Cowboys expected to be without 2 top defenders against Lions in Week 6

The Dallas Cowboys will likely be down two star edge rushers when they face the Detroit Lions in Week 6.

Coming off a win over the New York Giants on Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys evened their season record to 2-2 but injuries to star pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence could cost them in the immediate future.

On Friday, both Cowboys defenders had their injuries examined more thoroughly and it’s bad news on both fronts. According to NFL Network reporters, Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain—which typically requires a month to recover from—while Lawrence injured his foot and is expected to miss multiple weeks.

“Dallas now likely will be without two of its top defenders until after the Week 7 bye,” per Tom Pelissero.

“Micah and DeMarcus are the two best pass rushers on the Cowboys roster and the group lost Sam Williams to a torn ACL back in the early days of training camp,” Blogging the Boys RJ Ochoa wrote. “To say that the team is down bad at this position right now would be the understatement of the year.”

Marshawn Kneeland (Grand Rapids native and second-round pick out of Western Michigan) is expected to take over for Lawrence, but there is no clear replacement for Parsons. Per the Cowboys’ depth chart it’s possible Chauncey Golston (a Detroit native) or third-round rookie Marist Liufau step into the opposite side hybrid edge rusher role, but neither are the complete package Parsons is.

In Week 5, the Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh to take on the undefeated Steelers, then are back home in Week 6 to take on the Detroit Lions, who will be coming off a Week 5 bye and hopefully seeing some of their injured players returning to the lineup.

For the Lions, this could potentially be a huge break. Not only will they have two fewer star edge rushers to game plan for, but they’ll have the entire bye week to set things up so they can take full advantage of a reeling Cowboys team.