The Cowboys face the Eagles Sunday night in a big NFC East game, but they're likely going to be shorthanded at wide receiver. Amari Cooper (quad) and Randall Cobb (back, hip, career) are banged-up, and might not play. Neither one was practicing on Wednesday.
Still time for one of those guys to return to practice and play, but Dallas might need to be relying on a pair of lesser lights across from Michael Gallup. Tavon Austin and Cedrick Wilson played the most last week; Austin was on the field for almost every snap for the first time in years. Each player saw 6 targets and caught 5 passes against the Jets, and could be similarly busy -- and perhaps more productive -- against the Eagles.
The Eagles have struggled against the pass (while stuffing opposing run games), and they've been particularly bad against wide receivers. They've allowed 11 TDs to wideouts in six games -- nearly 2 per game. That's tops in the league.
| DEFENSES VERSUS WRS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Defense | PTD | WR |
| Philadelphia | 13 | 11 |
| Atlanta | 15 | 10 |
| Washington | 14 | 10 |
| Miami | 14 | 9 |
| Houston | 11 | 8 |
| NY Giants | 10 | 8 |
| Oakland | 11 | 8 |
| Arizona | 16 | 7 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 7 |
| New Orleans | 8 | 7 |
| Tampa Bay | 11 | 7 |
| Cleveland | 12 | 6 |
| Kansas City | 8 | 6 |
| LA Rams | 9 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh | 10 | 6 |
| Jacksonville | 8 | 5 |
| LA Chargers | 10 | 5 |
| Baltimore | 6 | 4 |
| Carolina | 7 | 4 |
| Cincinnati | 8 | 4 |
| Detroit | 6 | 4 |
| Green Bay | 6 | 4 |
| Indianapolis | 10 | 4 |
| NY Jets | 5 | 4 |
| San Francisco | 5 | 4 |
| Seattle | 8 | 4 |
| Tennessee | 8 | 4 |
| Chicago | 4 | 3 |
| Dallas | 5 | 3 |
| Denver | 4 | 2 |
| Buffalo | 3 | 1 |
| New England | 1 | 1 |
Like a lot of Index readers, I think, I have a couple of wideouts on byes this week -- guys like Chris Godwin, DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel. I'm looking at wide receivers in free agency, with the likes of Austin and Wilson high on the list.
--Andy Richardson