The Dallas Cowboys are preparing to play the 49ers here in Week 10 at AT&T Stadium, and on paper, it would shape up to be a pretty certain loss for the home team even if everyone were healthy. But the Cowboys remain uncertain about two players who are critical to their success, especially against a heavyweight 7-1 team like San Francisco: star receiver George Pickens (hamstring) and top defensive back Joey Porter Jr. (ankle). The Cowboys were without the duo in Week 9 against the Colts, and both are questionable this week. Pickens was limited in practice, and Porter was tabbed a DNP–did not participate– on Thursday, though he was seen getting some light work in.
The Cowboys’ best chance to hang with the 49ers is to have Pickens and CeeDee Lamb available to find seams in the defensive backfield, and Porter available to man one boundary corner spot, which has been an issue all season for Dallas. They’d still be underdogs against the 49ers, but they would have a chance to keep pace.
Cowboys Hoping to Get George Pickens, Joey Porter Jr. Back
On Friday, before practice and on an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, head coach Brian Schottenheimer injected some optimism into the NFL statuses of both Pickens and Porter. (A word of warning–Schottenheimer was upbeat about both last week, and neither played.) He also weighed in on DeMarvion Overshown, who sat out (famously, now) last week, and Donovan Ezeiruaku, who hurt his ankle against the Colts.
But, Schottenheimer said: “A lot like last week, today we will go out there and we’ve got a bunch of guys kind of dealing with some stuff. They’re bumped around a little bit. I think George and JPJ moved around really good yesterday so I think that’s really good for us. D-Mo is doing great. Ezeiruaku is on there, we’ll see. We’ve got a lot of guys that need to move around and, it’s this time of the year. You’re getting into middle of November and this is what you’re kind of dealing with, and it is around the league. …
“This is the time of year you pay a lot of attention to the injury report around the league.”
Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer Gives New Injury Update on 2 Stars