Getty Cowboys DE Randy Gregory
First, Michael Gallup. Then, Dak Prescott. Now, Randy Gregory.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy announced Thursday the veteran defensive end is out “multiple weeks” after suffering a calf strain during the one-on-one segment of Wednesday’s practice.
Per Rob Phillips of the official team website, the veteran defensive end has since been placed on short-term injured reserve. He will miss the Cowboys’ next three games — vs. Atlanta, at Kansas City, vs. Las Vegas — before his activation window is eligible to open.
“It’s unfortunate,” McCarthy said Thursday, via USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “You could clearly make the argument he’s one of our best players on defense. Yeah, very disruptive. Our team and our defensive players feed off his activity.
“Definitely feel for him. He’s having a heck of a year.”
Returning as a full-time starter in 2021, Gregory was in the midst of a career year, posting five sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles across seven appearances and 284 defensive snaps. The long-embattled pro currently ranks as Pro Football Focus‘ sixth-highest-rated edge defender (86.4) among 110 NFL qualifiers, drawing especially strong pass-rushing marks (90.7).
“I just told him he’ll be fine,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said of Gregory, via ESPN’s Ed Werder. “For the defense guys know that they have to step up that leaves an opportunity for some young guys to to come in make some big plays — which I’m sure those guys are itching to do.”
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McCarthy Downplays Apparent Calf Epidemic
Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern. Thrice is … well, something else. Gregory’s malady comes nine weeks after Gallup strained his calf, from which he’s first returning, and four weeks after Prescott suffered the same injury, from which he’s fully recovered. There seems to be an underlying problem afflicting Dallas’ championship-caliber roster.
But McCarthy doesn’t view this spate of soft-tissue issues as a reflection of poor strength and conditioning, instead classifying them as “fatigue injuries” that merely are “isolated incidents.”
“I was always the head coach of a really young football team, pushing the limits of how much you can practice them and so forth,” McCarthy said Thursday, via USA Today. “Fatigue injuries are always at the forefront of my thinking, so how – based on the drill, you always look at the video, how it happened, there’s no pattern to all the strains as far as how or when they’re happening.”
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Armstrong Ticketed for Expansive Role?
With DeMarcus Lawrence (foot surgery) not yet ready to suit up, the Cowboys will rely on its depth along the defensive line for the foreseeable future. Behind Gregory on the depth chart are the likes of Tarell Basham, Dorance Armstrong, and rookie Chauncey Golston — 1.5 combined sacks between them.
Though the club could ask rookie linebacker Micah Parsons to play with his hand in the dirt, it’s likely that Armstrong gets first dibs on starting DE duties, beginning Sunday against the Falcons. And, despite coming at the expense of his star-crossed teammate, the fourth-year vet is embracing the newfound role.
“I’m hella excited. It’s an opportunity. I’m ready for it,” Armstrong said Thursday, per The Athletic.