GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Last week, the Dallas Cowboys were caught with rookie safety Xavier Woods playing the nickel corner spot because of injuries to Chidobe Awuzie and Nolan Carroll.
They were caught short at cornerback because they opted to dress six wide receivers instead of five cornerbacks.
As they look to put together their 46-man roster for tonight’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, they could be caught short at cornerback once again, but not because of choice.
While Carroll (concussion) and Awuzie (hamstring) have been ruled out, the Cowboys will have Orlando Scandrick back in the lineup, but he will be playing two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a broken left hand. Anthony Brown will start in place of Carroll with rookie Jourdan Lewis likely serving as the nickel corner. Bene Benwikere will be active for the first time as the Cowboys’ fourth corner.
In addition to Carroll and Awuzie, linebacker Anthony Hitchens will miss his third straight game with a knee injury and it does not seem like there will be a change that will get Cooper Rush, Darren McFadden or Jonathan Cooper in the 46-man mix.
Terrance Williams is still working through an ankle injury but should play. Do the Cowboys really need Ryan Switzer and Noah Brown to be active? Of the two, who is more valuable? Both should dress for the second straight week even if the Cowboys don’t need six receivers.
The biggest questions come along the defensive line with Damontre Moore returning from a two-game suspension. Is he automatically part of the gameday mix? If he is, then who gets replaced, first-rounder Taco Charlton or Charles Tapper?
It is possible the Cowboys could dress all three defensive ends and de-activated defensive tackle Brian Price. They could move Tyrone Crawford into the mix at tackle, but with Stephen Paea working through knee issues, having a bigger body like Price (318 pounds) makes sense. Would the Cowboys want to put themselves at risk at being caught short among defensive tackles? That didn’t work out so well last week at cornerback.
So the guess at the inactives is: Rush, McFadden, Brown, Cooper, Hitchens, Carroll and Awuzie.