The Cowboys have placed 32-year old punter Mat McBriar on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a left foot injury.  McBriar played in 14 games for the Cowboys this year and he has punted the ball 58 times for 2,542 yards (43.8 avg).  He had 7 touchbacks (12.1%) and pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 21 times (36.2%).  The Cowboys have promoted 22-year old punter Chris Jones from the practice squad.  Jones played in 1 game earlier this year for the Cowboys and he punted the ball 4 times for 172 yards (43.0 avg).  He didn’t have any touchbacks and he pinned the oppositon inside their own 20-yard line 2 times.  The Cowboys better hope that Jones is ready for prime time tomorrow night because he’s going to have a huge role in this game.

The Dallas Cowboys have lost 23-year old rookie RB DeMarco Murray for the rest of the year after breaking his right ankle last night against the Giants.  Murray played in 13 games for the Cowboys this year and he carried the ball 164 times for 897 yards (5.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Murray also caught 26 passes for 183 yards (7.0 avg) for the Cowboys this year.  Murray was very impressive this year and it’s a shame to see his season end this way.  The Cowboys will give the starting RB job back to 24-year old Felix Jones.  Jones has played in 9 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has carried the ball 90 times for 413 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 23 passes for 151 yards (6.6 avg) so far this year.  Jones will do a good job as the main back the rest of this season for the Cowboys.

There is a unwritten rule of sports that you can’t lose your starting job due to injury.  But, back in the day, Wally Pipp was the starting 1B of the New York Yankees.  He got injured and Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig took his job while he was out of action.  Fast forward to 2011……Felix Jones was the starting RB of the Dallas Cowboys until he got injured.  Rookie DeMarco Murray replaced him and took his starting job.  Jones is going to have to work hard to get the ball much the rest of the year.  Jones has played in 8 games for the Cowboys so far this year in which he has carried the ball 74 times for 307 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 17 passes for 120 yards (7.1 avg).  The Cowboys have started using Jones on kickoff returns in an effort to get him the ball more.  He has returned 7 kickoffs for 186 yards (26.6 avg) so far this year.  Unless DeMarco Murray gets injured, Jones isn’t going to get his starting job back this year.

45-year old head coach Jason Garrett seems get the Cowboys to beat the teams they should, while losing to most of the decent teams they have played.  The one exception is that the Cowboys are the only team to beat the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers.  The other three teams the Cowboys have beaten have a combined record of 6-18 (25%) so far this year.  The Cowboys are 4-4 on the season and they are now 9-7 (56.3%) in the regular season in Garrett’s first two years on the job.  Owner Jerry Jones expects the Cowboys to get back to the playoffs this year, so the pressure is on Garrett to produce wins with more frequency.

The Cowboys will be without starting WR Miles Austin for the next 2-4 weeks due to a hamstring injury.  Austin has played in six games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has caught 28 passes for 403 yards (14.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Laurent Robinson will be counted on to start and pick up the slack while Austin is out of action.  Robinson has played in six games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has caught 24 passes for 368 yards (15.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The bigger problem for the Cowboys will be replacing Robinson in his role as the #3 WR.

The Dallas Cowboys need more help out of their return game.  Rookie Dwayne Harris has been cut.  He returned 3 kickoffs for 74 yards (24.7 avg) and 11 punts for 73 yards (6.6 avg) for the Cowboys this year.  Bryan McCann is now playing for the Ravens.  He returned 1 kickoff for 26 yards and 2 punts for 13 yards (6.5 avg) in his time with the Cowboys.  WR Kevin Ogletree has been getting in on the action lately as he has returned 3 kickoffs for 50 yards (16.7 avg) and 2 punts for 35 yards (17.5 avg).  WR Dez Bryant has returned 2 punts for 19 yards (9.5 avg) so far this year.  The Cowboys don’t want to use him returning punts as he is way too valuable on offense.  Sean Lissemore (1 kickoff return for 38 yards), RB DeMarco Murray (2 returns for 36 yards) and John Phillips (1 return for 16 yards) have also helped out on kickoff returns for the Cowboys so far this year.  The Cowboys have returned 11 kickoffs for 240 yards (21.8 avg) and they have also returned 17 punts for 140 yards (8.2 avg) so far this year.

The Cowboys have lost 26-year old, starting QB Mike Jenkins for the next 3-4 weeks due to a right hamstring strain.  Jenkins has played in 7 games for the Cowboys this year and he has 18 tackles, 7 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He will be replaced in the starting lineup by 24-year old Orlando Scandrick.  Scandrick has played in 4 games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has 13 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  The Cowboys better hope that Jenkins is a quick healer.

The Dallas Cowboys will be without 24-year old, starting RB Felix Jones for the next 2-4 weeks due to injury (ankle sprain).  Jones has played in all five games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has carried the ball 64 times for 255 yards (4.0 ypc) and he has 1 TD run.  Jones has also caught 14 passes for 105 yards (7.5 avg) so far this year for the Cowboys.  23-year old rookie DeMarco Murray and 26-year old Tashard Choice will have to hold the fort at RB until Jones is ready to return to action.  Murray has played in all five games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has carried the ball 24 times for 71 yards (3.0 ypc).  He has also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg) so far this year.  He is likely to get the shot for most of the carries this weekend against the Rams.  Tashard Choice has played in all five games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has carried the ball 26 times for 67 yards (2.6 ypc).  He has also caught 11 passes for 71 yards (6.5 avg) so far this year for the Cowboys.  The Cowboys are a pass first team, so they should be able to cover for the loss of Jones until he’s ready to return to action.

The Cowboys need 31-year old Tony Romo to quit being so helter skelter on the field.  Romo has played in all four games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has completed 99 of 152 passes (65.1%) for 1,273 yards with 7 TD passes and 5 INTs (92.9 QB Rating).  Romo has also carried the ball 5 times for 8 yards (1.6 ypc) so far this year.  The Cowboys need Romo to start playing better in the second half of games, as he cost them games against the Jets and Lions with really poor play.  The Cowboys can’t win with the “bad” version of Romo, so he needs to step up.

The Cowboys will likely be without starting WR Miles Austin until week #6, due to a serious hamstring injury.  Austin has played in both games for the Cowboys so far this year and he has caught 14 passes for 233 yards (16.6 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Cowboys are likely going to look to TE Jason Witten and WR Dez Bryant a lot more until Austin is ready to return to action.  The Cowboys will also need 27-year old WR Jesse Holley and 24-year old WR Kevin Ogletree to step up while  Austin is out of action.  Holley (3 rec, 96 yards, 32.0 avg) and Kevin Ogletree (4 rec, 62 yards, 15.5 avg) have played well so far this year and the Cowboys hope they keep up the good work.