Malik Move: What’s Cowboys Plan for Playing Hooker?

The Cowboys would love to have Hooker win the starting free safety job, but …

OXNARD - Malik Hooker’s time his coming. And the Dallas Cowboys are inching toward a plan.

“We’re going to advance him. Exactly how much hasn’t been set yet,” coach Mike McCarthy said as the team returned here to training camp in Oxnard. “We have a staff meeting ... Once we get all the medical in, we’ll make those decisions.”

Hooker, the former Colts first-round star signed this summer by Dallas as a vet-minimum free agent, did not suit up for the team during Thursday’s 16-3 Hall of Fame Game loss to the Steelers at Canton. He is itching to play - “For me,'' Hooker insisted, "it ain't about what I got to prove. It’s about me staying available and stay healthy at this point.'' - but he’s also quick to add a concern, as he notes frankly that he hasn’t played in an NFL game in a year.

Additionally, there are the “medicals” referred to by McCarthy. He missed nearly all of the 2020 season after tearing an Achilles.

The Cowboys have today’s Saturday practice against the Rams and then three more preseason contests: at the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 13, vs. the Houston Texans on Aug. 21, and vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 29. The Cowboys would love to have Hooker win the starting free safety job, but when they open the NFL regular season against the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, Sept. 9, they’d also like to know that Hooker is healthy and ready.