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FRISCO, Texas — Safety was the Dallas Cowboys’ deepest position entering the season before injuries hit it, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday. Jones gave an update on the group, including Jalen Thompson, during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan & RJ show.
A host noted Dallas’ investment at safety, from rookie Caleb Downs to Malik Hooker, and the injuries to P.J. Locke before raising Thompson’s situation.
Thompson’s injury has not healed on the schedule the team set for his return, Jones said, and the group is trying everything it can to get back on the field.
“Well, we just are dealing with some injuries back there,” Jones said. “We went into the season with that being our most in-depth position, the hardest place to cut numbers back. We had that. We thought we had those type of players out there, and as it often does, it hit a position, the injury.”
“So, where we are is really proud of the way Hooker played this past weekend. Proud of the way he’s playing. I’m just glad that we have the depth that we have back there,” Jones continued. “But again, just dealing with an injury that sometimes you have set a time when he ought to be back, and it just doesn’t get back there. We have every reason to believe that that entire group, they’re trying everything they can to get out there, but we just not getting him out there quick enough.”
Jalen Thompson Still Waiting On His Practice Window
Thompson hurt his hamstring midway through the second quarter of the Sept. 27 loss to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro and needed help getting off the field. Three days later, on Sept. 30, the Cowboys placed him on injured reserve.
The day after the Rio game, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones laid out the damage on 105.3 The Fan while Hooker was still working back from his own injury, according to the team’s website.
“The safety position is tough. We’ve been hit there, no question,” Stephen Jones said. “And to the corner[back] spot as well, to the same degree. We’re very hopeful [Malik] Hooker will have a shot this week. But, unfortunately, it does look like we’re gonna miss [Jalen Thompson] for some weeks, along with [P.J.] Locke.”
“That safety spot, we’ll definitely be looking to see if there’s a way to shore that up while those two [rehab],” Stephen Jones continued. “They’re both looking at four-plus weeks of missing time.”
Dallas had carried six safeties out of the preseason instead of five, a call Stephen Jones said came down to the quality of the group.
“Good news is, that was one of our positions of depth, and we actually kept an extra one when we cut down to 53,” Stephen Jones explained. “We kept six rather than five, because of the quality of the players, and we’re needing every one of them right now because of the injuries.”
Thompson qualified to have his 21-day practice window opened the week of the Colts game, but Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Nov. 4 that the team had not opened it. Without him, Downs has split his snaps between safety and slot corner, while Markquese Bell and Alijah Clark have taken turns at safety alongside Hooker.
Malik Hooker Returned, P.J. Locke Ruled Out
The season opener against the New York Giants cost Hooker a fractured forearm, which required surgery. When he came back for the Week 4 game at Houston, a 34-30 Cowboys win, Hooker led the team with 7 tackles and broke up 2 passes.
Locke’s first injury came in Week 2 against Washington, when he hurt his foot early and left the stadium in a walking boot. That sent him to injured reserve until Dallas activated him on Oct. 31, two days before the Arizona game.
In that Nov. 1 game, his first one back, Locke sustained a concussion. He cleared the protocol during the week, then sustained a second concussion at Indianapolis on Sunday. Locke was down on the field for several moments at Lucas Oil Stadium before he was helped to the sideline, and he did not return.
“Got him covered in prayers,” Schottenheimer said after the game.
Locke has been ruled out against the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys have one designated-to-return slot left for the regular season, the team’s website reported.
The Cowboys (4-5) host the 49ers (7-1) on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
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