Cowboys Get Promising Injury Update Before Training Camp

If Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown comes back at all in 2025, it would probably come as a surprise to anyone who saw his leg get mangled late last season against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The one person who wouldn’t be surprised? That’s Overshown, who has consistently said he plans to play this season and posted an update on his Instagram account on July 20 that seems to show he’s actually on that path.

The Cowboys report to training camp on July 21.

“Good news from the Doc!” Overshown wrote on IG stories. “We getting active THIS szn. All glory to God and my guys in the training room.”

It was the second season-ending injury for Overshown in 3 seasons after he tore his ACL in the 2023 preseason.

Overshown was one of the few bright spots for the Cowboys as they stumbled to a 7-10 finish in 2024. Through the first 13 games of his NFL career, Overshown had 90 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 8 TFL, 4 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception returned for a touchdown.

His play in that short time made such an impression around the NFL that ESPN put Overshown at No. 8 on its annual preseason list of the Top 10 off-ball linebackers — despite completely tearing his ACL, PCL and MCL in 2024.

“Overshown needed only 12 NFL games to convince a healthy number of voters that he’s a high-impact linebacker,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 15. “Multiple voters have serious concerns about whether Overshown can maintain a consistent NFL career because of the damage already done.”

Previously Targeted Thanksgiving Day Return

Overshown told The Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins he could rejoin the Cowboys for their Thanksgiving Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It’s definitely realistic,” Overshown told Watkins on May 29. “I’m pretty sure that game is Week 13 … It’s hard to speak on. I’m thinking doing it the smart way, maybe start (training camp) on PUP, maybe not, if I’m feeling great. I’m going to let Britt, the magic man, do the work. I’m just going to come up here grind like I’m playing tomorrow. So best believe, I’m working as if I’m suiting up tomorrow.”

It’s almost impossible to envision a scenario in which Overshown doesn’t start both training camp and the regular season on the PUP list, which means he’ll miss at least the first 4 games.

Cowboys Might Have NFL’s Worst Off-Ball LBs

It’s hard to feel much confidence when looking at the off ball linebackers currently on the roster. Even with Overshown in the fold, history tells us players coming off 2 major knee injuries in 3 years don’t usually return to their same level of production.

When the Cowboys roll out their starting defense on September 4 at the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the 3 starters at inside linebacker will likely be Kenneth Murray Jr., Jack Sanborn and Marist Liufau, who started 9 games as a rookie in 2024.

Murray and Sanborn were both offseason additions. Murray started 14 games for the Tennessee Titans in 2024 and was traded to the Cowboys on March 12.

Sanborn started 19 games over his first 3 seasons with the Chicago Bears and signed a 1-year, $1.5 million free agent contract with the Cowboys.