Cowboys lineman suffers gruesome eye injury; absence further hurts strength of team

The Dallas Cowboys offensive line was hurt by injury before the season started suffered something that looked worse than anything that group has sustained this season.

Offensive lineman Xavier Su’a-Filo was forced out of the Cowboys’ 23-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the first half because of an eye injury.

This is an offensive line that played Sunday without All Pro guard Zack Martin for the first time in his career; he suffered a knee injury last week.

Su’a-Filo was poked in the eye in a second-quarter, and had to be seen by an ophthalmologist at Lucas Oil Stadium. He was taken to a local hospital to have the eye evaluated during the game.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the game Su’a-Filo was OK. As far as being able to play next Sunday at home against Tampa Bay, Su’a-Filo did not look like a guy who could possibly be a “Go.”

When Su’a-Filo walked through the locker room after the game, his left eye was grotesquely swollen purple and blue, and almost completely shut.

Cowboys staffers would not allow Su’a-Filo to talk to reporters or to be photographed. Don’t worry; that’s not a picture you want to see.

A few Cowboys veteran staffers said they had never seen anything like it.

Teammate and tackle Tyron Smith handed Su’a-Filo his sun glasses and gave him a hug. Su’a-Filo was wearing a hooded sweathsirt, and allowed his long hair to drap over the left side of his face.

“I couldn’t tell what happened. I just saw him go down,” Cowboys starting right tackle La’el Collins said. “I didn’t even see it. I have never seen anything like (the injury). Not for as long as I’ve been playing.”

The interior of the Cowboys offensive line continues to be popped by injuries.

To start the season, Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick was lost for the year with Guillain-Barre syndrome. He was replaced by Joe Looney.

Rookie second round pick Connor Williams, who has struggled at times this season, suffered a knee injury in early November. He was replaced by Su’a-Filo, and Williams basically lost his starting job.

When Martin went down last week, Williams returned to the lineup.

After Su’a-Filo went out in the second quarter on Sunday, he was replaced by Adam Redmond.

Su’a-Filo, who is in his fifth NFL season after spending his first four years in Houston, was an immediate upgrade over Williams. In recent weeks, however, Su’a-Filo struggled at times but he was still playing better than Williams.

Left tackle Tyron Smith missed Week’s 12 and 13 with elbow and stinger issues. He played on Sunday against the Colts, but he is playing hurt.

The strength of the Dallas Cowboys is supposed to be their offensive line, but this season it has been wrecked by injuries.

Against the Colts, quarterback Dak Prescott was sacked three times, although many of his sacks this season are more of a result of him holding on to the ball for too long. The running game averaged 5.1 yards per carry, but the line did not have a great day.

Considering how many new guys this line has playing, most of whom are supposed to be backups, that is not a surprise.

“We are pro football players and we have to play and we have to do they ask of us and do it at a high level,” Collins said. “We fought but we have to fight harder.”

It would help if they had their starters, or those who can play can see out of both eyes.

This story was originally published December 16, 2018 at 5:14 PM.