Cowboys injury updates: Dak Prescott has calf strain, belief is he won’t miss time, other injury notes

Dak Prescott had an MRI but hopes to play after the bye week.

The Dallas Cowboys are winners of five games in a row which is cause for a lot of optimism. Unfortunately, the party had a bit of a buzzkill on Sunday night when in the aftermath of the team’s win at New England, quarterback Dak Prescott was seen in a walking boot and was said to have a calf injury.

Prescott noted that he felt fine and assured that all would be well, but the Cowboys noted that he was set to have an MRI on Monday which is when the results would give us the full picture.

Dak Prescott has an calf strain but there is optimism that he won’t miss any time

Fortune has seemingly smiled on the Cowboys as they do not have a game to play this week as a result of being on their bye. Dallas will next play next Sunday night on the road against the Minnesota Vikings (who are also on their bye), and even though Dak Prescott has a calf strain according to Mike McCarthy, there is optimism that he won’t miss any time.

This is a favorable report as nobody wants to see the Cowboys play in a game without Dak Prescott under center given the events of last year. Prescott said in the aftermath of the team’s win against the Patriots that he could have kept playing through the injury if he had to, and he did all of his postgame duties including an on-field interview with CBS as well as a postgame press conference. Generally speaking, when things are bad players don’t do those sort of things.

Prescott was marvelous for the Cowboys against the Patriots and threw for 445 yards, more than any quarterback ever has against a Bill Belichick-coached team. Mark Schofield profiled his performance in the latest edition of Dak Watch which can be seen on the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel (which you can subscribe to right here).

Much of the reason for the Cowboys’ success this season is the play of their quarterback. This team goes as Dak Prescott goes, so the fact that the team doesn’t expect him to miss any time is almost as big of a win as Sunday evening was in Foxborough.

All is well with Tyron Smith, La’el Collins is back, and Michael Gallup looks good

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy addressed a number of other things on Monday afternoon including the health of another offensive superstar that was banged up on Sunday. According to McCarthy, all is well with Tyron Smith’s ankle which isn’t surprising given that he returned to the game but still fantastic news.

Also among McCarthy’s notes were that defensive tackle Brent Urban has a tricep injury and that cornerback Maurice Canady is in concussion protocol. Ultimately, the Cowboys escaped from their win on Sunday with relatively little damage.

Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup has missed every game this season except for the opener and many have speculated that he could return when the team is back from their bye. McCarthy noted that he is closer than DeMarcus Lawrence and Neville Gallimore, so seeing Gallup against the Vikings is certainly possible.

If it isn’t obvious by now Monday was a fairly full day of news for the Cowboys and among the droppings was the NFL’s official reinstatement of La’el Collins. Collins is not returning from an injury but a suspension, nevertheless he is eligible to play when the team is back from their bye and will likely resume the right tackle position. Of Mike McCarthy’s 22 games as the head coach of the Cowboys, Collins has played in exactly one of them.

Bring on the bye week. It is much needed.