It was a rough opening week for the Dallas Cowboys in New York on Sunday, as the Giants dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage and ground the visitors into a 28-20 submission that featured the Cowboys getting only two possessions in the entire second half. While Dallas took a blow late in the game with a hamstring injury to linebacker DeMarvion Overshown–at a position the team can’t very much afford to lose depth–there was also a tough forearm injury to safety Malik Hooker, who fractured a bone.
There was concern that Hooker’s injury could involve putting a protective plate in the arm, as COO Stephen Jones mentioned on Monday morning, and that he could be out until near the middle of the season. But on Monday, coach Brian Schottenheimer revealed that things might not be so bad–he anticipated that yes, Hooker would have surgery on the injury on Tuesday, but that he won’t require too much time away.
Cowboys Expect Malik Hooker Out for at Least 2 Weeks
Coming out of Schottenheimer’s press conference with Cowboys beat writers at The Star on Monday, several reports emerged on the plan for Hooker, including that a trip to the IR is not going to be necessary.
From Jon Machota of The Athletic: “Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Malik Hooker will have surgery tomorrow on his fractured forearm. He’s not expected to miss significant time, possibly only a couple weeks. LB DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring) is likely out 1-2 weeks but it’s not considered long term.”
ESPN’s Cowboys reporter Todd Archer wrote, “From Brian Schottenheimer: Malik Hooker will have surgery on his wrist Tuesday and could miss 1-2 weeks and not go on injured reserve.”
Archer added that with Hooker out, the Cowboys will resist the temptation to move Caleb Downs back into a more traditional safety’s role, instead keeping him in the slot role that seemed to suit him in Week 1–he was one of the few defensive bright spots.
He wrote: “With Malik Hooker out for a couple of weeks, Brian Schottenheimer indicated the preference is to keep Caleb Downs in his slot role in passing situations, which means PJ Locke takes over the snaps Hooker played before getting hurt.”
Malik Hooker a Rare Cowboys Defensive Veteran
While Hooker is not exactly a defensive ace for the Cowboys, he is a solid veteran on a defense that was disconnected and certainly looked like it could use some institutional knowledge in the NFL‘s Week 1. Schottenheimer addressed that on Monday, noting that not being able to contain Jaxson Dart does not bode well for a team that face mobile quarterbacks from Washington and Baltimore in the two weeks ahead.
Said Schottenheimer: “That’s the biggest thing I’m disappointed in looking back at the film. It’s always easier to talk about the game today when I have seen and watched it, talked with the coaches. To lose contain on a guy that is that athletic, you know, and it was multiple guys, multiple times—heck, one time it was a fake toss, naked, where they were trying to run a tight end on a shallow cross. We’ve got Jayden this week and you guys might have heard of Lamar Jackson coming in a couple of weeks. So, we certainly have to get better with our discipline.”
Cowboys Seek Better Communication
Schottenheimer also worried about the lack of communication from the Cowboys defense, a 2025 problem that the new-look unit was supposed to put in the past.
But, Schottenheimer said: “The other thing we have to get better at, looking at the game, is our communication on defense. Communication is something that we pride ourselves in, it started Day 1. Communication is two parts—the person that gives it, and the person that receives it has to acknowledge it. … That can’t happen. Those are self-inflicted wounds that get you beat.”
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