When the Dallas Cowboys arrive at kickoff Sunday against the Washington Commanders, they will have endured an entire week of everyone in the football-loving world telling them how awful their defense is after an upset loss to the New York Giants in Week 1.
With the Commanders looking at least somewhat improved over their awful 5-12 season in 2025, the pressure is already on in Dallas.
If you thought the sky was falling after losing to the Giants … imagine what it would be like after an 0-2 start and losing to the lowly Commanders.
The Commanders don’t protect the quarterback well. That means having a full array of edge rushers is critical for the Cowboys — something they took a step closer to doing with Thursday’s practice.
“Cowboys OLB James Houston progressed from a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice to a full participant on Thursday,” Dallas Morning News Cowboys reporter Joseph Hoyt wrote on his official X account.
“James Houston was a full participant today,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on his official X account on Thursday.
“Cowboys relatively healthy,” Cowboys reporter Calvin Watkins wrote on his official X account. “James Houston (shoulder) was limited yesterday. He was a full participant today.”
Houston 1 of Few Bright Spots for Dallas in 2025
Houston gave the Cowboys 1 of their few positive contributors for the Cowboys on defense in 2025 as they went 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs for a 2nd consecutive season despite having 1 of the NFL’s top offenses.
Houston, playing on a 2-year, $2.75 million contract signed in July 2025, played in all 17 games for the Cowboys with zero starts and finished with 5.5 sacks.
That was probably a good indication of what was wrong with the defense in the 1st place — someone who played so well was never even allowed to start.
The biggest — and maybe only — knock on Houston is his size. At just 6-foot-1 and 248 pounds, he’s about 3-4 inches shorter and 20-30 pounds lighter than what’s considered to be the prototypical NFL edge rusher.
‘The Problem’ Set Records in College Career
Heading into Week 6 of the 2025 regular season, Houston’s play was singled out as being that of a “Breakout Star” for the Cowboys with 3.5 sacks — the only player with multiple sacks through the 1st 5 games.
“By no means has the 26-year-old journeyman replaced Micah Parsons, but he’s got 3.5 sacks in his last four games, and his impact has gone beyond that on the edge in Dallas,” Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon wrote in October 2025.
The Detroit Lions picked Houston in the 6th round (No. 217 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft out of Jackson State, where he played for Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Houston earned the nickname “The Problem” in college. In 2021 — his lone season playing for Sanders — had 70 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, and one interception on the way to earning FCS All-American, All-SWAC, and SWAC Newcomer of the Year honors.
Houston had 8.0 sacks for the Lions as a rookie in 2022, and did it in just 7 games.
He only managed 1.0 sack in 11 games over the next 2 seasons and spent 2024 split between the Lions and the Cleveland Browns.
Talented Dallas Cowboys Edge Rusher Returns to Practice