Felix Jones has been missing practice all week and his availability for the Dallas Cowboys' Saturday night game is questionable. That would be frightening for Dallas since that would only leave them with Sammy Morris, who has only been on the roster for just over a week.
Luckily, Dallas' running backs coach Skip Peete said he expects to see Jones play against the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
The fact that it is a hamstring is scary for Dallas fans who just recently got wide receiver Miles Austin back from two different hamstring injuries. If Jones goes down against the Eagles, and misses the next week's game with the Giants, Dallas could find their season coming to an end sooner than they hoped.
There is no way that Jones can be expected to carry a heavy load against Philadelphia and that means Morris needs to play just like he did against Tampa Bay. Morris, at 34 years old, is not an every down back either. If Jones is limited and Morris gets more carries than the Cowboys feel comfortable with, Dallas might need to throw the ball a lot more.
Of course, last time Dallas faced the Eagles, DeMarco Murray was coming off a 253 yard performance and the Cowboys only gave him eight carries against the Eagles. There were no real injury problems since Dallas had two capable backs in the game but they still threw the ball 35 times and the Eagles blew out the Cowboys.
Like it or not, when Dallas runs the ball less than 20 times a game, they lose. They beat San Francisco without a running game, but that is the only way to beat the 49ers. Dallas needs to make it through Philadelphia, and if the Giants lost to the Jets, the win would clinch the NFL East title.
Dallas needs their running game on Saturday. I am just worried that Jones won't be able to deliver.
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
