The Dallas Cowboys announced Thursday that star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will miss the final two regular season games due to his lingering right shoulder injury suffered in early November.
Lamb was tackled hard on his ailing shoulder after a 52-yard catch in the second quarter against the Buccaneers on Sunday and underwent additional scans this week to determine the severity of the injury.
“He will undergo a process of treatment and rehabilitation for his shoulder, is not currently expected to require surgery and is projected to make a full recovery,” the team said.
With Lamb’s absence, Dallas will now be without six Week 1 starters — Lamb, Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, DeMarvion Overshown and Trevon Diggs — for Sunday’s road game against the Philadelphia Eagles. For the fourth consecutive season, Lamb’s 1,194 receiving yards will lead the team by a wide margin. Jalen Tolbert is the next closest Cowboys pass catcher at 482 yards through 15 games.
Lamb has produced no matter the QB
When Lamb wasn’t at today’s practice and didn’t speak with reporters after, like he usually does on Thursdays, it was a strong sign that he was probably not going to play Sunday. And with Dallas already eliminated from playoff contention, why keep having him play in significant pain? I do wonder if this would be the result if the Cowboys were competing for a playoff spot.
Despite being in noticeable pain from the sprained right AC joint, he was still producing at a high level. Over the last two weeks, Lamb became the first player in franchise history to record consecutive games with 100 yards receiving in the first half. It’s very impressive how Lamb went over 1,000 yards for the fourth consecutive year despite the injury and not having Prescott for the last seven games.
Micah Parsons had high praise for Lamb while talking in the locker room after today’s practice.
“He might be the best receiver I’ve seen,” Parsons said. “He’s QB-proof. I’ve seen him get 1,000 (yards) with Andy Dalton. I’ve seen him get 1,000 with Dak Prescott. I’ve seen him get 1,000 with Cooper Rush.
“You give grace to all these other wide receivers and say they’re not producing because they don’t have their quarterback. CeeDee has shown time and time again that he can do it with anybody throwing him the ball.” — Jon Machota, Cowboys staff writer
Young Cowboys receivers have an opportunity to step up
With Lamb out, the Cowboys will be able to get a good feel for what they have in the wide receiver room for 2025. Brandin Cooks, who is a 31-year-old veteran, is the only pending unrestricted free agent wide receiver currently on the Cowboys roster. KaVontae Turpin, who is primarily a special teams returner but has been getting more opportunities on offense lately, is a pending restricted free agent. Turpin is an interesting case because a lot of his value is dependent on how he is used within the offense and how much the offensive play-caller is able to get the ball to him in space. That means his value is also related to who is running the offense and calling the plays, which is a mystery right now for 2025 in Dallas.
Aside from Turpin, the other young receivers are all under contract for 2025. Tolbert, the team’s No. 3 receiver, was expected to make a big leap this year, but that never happened. Tolbert has had some standout moments, most notably his contested game-winning touchdown in Pittsburgh in Week 5, but hasn’t been able to string that together with any consistency. Still, having another year of Tolbert will be good for the Cowboys to evaluate him and see if they can at least get a quality No. 3 receiver, if not more, out of their 2022 third-round selection.
The Cowboys also have a couple of late-round receivers in the mix. Jalen Brooks was the team’s seventh-round pick in 2023 and has had a couple of plays here and there, but nothing that would guarantee him a roster spot in the future. He’s a favorite of Prescott, which certainly helps, but he’s going to have to show more on the field to lock up a role in any real way. He’s been dealing with an injury and missed last week’s game, but he needs to get healthy and show up in these last two games.
Ryan Flournoy, the Cowboys’ sixth-round pick this year, has more leash. He has tangible elements that the Cowboys like but hasn’t done enough to feel like he has a surefire role in 2025. As long as he develops well, he should be able to make the roster as a special teams contributor and a No. 5 or No. 6 receiver — but he can elevate that evaluation with a strong showing in these final two games.
The big question mark comes with Jonathan Mingo, the wide receiver that the Carolina Panthers drafted in the second round two years ago and who the Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick for at this year’s trade deadline. In six games in Dallas, Mingo has been targeted 11 times and has two catches for 10 yards. He played 34 percent of the offensive snaps in the Thanksgiving win over the New York Giants, which is his highest since coming to Dallas. Other than that, he’s never hit the 30 percent mark in offensive snaps and he hasn’t been targeted in the last two games, both Cowboys wins. Mingo’s acquisition was advertised as being a move for the future, as the Cowboys have control of him for the next two years on his rookie deal, but he needs to start showing some positive signs soon. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys staff writer
Required reading
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
