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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas — A lot has happened with the Dallas Cowboys, and they have not played since their 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 13.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones threatened the jobs of the hosts on 105.3 The Fan. Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said on 1310 The Ticket in Dallas that Cowboys receivers run “terrible” routes. This week, Jones questioned the plays and concepts on The Fan. Quarterback Dak Prescott got engaged. Kicker Brandon Aubrey was selected for jury duty and will miss practice. And tight end John Stephens Jr. suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee for the second straight year.
Oh, and the 3-3 Cowboys have a critical game Sunday at the San Francisco 49ers.
“I just think it’s part of our industry,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Injuries are clearly the worst part of this game, in my opinion. So yeah, the other things that happened in an individual’s personal life, that’s a part of life. It’s never going to stop. I think just the most important thing is just to be there, make sure the energy and focus and everything stays constant and at the end of the day it’s about winning against San Francisco. That’s all we’re really worried about. Yeah, these things happen sometimes more than others.”
Pro Bowl pass rusher Micah Parsons is trending toward missing his third game with a high left ankle sprain as he continues to work with the rehab group in practice.
“There’s always a threshold of return to play. He’s not over that threshold yet. Until he can get out there and cut it loose,” McCarthy said. “… I think when you have veteran players, the general [rule] is if they don’t practice on Saturday, they’re not going to play in the game. So, if you’re looking for a finish line, it would be full-participant player in the Saturday practice. Obviously, we’d like to have him go in pads first on a Thursday, but Micah’s played a lot of football for us, has a high understanding of our defense.”
Pro Bowl cornerback DaRon Bland will work back into practice after working on the side Wednesday. He has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery on his foot in August.
Aubrey will kick after his jury duty service is done for the day with long snapper Trent Sieg and punter/holder Bryan Anger. He will not miss Sunday’s game, and the team’s charter flight returns from San Francisco early Monday morning should the case go into next week.
“Hey, just when you think you’ve seen it all at this place,” McCarthy said, “You’ve got something else to do.”
To McCarthy, the most disappointing news is the injury to Stephens. He suffered the same injury last year in a preseason game as he was making a case for a spot on the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent.
While he had yet to play in a game this season, the Cowboys were high on his potential.
“I think to a man you just could feel the energy sucked out of practice at that moment,” McCarthy said. “So cannot say enough about him. You talk about a young man with a very bright future, and this is just another setback unfortunately. But just the work that he put in. I mean, he’s here every day, did everything that was asked of him, and frankly, we were trying to give him more work. Actually, coming out of the bye week, we had plans to try to get him more involved. So yeah, very unfortunate injury [Wednesday].”