.

Suffering from a myriad of injuries, as usual, Cooper returned to the field to catch the game-winning score, a five-yard fade into the back-left corner of the end zone with 0:55 left in the game.

Of course, the Cowboys played the game without starting quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott tried out his sore calf, injured on the game-winning play in New England in Week 6, but returned to the locker room and was ruled inactive a few hours before the game started.

It is expected Prescott will be available to face off against the Broncos in a week, but the status of Smith and Diggs will require further evaluation.

Diggs was replaced by second-round rookie Kelvin Joseph, who made his pro debut on Sunday night after missing the first six games with a groin injury suffered in the final preseason game.

Smith was replaced by veteran Ty Nsekhe, who had a couple very shaky moments but settled down in time for the winning drive. La’el Collins returned from suspension but was not put into the game when Smith went out.