Dallas Cowboys Injury Report: Rolando McClain Questionable For Seahawks Game
By Shawn Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys entered their week five contest with the Houston Texans at the healthiest they have been all season, with only Bruce Carter missing practice. One week later, the Cowboys injury report is starting to fill up again. This is the wrong time for the injury bug to hit, as the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are next up on the schedule, easily the Cowboys toughest game of the 2014 NFL season. With that said, here is a look at the Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks' injury report.
Dallas Cowboys
Starting at the top, Tony Romo and Dez Bryant are always listed on the injury report, but both will play at full strength.
The Dallas Cowboys got Rolando McClain back last week for their game with the Houston Texans, but he has not practiced yet this week after re-aggravating his groin in the overtime win over Houston. This is a tough one because Dallas is still without strong side linebacker Bruce Carter. In his weekly radio show, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that we shouldn’t expect Carter to return, but there were hopes that McClain could be back. Jason Garrett echoed those statements, saying that he hopes McClain can work some on Friday and get ready to return to the field for the Seattle Seahawks’ game.
With Carter out, that means Anthony Hitchens will get another start. Cam Lawrence also missed practice this week, and if he doesn’t get back in there on Friday, Dallas might be another linebacker down. If McClain misses the game on Sunday, expect Hitchens to slide back over to the middle linebacker position while Kyle Wilber gets the start at strong side. If McClain is able to return to the field this week, Hitchens will remain on the strong side.
In some good news, Henry Melton was a full participant at practice this week and the Cowboys defensive line is getting stronger. While Anthony Spencer was listed as limited, he probably will have that distinction all season long as he works his way back from his offseason knee surgery. Terrell McClain is also back to full practice and Dallas has a good eight man rotation for the defensive line now that everyone is getting back to full heath. They have their work cut out for them with Marshawn Lynch coming to town.
Seattle Seahawks
Marshawn Lynch missed practice on Wednesday, but much like Tony Romo, that is just normal for the Seahawks star running back. Percy Harvin missed practice on Thursday as well, which came as a slight surprise. No one really knows the status of Harvin at this time. He entered last week’s win over the Washington Redskins as questionable but played in the Monday Night Football game and caught four passes. Expect Harvin to play this week and Thursday might have just been a day of rest.
Starting center Max Unger missed practice on Thursday as well with a foot injury. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that Unger was day-to-day, and if he has to miss the game, Stephen Schilling is his immediate backup. Schilling has never started a game in the NFL and never played the center position in his football career until he had to come in on Monday night after Unger went down. Seattle also signed Cleveland Browns’ practice squad member Patrick Lewis to provide depth in case Unger misses the game.
Kam Chancellor also sat out practice on Thursday. The Seahawks strong safety has bone spurs in his ankles. He switched the shoes he was wearing and won the NFC Defensive Player of the Week in the next game against the Denver Broncos. He also played the entire game against Washington, so he might just be getting some extra rest as well.
Injury Report
Dallas Cowboys
Full Practice
- Dez Bryant, WR – Shoulder
- Henry Melton, DT – Calf
- Tony Romo, QB - Back
Limited Practice
- Jeremy Parnell, T – Chest
- Anthony Spencer, DE - Knee
Did Not Practice
- Bruce Carter, LB – Thigh
- Cameron Lawrence, LB – Thigh
- Rolando McClain, LB – Groin
- Tyler Patmon, DB - Illness
Seattle Seahawks
Full Practice
- Marshawn Lynch, RB – Non Injury
Limited Practice
- None
Did Not Practice
- Zach Miller, TE - Ankle
- Alvin Bailey, OT - oblique
- Kam Chancellor, SS - ankle
- Percy Harvin, WR - thigh
- Tharold Simon, CB - knee
- Max Unger, C - foot
For more Cowboys news and updates, visit Cowboys Central.
Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He writes for a variety of national publications and has over 15 years of sports journalism experience. Follow Shawn on Twitter @sslealos. Examiner.com.