Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch out for Patriots game, maybe longer with neck injury
The Dallas Cowboys will be without Pro Bowl linebacker Leighton Vander Esch due to a neck injury when they play at the New England Patriots Sunday, according to sources.
And his absence could be longer than one game.
Vander Esch underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Thursday and it was decided to rest him in hopes of allowing the injury to calm down.
He will have another MRI in three weeks, though he is officially listed as week to week.
“We don’t think it’s career threatening,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We think at some point it he will be back. We think it needs to calm down. Want to give it time to do that. Hopefully, we can get him back real soon.”
With Vander Esch missing the Patriots game, it’s also likely that he will miss the Buffalo Bills game four days later on Thanksgiving Day
He could return for the Dec. 5 game at the Chicago Bears, depending on how he feels.
With another MRI in three weeks, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to sit until the Dec. 15 match up against the Los Angeles Rams.
Sean Lee will likely start in his place at weak side linebacker with Joe Thomas moving in on the strong side.
Vander Esch initially suffered a stinger in the Cowboys’ Oct. 20 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. He sat out the following game against the New York Giants on Nov. 4.
But he started the past two games against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions.
There were questions about Vander Esch’ neck dating back to his days at Boise State. Some teams took him off their draft board, yet the Cowboys made him their first round pick in 2018 and he went on to lead the team in tackles with 176 and make the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
He is currently second on the Cowboys in tackles in 2019 with 87, trailing only middle linebacker Jaylon Smith.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 8:51 AM.
