Tony Pollard carted off to locker room with late first-half injury against San Francisco

The Dallas Cowboys saw star running back Tony Pollard go down with injury late in the first half after his ankle was pinned during a tackle. Pollard was helped off the field after the injury and entered the injury tent on the sideline, eventually getting carted off the field with a towel over his head.

Tony Pollard carted off with injury

Although it was unclear exactly how Pollard was injured on the play, replay showed his ankle getting pinned underneath a defender dragging him down after a reception.

The broadcast team immediately pointed to the similarity of his injury to the one suffered by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Saturday. Mahomes continued in the game with visible pain, and was later diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain.

Shortly afterwards, Pollard exited the injury tent and was carted off the field into the locker room for further evaluation and treatment.

With Pollard unavailable, the Dallas offense will have to change dramatically in the second half by leaning fully on Ezekiel Elliott and using Malik Davis in relief. Adding to the struggles for Dallas, Dak Prescott followed up on the late drive with his second thrown interception of the game — leaving the score at 6-6 with San Francisco getting a chance to take a lead into the break. The 49ers capitalized with a third made field goal to end the half, carrying a 9-6 lead into the locker rooms.

Cowboys list Carlos Watkins as questionable

The Cowboys also potentially lost defensive tackle Carlos Watkins for the rest of their game on Sunday after he suffered a calf injury. Watkins suffered the injury early in the game and limped off the field before receiving further treatment. Shortly afterwards, Dallas listed Watkins as “questionable” officially with a calf injury.

The injury came right in the middle of an impressive start by the Dallas defensive line, with the pass rush and run defense both causing havoc for the San Francisco offense early. Although the Dallas depth at defensive tackle continued to keep them on the attack — with a big pair of tackles by Johnathan Hankins — losing Watkins would likely have a big impact on their substitutions in the second half.