Cowboys ‘counting on’ Tony Pollard despite second straight missed practice
The Tennessee Titans are wrestling with whether to dress Derrick Henry and some of their other star players for Thursday night’s game against the Cowboys.
Now it appears that Dallas may also have a Top-10 running back on the bubble for the Week 17 primetime tilt.
Tony Pollard appeared on Monday’s practice report with a thigh issue and was not spotted by reporters at the open portion of Tuesday’s practice, leaving many observers wondering about his status for the upcoming game in Nashville after two straight DNPs.
Onwer Jerry Jones, for one, had been confident during a Tuesday morning radio appearance.
“He looks good for the game,” Jones told Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan. “I know it’s a short week, but we don’t have him down as something that — we’re counting on him playing.”
Pollard currently sits ninth in the league in rushing yards, with 988, and is averaging an impressive 5.3 yards per carry. He was named to his first Pro Bowl last week.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was also nonchalant about Pollard’s availability for Thursday night’s matchup against the stingy Titans run defense, saying in a pre-practice press conference that he expected Pollard to participate, even though the session was slated to be on the lighter side, given the short week.
“We’re not doing a whole lot, but he’ll be a part of it,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning at The Star. “We’re going to go more just individual, more perimeter things. We’re going to go the pace that we went yesterday. Tony will be part of it, but I do want to make sure Malik gets some work there, too.”
And yet, Pollard was not part of it, at least that reporters in attendance could see.
Third-string back Malik Davis has 103 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries in his rookie season. The undrafted free agent out of Florida has played sparingly in 2022, seeing a season-high 19 offensive snaps in Week 8’s romp over Chicago.
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