The Cowboys will be without wide receiver Miles Austin and cornerback Mike Jenkins again on Thursday.
Both players are sidelined with hamstring injuries that have kept them out of the lineup for quite some time. It is the third straight week that Austin has been out after he reaggravated an injury suffering his second hamstring injury of the season. The Cowboys offense hasn’t missed him much in the last two games, but it could be a different story against a Dolphins defense that’s been playing very well recently.
Jenkins is out for the fourth straight game, leaving Terence Newman and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback once again. Rob Ryan has expressed some dissatisfaction with his defense and they’d certainly be in better shape if Jenkins was 100 percent in the secondary.
The Cowboys will also be without fullback Tony Fiammetta and that might be the guy they miss the most on Thursday. The Cowboys run game was less effective against the Redskins than it had been in previous weeks, a run that coincided with both DeMarco Murray’s ascension and Fiammetta’s insertion into the lineup. It may be a case of correlation rather than causation, but the team did seem to miss him as a run blocker last week.