P.J. Locke Is Out for the 49ers Game: a Second Concussion in Nine Days, and a Busy Week in the Cowboys' Training Room
Two days after clearing the protocol, P.J. Locke was concussed again in Indianapolis. Brian Schottenheimer ruled him out for Sunday on Monday — and added that Jake Ferguson and Tyler Goodson should both miss multiple weeks.
The cruelest line on the Cowboys' Monday injury list was the first name on it. Safety P.J. Locke will not be available for Sunday's home game against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday at The Star, according to the Dallas Sports Journal's file, read in full by this desk. Locke suffered a concussion in Sunday's 27-23 win in Indianapolis — his second in nine days. He and rookie Caleb Downs were both concussed in the November 1 overtime loss to Arizona, both cleared the league protocol on Friday, and with 2:10 left on Sunday, Locke went down on a running play and did not come back from this one.
Schottenheimer walked through the sequence without hedging on the process or the person. "Cleared the protocol, and unfortunate, happy he's doing good today," he said Monday. "But no, we went through the protocol, was totally cleared, and thankfully he's okay." Locke's season has been a study in interruption: a foot injury sent him to injured reserve on September 26 and cost him five games, he returned against Arizona and was concussed in that game, cleared, played in Indianapolis and was concussed again. Dallas signed him to a one-year contract in March after seven seasons in Denver, where Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker coached the secondary.
Locke was only the head of Monday's list. "Busy week in the training room for us," Schottenheimer said. "P.J. Locke will not be available this week. Jake Ferguson and Tyler Goodson should both miss multiple weeks. We're working through that. And then most everybody else, we'll see how they do. Ezeiruaku, he's got an ankle sprain." Ferguson left Indianapolis with a stinger and then a knee injury; Goodson's knee injury, suffered in the game where he ran for a career-high 77 yards against his former team, now carries a multiple-week expectation that extends this desk's Monday file. All of it lands in front of the wrong visitor: the 7-1 49ers at AT&T Stadium on Sunday at 3:25 p.m. Central on FOX, opening a three-game homestand for the 4-5 Cowboys, with Tennessee visiting November 22 and Philadelphia coming in on Thanksgiving.
