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ARLINGTON, Texas — While the Dallas Cowboys have had a few critical starters go down with season-ending injuries in 2023 — Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs (torn ACL) plus linebackers Leighton Vander Esch (neck) and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (torn ACL) — they are as healthy as they could be minus those players entering their Super Wild Card Weekend showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who suffered a separated shoulder in Dallas’ Week 18 win at the Washington Commanders, is active. He will be playing with a harness, but after saying earlier in the week that he was “confident” he would play, Gilmore stayed true to his word. He practiced in a limited fashion on Thursday and Friday. His presence is crucial to the Cowboys’ efforts in slowing down Packers quarterback Jordan Love, whose 32 touchdowns in the regular season are second only to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s 36. That makes Sunday’s contest the first-ever wild card game between the top-two outright league leaders in passing touchdowns.
Dallas’ 2023 Second-Team All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith, who tore his plantar fascia in his foot in the Cowboys’ 20-19 Week 17 win against the Detroit Lions, also returns to action after missing Week 18. He was told completely tearing it was better than a partial, nagging tear. Smith practiced as a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday before fully participating on Friday.
“When doc was like, ‘This (fully tearing his plantar fascia) is a good thing,’ I was kind of looking at him like question mark, what does that mean?” Smith said Thursday. “He had kind of explained to me the science. I’m not a doctor, guys, so just bear with me on that. I’m just glad it was the…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-wild-card-playoff-inactives-stephon-gilmore-tyler-smith-johnathan-hankins-good-to-go-vs-packers/
Author : Garrett Podell
Publish date : 2024-01-14 20:27:03
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