Dallas

Cowboys

No real surprises here as the Cowboys limp towards the offseason with their worst record under head coach Mike McCarthy. They have continued with the effort despite their weak record and backup quarterback, something that could turn Sunday Night Football into a back-and-forth affair.

Parsons was a late addition to the injury report, being listed as questionable after missing Friday’s practice with the illness. Rapoport described it as a stomach bug. While a Friday DNP is always a bit concerning, players rarely miss time with illnesses, and this appears to be no exception. Parsons should be able to add to his sack total in a potentially high-volume game with the Bucs.

Parsons missed Friday’s practice before being listed as questionable. Illnesses don’t normally prevent players from suiting up, but a late addition to the injury report is a slight cause for concern. Down multiple starters on defense already, the last thing Dallas needs is to enter Week 16 sans Parsons. His absence would make a good matchup for Baker Mayfield even better.

Brooks was added to the injury report on Thursday before being downgraded to a DNP on Friday, indicating he suffered a serious knee injury during practice. He scored his first career touchdown last week but will have to wait for an encore.

Per usual, Lamb got a light workload in practice but is good to go for Week 16. Cooper Rush imploded in his first start but has since stabilized as a capable distributor. Lamb is averaging seven catches for 82 yards over his past five games, keeping him well within the WR1 ranks for his matchup with a dreadful Bucs defense.

“I’m going to try and work with them as much as possible to help them attack free agency,” Parsons said. “I want to be back with this team. This offseason, I want to be here. I want to get these guys right. I want to take big steps, so hopefully it can be done sooner than later so we can attack the offseason.” Parsons is one of the most productive defenders in football, and the 2021 first-round pick will likely become one of the highest paid defensive players in the history of the sport whenever he signs a new deal.

Lamb being limited on Wednesday can probably be chalked up to injury maintenance, as the Cowboys’ WR1 has been playing through the same shoulder injury for several weeks. Lamb has gone for 90-plus yards and a touchdown in back-to-back weeks and will look to continue his hot play in Week 16 against the Buccaneers, where he’ll profile as a fringe WR1/WR2.

Lamb has been dealing with the shoulder injury, but has been playing through it the past couple of weeks. As such, his limited listing is workload management from the Cowboys and he should be good to go for Week 16. Fire him up in the WR1 mix against the Buccaneers.

That makes twice in three days we have had to blurb a Jones saying that Micah Parsons was categorically unavailable. To which we say: Sure, Jan. The Cowboys by all means should hold on to Parsons, he’s a key piece of them pivoting back to a playoff team next offseason. But Jones has seem aghast with sticker shock on the prices that some of his best players have commanded as free agents, and Parsons may command the richest defensive contract of all-time heading into the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. He also may be coveted enough around the league to fetch more than just a single first-round pick. Since returning from a high-ankle sprain on November 10th, Parsons has 7.5 sacks in six games.

Lawrence hasn’t played since suffering a Lisfranc injury in Week 4 against the Giants. It was an injury that was supposed to take 4-8 weeks recovery time, but Lawrence remains on injured reserve with just three games left to go in the season and has not had his 21-day return window opened. Lawrence is in the final year of a three-year extension he signed in 2022. If he’s not activated before the end of the season, then it’s possible that Week 4 game will be the last we’ve seen of him in a Cowboys uniform.