ARLINGTON, Texas — A shoulder injury pulled Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dee Winters out of the second quarter Sunday, and he is questionable to return. Dallas is hosting the Washington Commanders in its home opener at AT&T Stadium.
Winters went to the blue medical tent on the Dallas sideline, and Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reported the shoulder injury and the questionable designation. Shemar James took his spot at linebacker.
Dallas was already down a starter at the position. DeMarvion Overshown strained his right hamstring in the fourth quarter of the season opener and was one of seven Cowboys inactive Sunday.
Shemar James Replaces Dee Winters In The Cowboys Defense
Winters played 40 defensive snaps in the opener, a 28-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium. Overshown played 51 and wore the green dot. Rookie Jaishawn Barham played 34.
Barham started at middle linebacker Sunday and took the green dot, the job of relaying defensive coordinator Christian Parker‘s calls to the rest of the defense. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer announced the assignment Friday and said the third-round rookie has great command of what Dallas is doing on defense in his second NFL game.
“The green dot, I think, gets overblown at times,” Schottenheimer said. “And again, basically what you’re doing, you’re repeating the call, and then you’re setting fronts and all that, and then knowing it’s going to be a harder, more nonverbal week of communicating because of the crowd noise.”
Safety P.J. Locke is also questionable to return Sunday with a foot injury. Locke started in place of Malik Hooker, who had surgery Tuesday on a forearm he fractured against the Giants and was not placed on injured reserve.
Cowboys Linebacker Depth Behind DeMarvion Overshown
Dallas elevated linebackers Curtis Robinson and Justin Barron from the practice squad Saturday. Both play special teams, and Robinson has worn the green dot before. NFL teams may elevate as many as two practice squad players for a game, and each player can be elevated three times in a season.
Four days before those elevations, Schottenheimer ran through the linebackers he had at The Star. Winters, Barham, and James were the three left on the 53-man roster with Overshown hurt.
“Dee Winters, obviously most experienced of the group,” Schottenheimer said. “Jaishawn [Barham] got some valuable playtime yesterday, did some good things, did some things that he needs to improve on. Shemar James is a valued member of our football team, very smart, very bright. And then we’ve got some guys on practice squad, we’ve got elevations. Curtis Robinson is a veteran, he’s played a lot of football in this league. And then Justin Barron’s a guy we have a lot of high expectations for.”
Winters came to Dallas in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers during the 2026 draft that sent the No. 152 overall pick to San Francisco. He started all 17 games for the 49ers last season and finished with 101 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 5 passes defensed, and 1 interception he returned 74 yards for a touchdown. He is in the final year of the rookie contract he signed in San Francisco.
Dallas led 10-0 after the first quarter, and Washington answered with 10 points in the second to cut it to 17-10 with 5:01 left in the half. Both teams came in 0-1, with Washington off a 24-22 loss at Philadelphia in Week 1.
Dallas plays the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 27, with kickoff set for 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
