FRISCO, Texas — As the NFL and the sports world is reeling due a surge in COVID-19 positive tests over the past couple of weeks, the Dallas Cowboys, who at one time led the NFL in players who missed games due to the virus, seem to be on the other side of the spectrum.
Although defensive line coach Aden Durde and assistant special teams coach Matt Daniels tested positive over the past couple of days, the Cowboys have had no positive tests among their players this week.
And the two players who missed last week’s game with COVID-19 are on their way back. Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuma returned to practice on Wednesday and Trysten Hill should be back Thursday or Friday.
With three games left in the regular season and a trip to the playoffs on the horizon, the Cowboys are taking no chances. The team has gone to a fully virtual status at the team’s headquarters at and and has uniformly decided to cancel all Christmas visits with family and friends.
At 10-4, the Cowboys can clinch the NFC East title with a win against the Washington Football Team Sunday night at AT&T Stadium. But more importantly, the Cowboys, who are riding a three-game winning streak, are still in the running for the No. 1 seed and the spoils that go with it — the lone first-round bye during the wild-card weekend of Jan. 15-17 and playing only home games until the Super Bowl in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.
Coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys are doing all they can to stay ahead of COVID-19 and hopefully prevent it from wrecking a potentially special season.
And that’s why the Cowboys have added protections that go beyond the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
“Going to virtual this week was self-imposed. We don’t have to do this,” McCarthy said. “So, we’re doing it because we’re trying to get in front of [it]. I think our players have done a really good job testing both family and friends. ... My view is if we can take this week and really increase the safety and get their home space in a better situation, hopefully we can stay in front of this challenge with COVID. That’s why we went to the virtual.”
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said the Cowboys have decided as a team to ask friends and family to stay home for the holidays, in an attempt to keep the players (and their loved ones) and out of harm’s way during this COVID surge.
“People got to stay home this year,” Lawrence said. “We gotta make that sacrifice again. ... We just got to do whatever it takes to make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”
Running back Ezekiel Elliott said the awareness for the COVID protocols are as high as they’ve ever been at Cowboys headquarters. He said the team is focused on extending their winning streak and getting their offense back on track before the playoffs.
Elliott said they don’t need any more players missing time due to the pandemic.
“With the meat of the schedule coming to a point, we need everyone here,” Elliott said. “We need to start getting this thing back moving, how we had it early in the season. We are going to need everybody back to do that.”
The Cowboys can look no further than Washington, Sunday’s opponent, to see how COVID can wreck a team’s playoff chances.
After having 23 players on the COVID list at one point last week, Washington saw the NFL move its game with the Philadelphia Eagles from last Sunday to Tuesday.
Washington still had 16 players and seven assistant coaches on the reserve/COVID list when the game kicked off Tuesday night, including it’s top two quarterbacks in Taylor Heinecke and Kyle Allen.
Former Cowboys backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who was signed off the New England Patriots practice squad last Friday, got the start on short notice in the 27-17 loss that all but knocked Washington (6-8) out of playoff contention.
It is still unknown if Heinecke or Allen will be available for Sunday’s game. It’s a contest that comes with just four days rest for those who played Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys are encouraging their vaccinated players and staff to get the booster shot, showing them a four-minute video on the importance of doing so in Wednesday’s team meeting.
“We always continue to educate our players and coaches on what’s available,” McCarthy said.
“It plays a big part in our safety and our family’s safety,” Lawrence said. “We have to still be aware of our surroundings and make sure we’re masked up and do everything possible to keep everybody safe around us.
It’s also why Lawrence is now wearing a mask again for interviews with the media, even though they are held outdoors and masks aren’t required.
“Oh, yeah, most definitely,” he said. “Just trying to stay safe, keep y’all safe and make sure we’re in a good space.”
The Cowboys feel good about where they stand with COVID as the season comes to a close and they begin gearing up for the playoffs. All but two of their players are fully vaccinated. And those two — receiver Amari Cooper and linebacker Keanu Neal — have already contracted COVID-19 and now don’t need to be tested until after the Super Bowl, if they get that far.
“The fact that they’re doing some postponing shows that we all realize that we’re in a bit of a crisis right now,” said team owner Jerry Jones. “We’ve got a pretty inoculated population among our players between having had the COVID and being vaccinated. Our players for all practical purposes are vaccinated as far as I’m concerned, and the ones that haven’t vaccinated, have probably been exposed and maybe had the COVID.
“What we’re doing now to supplement and encourage them to get the booster shot, to encourage them to distance, what we’re practicing as, for example, as an example of what we’re practicing with our meetings, our virtual meetings, our meetings spread out. All of that will serve us well. I think we will have results from that.”
