Photo Credit: Dallas Cowboys
FRISCO, TEXAS — Finally some good news for the injury ravaged Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line. Cowboys’ chief operating officer Stephen Jones confirmed on Monday that right guard Zack Martin will return this week on 105.3 The Fan.
Martin, a six-time pro bowl veteran missed Sunday’s game against Washington due to a concussion he suffered the previous week against Arizona. Dallas will get another starter back in center Joe Looney, who will be worked back into practice per Mike McCarthy.
Looney suffered a sprained MCL in the first play of the game against Cleveland in week four and was placed on the reserve/injured list.
However, his role will be different moving forward. Looney will not regain his starting position at center over rookie Tyler Biadasz. McCarthy told media on Monday “ I mean Tyler will work as the starting center. I thought he did some good things in the game yesterday. We saw pressure defense, which frankly wasn’t a huge surprise just knowing their history defensively and the fact of what we saw Monday night against Arizona. With that being said, there were a number of looks we didn’t see on tape from them and I thought Tyler handled the recognition of it very well. The execution of it wasn’t what it needed to be but I thought he did a nice job.”
The team will likely go through different rotations during the week of practice in preparation for the Eagles. Looney could potentially move to guard with Martin being switched to tackle, like he was late in the Seattle game.
The Cowboys’ makeshift offensive line featuring four backups was dominated at the line of scrimmage by Washington’s frontline. The WFT premiere defensive line rotation consistently dialed up pressure registering six sacks and eight quarterback hits on Andy Dalton and Ben DiNucci.
On Sunday, it did not matter who was under center. The Cowboys’ offensive line could not win the battle in the trenches. Dallas could not establish the run once again early on in the ballgame with Washington’s front stacking the box and clogging up holes. Elliott was bottled up and his shot at redemption on the ground for last week’s fumble fiasco, was taken away.
Washington’s front constantly collapsed the pocket with pressure that limited Dallas’ passing game as well. Amari Cooper was the only receiver to catch a pass against the WFT. Yes, you read that correctly. He accounted for the receiving corps. entire production for the day with seven catches for 80 receiving yards. CeeDee Lamb was targeted five times and Michael Gallup twice, but no receptions between the talented duo. Lamb had several drops on critical plays and Washington’s coverage was tight along the perimeter that led to both pass-catchers’ lack in production. The offensive line is not solely to blame but quarterbacks being brutalized in the pocket do not make for a winning recipe. Both Dalton and DiNucci were forced to make short passes and hurried progressions with defenders in their faces that led to mistakes.
Hopefully getting two starters back in the offensive line will boost the confidence for the quarterback and offense as a whole. Andy Dalton is going through the league’s concussion protocol after the egregious helmet-to-helmet hit by Jon Bostic in Sunday’s loss to Washington. Ben DiNucci, the Cowboys’ seventh round pick is preparing to potentially start with Dalton’s progress in the protocol unknown at this point.
“He has a lot of work to do, “ McCarthy noted on DiNucci in prep time to start. “ We need to get the operation cleaner. If he is going to go this week, he’ll have the reps to prepare him for that. There’s work to do there. “
During the draft, the coaching staff really liked the James Madison product but no one could have predicted the series of unfortunate injury events that have placed the Cowboys here with the ‘Nooch’ possibly making his first career start in the NFL at QB after Dak Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury and now Dalton’s concussion.
Dallas’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has been in DiNucci’s shoes as a backup QB being thrust into action and trying to gain the respect of the huddle. He discussed with reporters that for DiNucci, the importance is “ The preparation, the communication, getting everyone on the same page- I think obviously that’s the key…it’s about calling the play in the huddle. Just going in there with the command, the confidence, the presence to call a play confidently; to look everyone in their eyes and say ‘You got this, you got this, you got this, lets go. ‘ When guys feel that, guys respond well. You earn that through practice. “
