The Dallas Cowboys’ win on Thursday night against the New York Giants has certainly come at a cost. Along with linebacker Micah Parsons reportedly suffering a high-ankle sprain, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence suffered a foot sprain, per head coach Mike McCarthy, and is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks, making him a likely candidate for injured reserve, according to NFL Media.
“Both Micah (ankle) and DeMarcus Lawrence (foot sprain) are getting second opinions … D-Law’s is worse than Micah’s,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said on a conference call Friday. “I don’t have a specific timeline, but we’ll get into that a little deeper on Monday. … They are worse than we anticipated.”
McCarthy did say he thinks both Parsons and Lawrence will “definitely” be back at some point during the 2024 season despite the team still working through its evaluation process in terms of what their respective timelines will be.
Lawrence’s absence is a costly one for the Cowboys, who evened their record at 2-2 following Thursday night’s 20-15 win over the Giants. A four-time Pro Bowler, Lawrence already has three sacks, a forced fumble and four tackles for loss this season. He had a sack and a tackle for loss Thursday night prior to getting injured.
Lawrence, 32, is already one sack away from matching last year’s season total and is on pace to have his most productive year from a statistical standpoint since 2018, when he racked up 10.5 sacks. Lawrence was named to his second Pro Bowl that year and has been named to the Pro Bowl each of the past two seasons.
While Lawrence is expected to miss multiple weeks, there is no concrete timetable at this point for Parsons, but could be put on the shelf through the Week 7 bye. The absences of both players are considerable blows to a Cowboys defense that has been far from stellar during the season’s first month. The unit is currently ranked near the bottom in the NFL in several categories, including points allowed, rushing yards allowed, rushing touchdowns allowed and red zone efficiency.
Over the next month, the Cowboys will face the Steelers in Pittsburgh in Week 5, host the Detroit Lions in Week 6, be on the bye in Week 7, and then visit the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8.
