The Cowboys are so far removed from overreacting to the knee injury suffered by tight end Jake Ferguson at this point that they’re not even ruling him out for Week 2’s home opener against the Saints on Sunday. That would be unusual for a player who suffered a sprain to the MCL in his knee, as well as a bone bruise, but then, Ferguson himself said he could have played through Week 1 if the Cowboys had not already been blowing out the Browns.
Ferguson injured the knee late in the third quarter when he landed awkwardly on a catch and was tackled by Jordan Hicks of the Browns. He practiced on Tuesday, though he did so on the side with the team’s training staff. He could get back on the field without missing time, and coach Mike McCarthy said he was aiming for exactly that.
“Yes. Good news,” McCarthy said after MRIs revealed limited damage in the knee. “He’ll be working with the return-to-play group Wednesday, so we’ll see how that goes. He’s very optimistic, just as you think he would be.”
Still, tight end is a position that is fairly flush around the NFL, and if the Cowboys had some questions about Ferguson’s return, they could pretty easily pluck one off another roster with a low-cost trade. That notion comes from Bleacher Report, in an article titled, “2024 NFL Trade Block Big Board Entering Week 2.”
In it, analyst Kristopher Knox noted that Raiders third-stringer Harrison Bryant is a reliable NFL veteran — he was an effective backup for four years in Cleveland — who could give the Cowboys short-term relief if Ferguson can’t go and a long-term option even when he returns.
He wrote: “The Cowboys are dealing with their own tight end injury, as Jake Ferguson suffered a bone bruise and a minor MCL sprain, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.
“Dallas has 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker at tight end, though the Michigan product barely saw the field as a rookie and only played 19 offensive snaps in Week 1. Adding Bryant could help give the Cowboys a bit more insurance at a critical position.”
Now, it is true that adding Bryant would bring insurance, but the Cowboys don’t seem to be a team that is hurting for tight end depth. Schoonmaker did not play much in Week 1, but there is no indication he could not handle a bigger role if it were given to him.
The Cowboys also use fullback Hunter Luepke as a hybrid tight end, and kept backups Brevyn Spann-Ford and John Stephens on the 53-man roster.
Jake Ferguson Coming Off Pro Bowl Year
Ferguson was a Pro Bowler last season, with 71 catches for 761 yards and five touchdowns. He became one of quarterback Dak Prescott’s favorite targets last season, and tallied 10 catches for 93 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ playoff loss to the Packers.
On Monday, team owner Jerry Jones said that the team got lucky that Ferguson’s injury was not as bad as it might have been.
“We really did dodge a bullet,” Jones said, per Pro Football Talk. “He’s very excited about playing, I saw him right after our meetings yesterday and he was excited about it. Like everybody, I know he was worried sick when it initially happened. . . . It would have been a blow and we’re relieved about it.”
