FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys running back Malik Davis is looking at a “pretty serious injury” that “could take him out for some period of time,” Cowboys chief operating officer and co-owner Stephen Jones said Friday afternoon on 105.3 The Fan. Dallas opens the season Sunday night against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Davis spent all of 2024 on the practice squad, and Dallas waived him in April 2025. Jones said Davis won the backup job outright this summer after coming from nowhere to become the No. 2 back.
“Very disappointing,” Jones said. “Malik’s done everything the right way. He’s such a good person off the field. He works his ass off. He’s come from nowhere to be our No. 2 back. And he’s done it the hard way.
“He’s gone out there and shown people, he shows people he can do it, that he can play in this league,” Jones continued. “He did it last year. He did it again in training camp and won the job outright to be the No. 2 back.
“And now, unfortunately, I think he’s looking at a pretty serious injury that could take him out for some period of time,” Jones added. “We don’t have the final details. We’ll know more. But certainly so disappointed for Malik. But obviously tough for our team. But like anything, again, it’s next man up. We’ve got to jump back, and the next guy’s got to jump up and be ready to roll.”
Davis was carted off the practice field Friday, Clarence Hill Jr. of DLLS Sports first reported. Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News later reported a hip injury that will keep Davis out Sunday.
Emari Demercado Expected To Move Into Active Spot, Stephen Jones Says
Dallas claimed Emari Demercado off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 31. Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams coached the offensive line for the Arizona Cardinals in 2023 and 2024, Demercado’s first two NFL seasons, and Jones said Adams is really comfortable with him.
“Obviously you lose a player, and we’ll see exactly what the situation is,” Jones explained. “But the good news is we brought in a back that our coordinator, Klayton, is really comfortable with. He had him with the Cardinals in Demercado, and he was going to be inactive this week. So it looks like he’s going to move into that active spot, and we’ll go from there.
“We also felt like Izzy [Abanikanda] had a heck of a camp,” Jones noted. “But we are going to be short a body there. We just don’t know how long yet.”
In 40 career games, Demercado has run 126 times for 819 yards and 3 touchdowns. Javonte Williams is the starter after running 252 times for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Fullback Hunter Luepke is the only other back on the 53-man roster.
Israel Abanikanda stayed on the practice squad after cuts. A fifth-round pick in 2023, 143rd overall, he ran 22 times for 70 yards in 6 games that season. On Aug. 20, the last practice of training camp in Oxnard, California, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Davis and Abanikanda had earned more first-team reps than the rest of the running backs.
Dallas has five designations to return from injured reserve left this season after moving left guard Tyler Smith to the list Wednesday. A player with that designation must miss at least four games.
Brian Schottenheimer Cited Malik Davis When Explaining Roster Cuts
Dallas released Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, its fifth- and seventh-round picks in 2025, at the Aug. 30 roster cutdown. The next day, Schottenheimer said cutting them was more a testament to Davis, who had come back time and again and proven his worth.
“If you want to learn from a veteran, Malik Davis would be the first call that I would make,” Schottenheimer said. “The guy went from being on the street, not getting really hardly any looks, even workouts, and he’s back in Oxnard, and now he’s solidified himself as a very, very valuable member of our football team.”
In 10 games last season, Davis ran 52 times for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns. On Christmas Day at Washington, he ran 20 times for 103 yards in a 30-23 win, the first 100-yard game of his career.
This preseason, Davis ran 12 times for 68 yards in two games and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass at Arizona on Aug. 22. Since signing with Dallas as an undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2022, he has run 90 times for 411 yards and 3 touchdowns in 25 regular-season games.
Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is Sunday at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. The Giants won the last meeting 34-17 on Jan. 4 at MetLife Stadium.
