The Dallas Cowboys lost to the New York Giants and fell behind in the NFC East race but they lost something a lot bigger than one win and a temporary lead in the division. DeMarco Murray's rookie year might be over with after he left in the first quarter of the game with an ankle sprain.
The injury is the dreaded high ankle sprain as well as a fracture to the ankle and will almost surely end the promising young runner's season. It looks like Phillip Tanner's move to injured reserve might come back to bite the Cowboys, who now find themselves with Felix Jones as the only healthy experienced running back on the roster.
The loss of Murray will do more to damage the Cowboys' playoff hopes than any loss to the Giants could.
The injury is also a painful reminder to Murray's fans to the dangers of relying on him too much. Dallas' fans might not know too much about his history, looking at the big, bruising back as a nice replacement for the small, brittle Felix Jones. That is not entirely true.
In his redshirt freshman year of 2007, Murray suffered a dislocated knee cap in the Oklahoma Sooners' 11th game of the season and missed the remainder of their games. In 2008, Murray missed the national championship game when he ruptured his left hamstring tendon in the Big 12 title game. After battling injuries in his first two seasons, he avoided them in his junior season but was banged up regularly in his senior year.
He has been tabbed as injury prone, but all three injuries, this one included, ending his seasons are pretty serious. It happens to the best of players, as evident with Adrian Peterson in Minnesota this season. Despite his myriad of injuries, he still managed to break Oklahoma's all-purpose yardage record so I wouldn't be too worried about him in a Dallas uniform.
The big problem is for Dallas, who needs to find a replacement to back up Jones quickly. Don't question their release of Tashard Choice earlier in the year because they need someone who won't fumble every game. Maybe Tiki Barber is still looking for a job.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
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