The Cowboys' Monday injury briefing was as much a roster strategy session as a medical update. Safety Malik Hooker will have forearm surgery Tuesday after a confirmed fracture from Sunday's loss to the Giants, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown is dealing with a hamstring strain.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer projected both absences in roughly a one-to-two-week range - and the early indication is that neither player is headed to injured reserve.
That choice is deliberate. An IR designation would remove each player for at least four games. By holding them on the active roster while they heal, Dallas keeps open the chance to regain a starting communicator at linebacker and a veteran safety before the schedule hardens further.
Why the next two opponents force the bet
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium (3:25 p.m. CT, FOX), then travels to Rio de Janeiro for a Week 3 meeting with the Baltimore Ravens. A four-game IR stint would wipe out both of those contests and more.
Schottenheimer's language on Hooker - that the fracture "doesn't require as long a period of time" and that the staff is "hoping it's a two-week window" - is the public case for staying flexible.
Overshown's update was similarly short-term: a strain, "one to two weeks as well," and "nothing long term," Schottenheimer said via the team's official site. ESPN's Todd Archer reported the same core timeline and noted the club expects to be without both contributors for the next stretch while still avoiding IR.
Depth has to cover the gap either way
Avoiding IR does not put Hooker or Overshown on the field Sunday. It only preserves the roster math while P.J. Locke absorbs Hooker's sub-package snaps and Caleb Downs stays nearer the line of scrimmage - the alignment Schottenheimer described Monday.
