The Dallas Cowboys head into a nationally televised Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears coming off an overtime, 40-37 win over the winless New York Giants, which was a much-needed win but not a highly impressive resumé item against a team that has now won just nine of its last 36 games.
The Cowboys have another opportunity against a winless team in Week 3, but two of their most important players continue to battle injuries and missed practice on Wednesday this week. The players are two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Trevon Diggs, and second-year center Cooper Beebe.
Players at Different Stages of Injury Recovery
Diggs continues his recovery from his second consecutive season-ending knee surgery, which limited him to just the Cowboys’ first 10 games in 2024.
Beebe left the game against the Giants last week with a sprained ankle. The Cowboys added him to the injured reserve list the next day.
Beebe’s injury was not diagnosed as a potentially more serious high ankle sprain, but instead a “lateral sprain and a fracture of a small bone” in the foot, according to an ESPN.com report.
On Friday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, the 61-year-old son of 82-year-old owner and de facto general manager Jerry Jones, delivered updates on both players.
Diggs Missed Practice Due to Illness
Speaking on KRLD radio on Dallas, better known as “103.5 The Fan,” the younger Jones explained that Diggs missed Wednesday’s practice due to an illness, the nature of which he did not disclose, not an injury.
He added that Beebe’s timeline for return remains the same six to eight weeks that the team announced when the 2024 third-round draft pick out of Kansas State went on the IR earlier in the week.
“I think we’ll see week to week,” Jones said of Diggs’ status. “I know he’s driven to do it. I think we’ve got a great staff over there working with him to get him in a great position to have the success that he’s had in the past. And I feel like it’s all coming. … I think it’s all in front of this secondary. I think Kaiir Elam’s going to continue to get better.”
Beebe’s Time Frame Has Not Improved
Elam was a first-round selection of the Buffalo Bills in 2022. But three years later, the Bills appeared to have given up on the former Florida cornerback and dealt him to Dallas for a fifth-round pick in 2025 and seventh-rounder next year.
Diggs returned to practice Thursday and is expected to take the field on Sunday afternoon.
As for Beebe, Jones said that there has been no change in his status, and he will not be on the field against the Bears.
“It’s still in the time frame we mentioned. I mean, it’s that six-to-eight-week time frame,” the Dallas EVP said Saturday. “I usually bet on those offensive linemen. They’re rough and tumble and don’t want to miss, and he fits that mold exactly. So, we’ll see. But we knew the full prognosis when the time frame was out that it was going to be six-to-eight-weeks.”
The Cowboys will look to open the season at 2-1, a goal they failed to accomplish last season for the first time since 2020. Fox Sports will televise the Cowboys vs. Bears game in the 4:25 Eastern time slot Sunday, nationwide except for most of the west coast and Arizona.
Will Trevon Diggs, Cooper Beebe Play Week 3? Cowboys Exec Gives Answers