Mike McCarthy reveals Cowboys due to return ahead of Monday night wild card round
The Dallas Cowboys have been waiting on the return of several key contributors in time for the postseason and according to head coach Mike McCarthy on Monday, they expect them back in time for Monday night’s wild card round matchup versus Tampa Bay.
“I feel good about [them],” McCarthy said. “They looked very positive today, so we’ll see where they are on Wednesday, but their arrow is pointing up.”
The “them” McCarthy referred to was defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, center Tyler Biadasz and cornerback DaRon Bland.
Hankins (pectoral), Vander Esch (neck) and Biadasz (ankle) have all missed varying amounts of time due to their injuries over the last few weeks of the season. Meanwhile, rookie corner Bland suffered a chest injury in the Week 18 loss to Washington. He only missed action toward the end of the game, however.
Cowboys ‘hopeful’ for return of Hankins, Biadasz, Vander Esch
On Monday afternoon, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones echoed McCarthy’s positivity during his spot on 105.3 The Fan.
“That’s our hope right now,” Jones said. “You never know once you get them out there practicing if you have a setback or something but, right now, I think our trainers feel good about where they’ve progressed up to this point. They’re ready for them to work back into practice this week and get ready to go play the Buccaneers.”
As good as it will be to get Hankins and Vander Esch back on the defense, it’s been the offense that has worried the Cowboys staff over the last couple of weeks.
The run game took a significant hit when right tackle Terence Steele was lost for the season, an absence only compounded by Tyler Biadasz’s high ankle sprain in Week 17. The starting center’s injury forced more realignments on the offensive line, culminating in a 68-yard rushing performance by Dallas on Sunday night.
Another potential big return for the Cowboys could be backup center Matt Farniok. He returned to practice from IR last week and began working into the rotation at full-go. So, even if Biadasz isn’t ready to start by Monday night, Farniok could pop back into center, pushing Connor McGovern and Tyler Smith back out to guard and tackle versus the Bucs.