New York Giants announce multiple offensive linemen will not travel to Dallas for Thanksgiving game
For the first time since 1992, the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will face one another on Thanksgiving Day. An old-school NFC East rivalry will be on a bigger stage than usual, playing a standalone game on a national holiday. While everyone might be preparing to celebrate, New York did not receive positive news on Wednesday.
As the team prepares to travel to Dallas, it was announced four players would not be making the flight. All of them are offensive linemen, with two playing the right guard position. Center Jon Feliciano (neck), tackle Evan Neal (knee), guard Josh Ezeudu (neck), and Shane Lemieux (toe) will not play on Thursday afternoon in Arlington.
Not having four offensive linemen available would always a concern but especially when going up against the Dallas pass rush. According to ESPN, the Cowboys have the fourth-highest pass-rush win rate in the NFL heading into Week 12 at 54%. Nobody is better off the edge in the entire league than Micah Parsons, winning 28% of the time.
New York is middle of the pack at team pass block win rate, sitting at No. 19. Add in four injuries, and it’s going to be a difficult task of protecting quarterback Daniel Jones. Dallas has already gotten a win over New York earlier this year, winning at the Meadowlands.
A win would make it four in a row against the rivals out east.
Dallas Cowboys release Tuesday injury report ahead of Giants matchup
The Cowboys continued their short week of practice on Tuesday, listing new injury designations before taking on the Giants this week. The rivalry between the two teams will be as important of a game as it’s ever been on Thanksgiving Day, as both teams sit tied at 7-3 in the NFC East standings behind 9-1 Philadelphia.
Fresh off a 40-3 victory over Minnesota last week — the largest road win in franchise history — Dallas provided a simulated injury report on Monday. On Tuesday, the biggest piece of good news revealed by Dallas was that star Micah Parsons was limited in practice instead of being fully out as predicted on Monday.
Full Participation — Cowboys: CB Trevon Diggs (Ankle)
Limited Participation – Cowboys: RB Ezekiel Elliott (Knee), DT Osa Odighizuwa (Knee), LB Micah Parsons (Knee/Ankle)
Did Not Practice – Cowboys: LB Anthony Barr (Hamstring), DE Tarell Basham (Illness), DE Dante Fowler (Illness), DT Johnathan Hankins (Illness), CB Kelvin Joseph (Illness), DE DeMarcus Lawrence (Foot/Illness)