Watkins Gone To IR
Pacman In; Jerry Updates Ware, Barber Injuries
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IRVING, Texas - On Tuesday the Cowboys moved third-year safety Pat Watkins to Injured Reserve, ending his season after a months-long struggle with a bulging disk that caused repeated stinger injuries hampered his play.
Moving Watkins to the IR opened a spot on the 53-man roster for recently reinstated cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who is expected to play his first game in six weeks in Sunday's 3:15 p.m. (CST) game at Pittsburgh. Had the Cowboys not made the move by 3 p.m. (CST) Tuesday, Watkins' salary would have been guaranteed for the week, and knowing Jones was coming back, the Cowboys were forced to make a move to free roster space.
Coach Wade Phillips said Jones will play on defensive subpackages and return punts Sunday, and owner Jerry Jones said not to dismiss the possibility he would return kickoffs. Though Adam Jones' off-the-field problems have come to define his career, the owner said he had become a valuable piece of the Cowboys secondary in just six weeks since coming off a year-long suspension in 2007.
"On the field we have missed him," Jerry Jones told the team's flagship radio station. "Up until just maybe last week or a week ago he led our team in pass breakups, he led our team in tackles back there in the secondary . . . I know that in looking at his off-the-field issues it has been stated that he wasn't that great on the field. I think some of that was a little overlooked. He's important to us back there, and he's got a resolve and can come in here and really help us."
On the same radio show, Jerry Jones also explained the injury situation for NFL sacks leader DeMarcus Ware (knee) and running back Marion Barber (toe), who were injured in the Thanksgiving Day win over Seattle. The owner said there was a good chance of both playing against the Steelers.
Ware left the field at the end of the third quarter and did not return after hyper-extending his left knee while rushing Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
Barber had halftime x-rays that revealed no serious damage to the pinkie toe on his right foot, but he came out of the game after his first carry of the second half. Neither practiced with the team Monday. Tuesday was an off-day for the players.
"You have to be relieved that structurally nothing was there with ligament damage with Ware," Jerry Jones said. "And he'll be sore this week but it's a bone bruise there in the knee, and he can play through that and should be ready to go.
"Barber, it's a support thing underneath that small toe on his foot, and visiting with doctors, they've told me that should be very doable, to support that underneath. With just the type of player he is, he should be able to really get out there and execute with that support."
With a brutal final month of the season set to determine whether the Cowboys make the playoffs, beginning with Sunday's game against the 9-3 Steelers, the Cowboys can hardly afford to lose more players to injury, particularly any as important to the team as Ware and Barber.
Watkins becomes the sixth injured player the Cowboys have put on the IR this season, joining fellow safety Roy Williams, guard Kyle Kosier, running back Felix Jones, receiver Sam Hurd and punter Mat McBriar. He missed three straight games in October while trying to rest the injury, as well as the Seattle game. He had two epidural shots to reduce swelling in the disk this season, but the stingers kept coming back, and he was banged up on a DeShaun Foster touchdown run in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys Nov. 23 win over San Francisco. Watkins will likely not require surgery to remove the disk, according to sources.
The Cowboys signed first-year safety Tra Battle from San Diego's practice squad last season to add depth at the position.