The Cowboys have gotten used to adjusting this year, so from one standpoint, replacing Lance Dunbar is nothing new.
But the loss of yet another offensive weapon is still something they’ll have to adjust to.
According to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com, the Cowboys running back suffered a torn ACL and a partially torn MCL in his left knee in Sunday’s loss to the Saints.
Dunbar already had 21 catches for 215 yards, a career high. He had popped a 45-yard run earlier in the game against the Saints and had five carries for 67 yards for the season.
As far as his role in the offense, there’s not a like-for-like replacement on hand, but with Joseph Randle (as long as he stops leaping over piles), Darren McFadden and Christine Michael in the backfield, they’re covered there. It’s his role as a pass-catcher that will demand some changes, with wide receiver Lucky Whitehead possibly becoming more of a factor.
“One of the things we really pride ourselves on as coaches, and I think what [offensive coordinator] Scott Linehan does such a great job of is using the personnel that we have,” Garrett said. “Lance was a weapon for us and we tried to use him as a weapon in a lot of different ways to impact our offense and impact the game. To say we have someone in house who is going to do those same kinds of things, I don’t know that we have somebody like that, but we have guys in house who can do different things, and hopefully we’ll play to those strengths.”
It might take more than one guy to do it, as Dunbar was also third on the team in special teams tackles, the kind of versatile player it’s hard to replace. Even for a team that’s lost so many player-games to injury already.