Malik Davis was carted off practice on Friday with a hip injury, and the move that followed was even worse for the Dallas Cowboys: he will need surgery on Saturday and is headed to season-ending injured reserve.
That is why Pat Bryant is drawing attention now in Frisco. The injury wipes out the back who had been expected to open the season as No. 2 behind Javonte Williams, a role Davis had earned in a close competition and one the Cowboys were counting on before Sunday against the Giants.
Stephen Jones did not soften the blow. He called it “very disappointing” and said Davis had “done everything the right way,” adding that the back had “come from nowhere to be our No. 2 back” and had done it the hard way. Jones also said he believes Davis is dealing with a serious injury and that the team is left, as he put it, with “next man up.”
The timing matters because the Cowboys were already shaping the offense around Davis. They had considered him part of the game plan for Sunday, and the injury now forces a fast rethink of the backfield. Dallas added Emari Demercado as the third back for depth and special teams help, but Davis going down changes the pecking order immediately.
That leaves one obvious question hanging over the roster move. The Cowboys could use a game-day elevation for Israel Abanikanda or put him on the active roster, and either path points to a backfield that has to be rebuilt in a hurry. With Davis out, Demercado and Abanikanda are the names most likely to absorb the carries and the roster pressure.
Davis’s rise made the loss sting harder. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2022, played in 12 games as a rookie and rushed for 161 yards, then spent the next two seasons on the practice squad before returning to the Cowboys in mid-camp last year. He backed up Javonte Williams last season, rushed for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and had his only 100-yard game with 103 yards. Now that climb has been halted before the season even starts, and the Cowboys have to decide whether to lean on Demercado, bring up Abanikanda, or keep searching for another answer after Saturday.
