Cowboys return home licking their wounds, searching for ways to overcome adversity

Most travelers can sense when it is time to get home.

The cowboys weren’t only at this point Friday night. They were over it.

Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore was among five players to end a 19-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals with injury. Afterward, Mike McCarthy expressed serious concern about Gallimore, but the coach’s disappointment began days earlier when the training energy was not up to his standards.

Back at home, now is the time to respond.

The cowboys embarked on a 25-day road trip between training camp in Oxnard, California and exhibitions in Canton, Ohio and Glendale, Arizona. They returned to Dallas early Saturday morning with a clear challenge to overcome these adversities. Your first chance on the field is on Monday at 6:00 p.m., which is open and free to fans in the Ford Center at The Star.

Of the five injuries in Arizona, Gallimore’s was the team’s greatest concern.

Additional testing on Saturday eased some worries as Gallimore avoided tearing his dislocated left elbow. Still, he is expected to be on hiatus for four to six weeks, a source said. Dallas will have to forego its 2020 third round pick at the start of the season, including the September 9 opener with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I would put it in the significant category,” McCarthy said on Friday of Gallimore’s injury. “But until we have all the scans and the diagnosis, I don’t have a schedule… You are talking about players who are making the leap into the second year. He definitely proved that, and you could see that in the spring. He’s had a good off-season. He had a good camp. It’s just a shame. “

Tight end Sean McKeon (right ankle), wide receiver Malik Turner (left foot), rookie linebacker Anthony Hines (right elbow) and tackle Ty Nsekhe (right knee) also suffered injuries. McKeon has a high ankle sprain. While a source said this could result in a four to six week absence, the cowboys will feel better once the swelling subsides.

Defensive player Dorance Armstrong, who booked two sacks in the first half on Friday, spoke to Gallimore after being eliminated in the middle of the first quarter. He described Gallimore’s temperament as “okay” and called him a “tough guy”.

“He’s one of those guys who has that energy,” said Armstrong. “That won’t change. He will do his rehab, get better and still be there for us as always. “

Losing Gallimore for any duration is a blow, in part because of what it represents.

The Cowboys were linebackers that off-season, hiring Keanu Neal in March before calling Micah Parsons and Jabril Cox in the first and fourth rounds, respectively. Meanwhile, in a hybrid year, Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith are attempting a rebound season for their cowboy tenures while working on a more solidly installed scheme.

These efforts can only be successful without improved defensive play.

As Gallimore recovers, more can be asked of rookie defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, a third round pick, and rookie nose tackle Quinton Bohanna, a sixth. Defensive lineman Chauncey Golston, also a third-round rookie, missed the entire training camp with a hamstring injury. He remains physically ineffective on the list. At PUP, too, Trysten Hill, who is in the third year of defensive tackle, seems almost certain to miss the start of the season. He has not exercised since a cruciate ligament rupture last October.

Needless to say, this wasn’t the last week the cowboys imagined before returning to Dallas.

The turning point turned out to be 48 hectic hours.

On August 5, the team took a bus from their hotel room in Cleveland to the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. After the 16: 3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the club returned to Oxnard for a joint training session on August 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. While McCarthy was mindful of the players’ workload in the game and kept the number of snapshots low to start with with the upcoming joint training, he still expressed his regret that he had planned this training so close to the travel-intensive preseason game.

Yeah, we’re not going to do it again, ”McCarthy said on Wednesday.

He canceled the team’s training scheduled for Tuesday, August 10th. The training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday took place before he traveled to Glendale on Thursday afternoon.

“That wasn’t our best week before the game,” said McCarthy on Friday. “We just have to collect ourselves, get well and have a better week of training [the next game Saturday against the Houston Texans]. … the rams [practice] was a little sloppy and the last two days haven’t been very good. I thought some of it got carried over into [Friday]. “

After the week that it wasn’t, the cowboys are grateful to be home.

It was time.

More cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News can be found here.

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