Injuries

This was the most alarming thing to come out of Week 1. Early on in the game the Cowboys lost starting linebacker Leighton Vander Esch to a broken collarbone. Losing Vander Esch left a very gaping hole in the middle of the field and had Rams quarterback Jared Goff connecting with his tight end Tyler Higbee often.

Vander Esch is expected to be back this season but for now heads to the IR and will leave it up to Joe Thomas and their linebacking depth to fill that void. The Cowboys are already down linebacker Sean Lee so this hurts just a little more.

Shortly after the defense took a massive blow, the offense followed suit. Cowboys tight end Blake Jarwin was set to take on a massive role as the teams’ starting tight end after the departure of Jason Witten. Jarwin was ran a quick stop route and fell to the ground and grabbed his knee. After a quick assessment, Jarwin was announced to be out of the game and even worse, the season.

A reported torn ACL will sideline Jarwin until 2021. The Cowboys inserted tight end Dalton Schultz to finish out the game and right away was a drop in skill level. How will the Cowboys address this going into week 2? It seems like there is depth there and someone will have to rise to the occasion. We wondered why the Cowboys held onto 4 tight ends on their 53 man roster, and now that decision seems large.

One final injury that occurred during this game was offensive tackle Cam Erving. For whatever reason, the Cowboys gave undrafted free agent Terrance Steele the green light for Week 1 at right tackle. It was a puzzling move and quickly turned into a disaster.

Before the Cowboys could even contemplate making a switch, their back up, Erving had his ankle rolled on during a special teams play. He’s expected to miss several weeks. Expect the Cowboys to promote again from within if they choose to replace Steele against the Falcons.