DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - When Cowboys' defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence suffered a broken foot in practice on Sept. 15, Dallas reportedly expected their star pass rusher to be sidelined for up to six to eight weeks.
But based on Cowboys' EVP Stephen Jones' comments Monday on 105.3 The Fan, it's looking like it'll be the latter, if not longer.
"The fortunate thing is we're going to get him back. It's still a little early to start to pin down what we're looking at, but it's going to be several games past the bye before we're going to get him back," Jones said on the K&C Masterpiece. "We're going to have to continue to weather the storm. We should get Dorance Armstrong (sprained ankle) back after the bye. ... We got Trysten Hill (recovering from torn ACL) and(Neville) Gallimore coming back. All these guys are going to be big pluses for us when they come back. But Gallimore and Lawrence are going to take some more time here, and it's probably (going to be) a month-plus before we get them back."
Should Lawrence return exactly eight weeks after the day he was injured, he would return on Nov. 10, just in time for the Cowboys' Week 10 matchup vs. the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 14. But Jones' "months-plus" comment might be an indication that the former Pro Bowler won't return until the following week against the Chiefs on Nov. 21, or beyond.
Lawrence has missed the team's last four games after starting vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 and will miss at least the next three, plus the bye week: at New England (Week 6), BYE (Week 7), at Minnesota (Week 8) and vs. Denver (Week 9).
As for Gallimore, the former 2020 third-round pick was also expected to be sidelined for up to six to eight weeks, a timeline that has since come and gone.
Gallimore suffered a dislocated elbow in the team's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 13, and should he be a "month-plus" away from returning, we could potentially be looking at a new recovery timeline of 12-13 weeks.
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The good news for the Cowboys is that the defense hasn't skipped a beat since losing all four defensive linemen (Hill and Armstrong included). A combination of veterans Randy Gregory and Tarell Basham, 2020 fifth-rounder Bradlee Anae, rookie linebacker Micah Parsons, and rookies Osa Odighizuwa and Chauncey Golston has been getting the job done to help lead the team to a 4-1 record.
And it looks like they'll have an opportunity to keep doing just that for a little bit longer.
