ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Cowboys safety P.J. Locke was helped off the field and sent to the locker room during the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium.
Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News reported that multiple Cowboys staffers walked Locke off while he barely put pressure on one of his legs. Locke made his way toward the locker room slowly under his own power a short time later. No diagnosis and no return designation had been announced when he left the field.
Dallas led 7-0 at the time on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb with 10:04 on the clock, in a game that kicked off at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
Dallas Cowboys Safety Depth Without Malik Hooker
Malik Hooker fractured his forearm in the Sept. 13 season opener at the New York Giants and had surgery two days later. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday that Hooker would not go on injured reserve, which would have cost him a minimum of four games.
“It sounds like it’s one that doesn’t require as long a period of time,” Schottenheimer said. “So we’re hoping it’s a two week window.”
Dallas ruled Hooker out Friday along with linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who strained a hamstring in the same game. Neither practiced Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.
Schottenheimer had already settled the question of who would take the snaps Hooker was playing in the sub package, and it was Locke rather than first-round pick Caleb Downs, who stays in the slot in passing situations.
“We love P.J. Locke,” Schottenheimer said. “I think Caleb played really, really well… Caleb’s a guy that can move around, but we like him down near the line of scrimmage.”
That leaves Jalen Thompson, Downs, Markquese Bell, and Alijah Clark as the safeties on the active roster. Thompson signed a three-year, $36 million contract in March after seven seasons in Arizona. Bell has been in Dallas since 2022 and played 17 games last season. Clark went undrafted out of Syracuse in 2025, signed to the practice squad that August, and was added to the active roster in October.
P.J. Locke’s First Season In Dallas After Six Years In Denver
Locke signed a one-year deal worth up to $5 million in March. The contract reunited him with Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who had coached him as Denver’s defensive backs coach.
Locke described that reunion in a conversation with the team’s website shortly after signing.
“It also starts with communication, and CP is the right coach for that,” Locke told DallasCowboys.com. “He’s very detailed in that sense, and you gain confidence when you understand the details of the game and of what he provides. We’ll be fine.”
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton laid out how Denver had used Locke at safety, in an interview on 105.3 The Fan after the signing.
“Our safeties play left and right, so he could play down in the box or play the deep third,” Payton told Bryan Broaddus of 105.3 The Fan. “He’s very versatile. He’s a great teammate. He covers well, he tackles well. Really going to miss him.”
Locke started 26 of the 90 regular-season games he played across six seasons in Denver, finishing that run with 174 total tackles. His best year came in 2023, when he posted 53 tackles and a career-high 3 sacks. He forced 5 fumbles and broke up 11 passes as a Bronco.
Most of last season came in the kicking game, where Locke logged 197 snaps against 173 on defense. He intercepted a pass in a divisional-round playoff win last January.
Locke played 28 defensive snaps and made 2 tackles in the opener at New York.
Sunday was not the first time this year Locke has come off the field. He hyperextended his left knee during the opening practice of training camp in Oxnard, California, on July 29. He was back-pedaling and planted on it. Nobody hit him on the play. He limped off with head trainer Jim Maurer and did not practice again that week.
Schottenheimer described the injury as a minor hyperextension the following day and held Locke out as a precaution.
“Tests looked great,” Schottenheimer said.
Dallas plays the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the NFL’s first regular-season game in the city. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS. The Cowboys are the designated home team.
