FRISCO, Texas — The injury bug bit the Dallas Cowboys during their Week 4 win over the New York Giants. DeMarcus Lawrence was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, while Micah Parsons is expected to miss at least one game with a high ankle sprain. Now, wide receiver Brandin Cooks will also miss time.
Cooks will miss the Cowboys’ Week 5 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and possibly longer, via ESPN, due to an infection that developed in his right knee following a procedure he did in New York after the 20-15 win over the Giants. After returning to Texas after the New York procedure, Cooks reportedly needed another surgery to clear the infection. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that Cooks will definitely miss Dallas’ Week 5 “Sunday Night Football” game at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Brandin Cooks has a knee problem,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “He won’t be available this week.”
In four games this season, Cooks has caught just nine passes for 91 yards and one touchdown. He ranks fourth in receiving yards for the Cowboys, and his 22.8 receiving yards per game currently marks a career low for the 31-year-old. McCarthy touted the intangible impact that Cooks continues to make despite the difficult start to the season for him individually.
“Brandin Cooks is someone who has really impacted our football team,” McCarthy said. “It goes beyond the field. You’re talking about a true professional, teaching others, especially young players, taking them under his wing, I mean he’s done all those things that you look for in a veteran player. So, yeah, I want to say, Brandin Cooks has a lot of love and respect in that building.”
Jalen Tolbert emerged as the No. 2 behind CeeDee Lamb as he caught 13 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown in 2024. Tolbert will be called upon to step up in the passing game this week, along with KaVontae Turpin. McCarthy credited the extra reps Tolbert and others received in training camp for his development when Lamb was in the midst of his contract holdout before signing a four-year, $136 million extension in late August.
“I think really all those guys when, as a young player in this league regardless of the position, when you get reps regardless of how you get them, there’s a huge value in that,” McCarthy said. “And I think you can clearly see what Jalen has done, he’s doing a lot of the little things right. He’s got a really good relationship with Dak and the quarterbacks. And it’s only going to get better. That’s the beauty of if you look. the major connections between quarterbacks and quarterbacks, just you watch Dak and CeeDee as they continue to play year after year, those relationships and bonds, they take time to develop.”
McCarthy is looking for versatility out of Tolbert, Pro Bowl returner KaVontae Turpin, 2023 seventh-round pick Jalen Brooks and 2024 sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy as they try to pick up the slack in Cooks’ absence.
“Think if you watch us play during a season, the important component in our receiver group is their ability to be able to move them in all three spots,” McCarthy said. “Whether it’s the one spot, two spot, three spot, it’s something guys can even play what I might call the four spot, which would be in the backfield, which obviously CeeDee and Turp played there. Yeah, their flexibility is important.”
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