OXNARD, Calif. — Another day, another bite from the injury bug to the Dallas Cowboys’ roster. Though they’re certainly grateful to have dodged a torn ACL scare from starting left tackle Tyler Guyton, they’ll be without him for 4-6 weeks, and that timeline could now be true for Caelen Carson as well.
The second-year cornerback suffered a hyperextended knee in padded practice on Monday, and could miss upwards of the next two months. The timing of the injury, similarly to Guyton’s, does give him a chance at being available for the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, however, barring a setback.
That said, Carson will miss valuable time in camp and throughout the entire preseason, and at a position the Cowboys can ill afford to lose bodies.
Trevon Diggs and Josh Butler are currently on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, and rookie third-round pick Shavon Revel is working his way from the NFI (non-football injury) list, making the loss of Carson for the remainder of camp a much bigger issue.
To try and resolve that issue, the Cowboys worked out and eventually signed Christian Matthew, a former seventh-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals out of Valdosta State (2022) who earned First-team All-GSC honors in 2021. Matthew isn’t completely unfamiliar to some of the Cowboys’ staff, considering he had a short stay with the Chicago Bears during the Matt Eberflus era before going on to suit up for the Ravens.
As such, he and Eberflus will be reunited in Oxnard.
They had an impromptu and unofficial talk with Stephon Gilmore this offseason, but there is currently nothing brewing and/or imminent with the former Defensive Player of the Year.
For Carson, the mission is simple: get healthy and hopefully stay that way. Having suffered a season-ending shoulder surgery that derailed his rookie season, the Cowboys are expecting to see a step forward from him in Year 2 — depth at cornerback being a major concern in Dallas, particularly considering Andrew Booth also exited practice on Monday for an issue that is unknown at this time.
Kaiir Elam is having a standout camp to complement All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, so there is at least a glimmer of light peeking through that dark.
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