The Dallas Cowboys left Indianapolis with a win and a trainer’s room full of problems. Tight end Jake Ferguson sits near the top of that list after hurting his left knee in the third quarter of Sunday’s 27-23 victory over the Colts.
Ferguson caught an 11-yard pass in the flat, took an awkward hit and grabbed at his knee right away. He had already scored earlier in the game and finished with two catches for 21 yards, on a day when he played through a low ankle sprain from the overtime loss to Arizona a week earlier. He got the knee taped on the sideline but did not return.
Will Jake Ferguson play in Week 10?
No. Brian Schottenheimer said Monday that Ferguson and running back Tyler Goodson are both expected to miss multiple weeks, and the Cowboys ruled Ferguson out for Sunday’s game against the 49ers at AT&T Stadium.
Ferguson sprained the posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer. “We’re working through it,” Schottenheimer said.
That work includes a roster puzzle. Dallas has used the injured reserve/designated to return tag on seven players and has one left, which means the Cowboys have to decide whether Ferguson or Goodson, who is also expected to miss time, is worth that final spot.
Compare the two and Brevyn Spann-Ford has kept pace with Ferguson more than most fans would guess. Ferguson has 19 catches for 136 yards and four touchdowns this season. Spann-Ford has 15 catches for 130 yards, with no touchdowns. Ferguson’s scoring is the piece Dallas loses, and his 50.6 overall PFF grade shows how uneven the rest of his season has been.
Hope for a faster recovery
There is some help coming at the position. Luke Schoonmaker has missed the last two games with a groin injury, but Schottenheimer said he’ll be available this week, which gives Dallas a Schoonmaker and Spann-Ford pairing to cover for Ferguson.
The bigger issue for Ferguson is the calendar. Three games in 12 days, with the Titans on Nov. 22 and the Eagles on Thanksgiving, means “multiple weeks” can eat up a lot of football in a hurry. The Cowboys don’t have a bye until Week 14.
Dak Prescott’s passing game will lean even harder on CeeDee Lamb, who is coming off a 195-yard performance in Indianapolis. That game raised the question of whether this team has finally learned how to finish, and the 49ers will be a tougher test of it without one of Prescott’s favorite red-zone targets.
Cowboys’ upcoming schedule
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
- Week 10: vs. San Francisco 49ers (Sunday, Nov. 15, 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox)
- Week 11: vs. Tennessee Titans (Sunday, Nov. 22, 1 p.m. ET, Fox)
- Week 12: vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Thursday, Nov. 26, 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox)
- Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks (Monday, Dec. 7, 8:15 p.m. ET)
The 4-5 Cowboys have three straight home games coming, a stretch that could decide whether their position group report card grades keep climbing or fall back with Ferguson out.
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