‘My Saving Grace’: DeMarvion Overshown Plans Return From Hamstring Injury For Dallas Cowboys At Philadelphia Eagles
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said Tuesday that he plans to play Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, which would be his first game since he injured his hamstring in the season opener.
Overshown has missed five straight games since he was hurt in a 28-20 loss to the New York Giants in Week 1. Dallas fell to 2-4 on Sunday night with a 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, and its next game is a Monday night kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field. That gives Overshown one more day to wait after five weeks of rehab and recovery.
“I definitely feel that that’s the plan, so I’m ready for practice,” Overshown said. “It’s crazy. We play on Monday now, so now I got to wait an extra day. But I’m excited.”
“I’ve definitely taken this rehab, this recovery, very serious,” Overshown continued. “I’ve been trying to get back on the field since the week after I got out, so getting this opportunity to go this week, like I say, I’m thankful that I’m still able to get to do what I love.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday that the team was hoping Overshown would return this week, depending on how he worked back into practice. Linebacker Dee Winters, who intercepted Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love in the first quarter Sunday, has an Achilles strain and is likely to miss the game, according to Schottenheimer. Losing Winters makes Overshown’s return a bigger lift for the defense, Schottenheimer said.
“The hamstrings can be tricky. I mean, they’re tricky, and you don’t know how they’re going to react, but I think we do feel really good that he’s going to be back this week,” Schottenheimer said. “So it would be a big jump start for us, especially if Dee’s going to miss.”
DeMarvion Overshown Has Been In Team Drills, Meetings, And Walkthroughs
The five-game absence did not take Overshown out of the Cowboys’ game plans. He kept up his rehab through the whole process and stayed on the football with the rest of the defense.
“I’ve been doing team drills. I actually worked into some team drills the last couple of weeks, just staying fresh on the football, still getting rehab as well during the whole process,” Overshown explained. “I ain’t been too far away from the game. Still been in every meeting, every walkthrough. So I’m still locked in. I still been in the game plans, been in the meetings. So, yeah, I’ve been practicing.”
Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham took over the green dot, the helmet communicator for the defensive call, after Overshown went down in Week 1. How the green dot gets handled Monday is still unsettled, and Overshown is fine either way as long as he is on the field.
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but like I said, I’m going to be out there, and that’s enough for me, and I feel like that’s enough to impact the game too, just being out there, whether it’s with the green dot the whole time or not,” Overshown said. “So I’m just ready to be out there.”
Schottenheimer said Monday that Overshown and the other linebackers are interchangeable at weakside linebacker. The staff plans to manage his workload in his first game back.
“They’re interchangeable. But, yeah, I mean, again, if he comes back and plays, which we hope and expect, then we’ll be smart with how many reps,” Schottenheimer explained. “It’ll be kind of a ramp up as well for him. And, again, that’s where the linebacker depth, I think, is important.”
The hamstring is the latest injury for Overshown, a 2023 third-round pick out of Texas. He missed his entire rookie season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in a preseason game. On Dec. 9, 2024, he tore the ACL, MCL, and PCL in his right knee during a 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He came back late in the 2025 season and played six regular-season games, finishing with 28 tackles.
Overshown can get down during those stretches away from the field, but he said he cannot be mad about it.
“I’m a people pleaser. I want to see everybody happy,” Overshown said. “I want to see y’all happy covering me. I want to see the fans happy seeing me out there play, but like I say, it’s just mainly my teammates, my family, me, myself, going through what I done been through these last couple years.”
“It’s like, yeah, being on the field is my saving grace,” Overshown continued. “So, like I said, I’m blessed, though. I can’t be mad. I can get down a little bit. I know when I get my opportunity to roll again, I’m going to be rolling.”
Overshown On Mistake-Free Football For The Dallas Cowboys Defense
Green Bay converted 9 of its 10 first-half third downs Sunday and led 17-0 at halftime. After the break, the Packers scored 6 points, both on field goals, and they finished with 57 rushing yards on 26 carries.
Situational football has been a point of emphasis in the defense’s meetings, and Overshown said the unit has taken a step forward there going into Week 7.
“Until we’re shutting out opponents, it’s always gonna be room for improvement. And that’s just what this league is,” Overshown said. “It’s gonna be something that people see the week before, they’re gonna copycat that. So you gotta stay on your toes about the things that you messed up on. And that’s what we’ve been doing every week, just getting better at one thing.”
“Situational football is something that we done talked about a lot,” Overshown continued. “So we definitely done took a step forward in that, but it’s just gonna be, it’s going into Week 7. It’s now or never, but like I say, we [are] taking accountability among ourselves, among our unit, just to take the next step. We know how good we can be. We done seen it on film in countless games. When we’re playing our best football, we’re getting off the field. We’re causing havoc in the backfield. So it’s just about taking the next step and doing right and not beating ourselves.”
All five quarterbacks Dallas faced before Sunday posted passer ratings above 100, according to DallasCowboys.com. Love finished at 74.8. In Overshown’s view, offenses win games on explosive plays and on the other team’s mistakes, and the fix starts with each player handling his own job.
“It’s really just like not trying to do somebody else’s job when you’re out there and just not making things complicated,” Overshown said. “It’s easier said than done, of course, because when you go out there on Sundays, Mondays, Thursday, whenever it is we play, you want to make a play. You want your name in the newspaper. You want a highlight shown in the team meeting room. But that’s going to come to you.”
“When 11 guys doing their job, it’s kind of hard to beat you,” Overshown added. “In this league, offenses, they win games by explosive plays and the other team making mistakes. So once we can clean that up and play mistake-free football, which has been the key in all of our talks these last week or so, is just how can we not beat ourselves? How can the Cowboys defense just play a clean football game?”
Linebackers Shemar James and Justin Barron have taken on bigger roles during the injuries at a position Schottenheimer said normally gets beat up. Barron went in on a couple of passing situations Sunday.
“I’m thrilled that hopefully Demo’s coming back. And, again, we’re getting a lot of guys repped. Shemar James, like I said, is doing a really good job,” Schottenheimer said. “Justin Barron last night did a really good job. We put him in on a couple passing situations. They actually tried him on a little wheel route immediately when he came in the game, and he played it beautifully.”
“So that’s a position that normally gets dinged up and beat up a little bit, and both those guys, Shemar and Justin, have played really well for us,” Schottenheimer continued.
Overshown does not see the defense as angry or frustrated after back-to-back losses. The mood in the building, he said, does not decide anything on Monday.
“I wouldn’t say it makes me angry. I wouldn’t say we’re frustrated, but I would say as competitors, you want to play better, you want to win,” Overshown said. “So we’re going to do whatever it takes to do that. It really don’t matter how we feel, whether we come in here smiling or whether we come in here punching the walls. And the results not gonna change until we take it upon ourselves to do what we gotta do to change it.”
Dallas plays at Philadelphia on Monday, Oct. 26, with kickoff set for 7:15 p.m. CT on ESPN and ABC. The Eagles are also 2-4 after a 25-14 home loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, their fourth straight loss.
