Trevon Diggs among three more Dallas Cowboys who also will not play against Eagles
The Dallas Cowboys say they are heading to Philadelphia to play to win Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Eagles.
But if they intend to accomplish their mission, they’ll need to do it shorthanded.
The team announced Friday that cornerback Trevon Diggs (illness), safety Jayron Kearse (hamstring) and running back Tony Pollard (foot) will not make the trip north and all have been ruled out of the game.
They join linebacker Micah Parsons, tackle Tyron Smith and cornerback Anthony Brown who were previously sidelined becase they were placed on the COVID-19 list.
Safety Donovan Wilson (illness) is also not traveling with the team, but remains questionable, according to the Cowboys.
Parsons, Diggs, Kearse, Smith and Brown are all starters. Pollard and Wilson are top reserves who play heavy roles. All of the players should be back and ready to go when the playoffs begins next weekend.
At 11-5, the Cowboys have already clinched the NFC East title, however, a victory Saturday plus losses among some of the other division leaders Sunday could benefit their place in the postseason seeding.
The Cowboys are coming off a disappointing home loss to Arizona and want to get back on track after going 4-0 in December. But more importantly, with the playoffs a week away Saturday’s game is the last test to correct some issues the team has had as of late, especially on offense.
“Just clean football. Not biting ourselves in the foot or slowing ourselves down,” quarterback Dak Prescott said when asked what they hoped to accomplish against the Eagles. “A clean game as far as penalties and execution and just efficiency all the way across the board in the run game and the pass game. And play balanced ball to make sure we carry that momentum into the postseason.”
Even if the Cowboys defeat the Eagles, they will need need to help to move up from the No. 4 seed. Losses by the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams would move the Cowboys up to the No. 2 seed, and losses by the Cardinals and Rams would move the Cowboys to the No. 3 seed.
But with so many players already out with injuries and illness, some wonder whether they should risk additional injuries to key players by going all out in a regular-season finale that very well could be rendered meangingless.
While saying the Cowboys have every intention of playing to win, McCarthy didn’t rule out the possibility of pulling his starters at some point Saturday night.
Diggs ends his season with a league-leading 11 interceptions and will remain tied for the most in franchise history and the most in the NFL since former Cowboys defensive back Everson Walls accomplished the feat in 1981.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 3:18 PM.
