Dallas, TX
How Mike Zimmer, Cowboys plan to compensate for absence of Dallas’ defensive ‘motor’
FRISCO — DeMarcus Lawrence had his leg resting on a scooter and took off for the training room the moment reporters entered the locker room.
Micah Parsons wasn’t as quick. He was sitting in front of his locker, putting on a protective boot for his high ankle sprain, when he was surrounded.
“Yeah, it’s time to man up,” Parsons said. “For sure.
“I’m very confident in these guys.”
Next man up is a phrase uttered in every NFL locker room once a player goes down. Losing players to injury over the course of a season is inevitable.
But compensating for the absences of Parsons and Lawrence is a big ask for this Dallas defense.
Parsons is one of the league’s elite pass rushers. His injury typically takes two to four weeks. Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys are preparing to face Pittsburgh this weekend without their best defensive player.
Lawrence will be out even longer. The veteran defensive end suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot. It won’t require surgery, but several people with knowledge of Lawrence’s status put the timetable for his return at four to eight weeks, with the back of that range the more likely target.
Dallas will place Lawrence on injured reserve in the coming days, meaning he will miss a minimum of four games, a person with knowledge of the club’s thinking told The Dallas Morning News. Discussions are ongoing, but the plan for now is to elevate defensive end Carl Lawson from the practice squad for Sunday’s game and bring in several players for a workout.
None come close to what Parsons and Lawrence bring to this defense.
“Those are two dynamic guys,” defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said. “Good leaders, good team guys.
“We’ll have to make some adjustments and see how it goes.”
Parsons is a focal point for every opponent. Accounting for where he lines up and how to neutralize him is where the offensive game plan starts.
The Steelers won’t have that concern. There’s no one player the Cowboys can plug into his hybrid role. Zimmer said he will just have to figure out how he intends to use other players and come up with a plan that plays to their strengths.
It will be a collective effort, not an individual one.
“That’s it,” McCarthy said. “It’s not like you take one player and put him in and give him the exact same responsibility in reps that Micah had or what D-Law had. It’s going to be a combination of things.
“You let the game plan bring that to light.”
The injuries open the door for rookie Marshawn Kneeland and veteran Chauncey Golston to move into the starting lineup.
The Cowboys took Kneeland in the second round to be Lawrence’s heir apparent. It turns out his time is sooner than later.
The Western Michigan defensive lineman has gotten off to a good start. But he’ll get even more snaps now.
“He’s a hard playing dude, likes to get physical,” Zimmer said. “He’s very coachable and soaks up a lot of the coaching.
“He’s a really good guy. I’m glad we got him.”
Parsons talked to Kneeland on Friday and told the rookie he was going to need to step up until he was able to return. Kneeland took it the wrong way, thinking that Parsons was questioning whether or not he was ready for the added responsibility.
“You don’t understand,” Parsons responded. “When I say step up I don’t mean just playing.
“Like you got to lead now. You lost your two veterans. You got to lead, you got to carry these guys. You got to communicate, talk to them, like bring these other guys with you.
“You’ve got to be the guy for us.”
Golston has bounced from inside to outside in his four years with the Cowboys. In the words of McCarthy, the defensive lineman has worn a lot of hats.
He’s a defensive end now. Golston has played the run well from that spot but his pass rush has been limited.
“He’s going to get some more playing time and get more opportunities in the passing game,” Zimmer said.
Golston has just 4.5 sacks for his career. One of those came this season. Parsons said his teammate reminds him of former NFL defensive end Cameron Wake in terms of his build and wingspan.
“With his length and ability and the way he can pass rush, being able to utilize it, I think he can be very, very, very good,” Parsons said.
“Those long arms, the things he is able to do with them, he’s going to be very good. I’m excited to see how he performs.
“He’s always talking about waiting for his opportunity. He’s got one one. I’m waiting to see it.”
Lawson will be part of the rotation on the outside along with Tyrus Wheat. Since Lawson will be out of elevations after Sunday’s game, he’ll need to be placed on the active roster going forward. That leaves a spot on the practice squad to bring in another player.
But replacing Parsons and Lawrence? That won’t happen.
“Those guys are the motor,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “They make this thing go. Especially when we’ve got guys that make players like that. It’s contagious how they play.
“It’s definitely hard and we’re gonna have to find ways to supplement that because there’s no way you can replace it. So you gotta go out there and find ways to attack offenses you know, without those guys.”
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Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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