The Dallas Cowboys will once again be without pass rusher Micah Parsons in Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers due to a persistent ankle injury, per NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Dallas will also be without CB DaRon Bland (foot), DT Jordan Phillips (wrist) and TE John Stephens (torn ACL). CB Caelen Carson (shoulder), LB Eric Kendricks (shoulder) and LB Nick Vigil (foot) are also questionable.
The Cowboys' 77.2 rushing yards per game rank last in the NFL. Their defense is allowing 28 points per game, ranking second-worst.
Cowboys struggling to stay afloat
With a -42 point differential, the Cowboys are reeling after a 47-9 beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Lions. While injuries are piling up to their defense, if there's one team going through a more difficult stretch with injuries, it's the 49ers.
San Francisco are likely to be without Jake Moody and Jauan Jennings. However, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa, Jordan Mason, Trent Williams and others appeared on the team's injury report this week and there's no official word out yet about their Week 8 status.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones shared frustrations with the team's execution in recent weeks, per Garrett Podell of CBS Sports.
“We're designing bad plays, or we're designing bad concepts,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “The facts are that there's some of that, but there's also some execution [issues]. There's some of the talent. I like our talent, I really do like our talent. I like our young talent, but young talent has a few more mistakes associated with it than if you're dealing with a veteran player.”
Head coach Mike McCarthy continues to talk through the Cowboys' issues with no on-field signs of life.
“I talk to Jerry all the time. We’ve had time to go through the self-scout. I didn’t see the comments specifically. But I don’t think we have bad concepts and bad plays. But I’ll go back and check,” McCarthy said. “We’re not where we want to be. That’s clear, and that’s ultimately my responsibility and I’m fully aware of that. We’re very diligent. We’re on top of what we want to do.
“Just going back to the Detroit game, I know it was the first run of the game,” he continued. “We practiced it a number of times. I got the look we were expecting, and we had the wrong declaration based on communication. So at the end of it, we just got to tighten up our communication and make sure our guys are playing fast.”
Without a viable No. 2 WR, the Cowboys haven't been able to get CeeDee Lamb the ball as much as they'd like. He's averaging 77.8 yards per game, eighth-best in the NFL. However, for how much their offense goes through him, that total is about 25% less than last season. Getting their top weapon more involved has to be a top priority.
