'Question Mark?' Dallas Cowboys Reveal LB Leighton Vander Esch Injury Update

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch suffered a neck injury in Week 5, but four weeks later, Stephen Jones' injury update didn't provide much confidence.

The Dallas Cowboys came up just short of beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. 

Losing 28-23 on a chaotic final drive made Week 9’s loss the type that makes one wonder how infinitesimal changes could have had a cascading effect on the day’s events.

What if the officiating was better, or quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t step out of bounds? What if starting middle linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was healthy?

Sunday epitomized football’s tendency to be a game of inches, and any number of factors could have shifted the balance of power in the NFC East. It’d be disingenuous to imply that the Dallas defense was collapsing in on itself without Vander Esch, but when things are so close, it certainly stings that he wasn’t able to get a chance to make an impact.

Vander Esch makes a tackle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers / © Tim Heitman, USA TODAY

The neck injury he suffered in Week 5 landed him on the injured reserve, meaning he was never going to play in the Week 9 contest. By rule, he has to miss at least four games.

The Cowboys are 2-1 in the three games he has missed, briefly interrupted by a bye week. They’ll have to get back on track soon to keep pace in the NFC, but it seems like they’ll be doing so without Vander Esch’s services.

Dallas executive vice president Stephen Jones spoke on 105.3 The Fan on Monday and gave an update on the linebacker’s injury.

“That’s still a question mark as to when or will he come back this year,” Jones said. “I think that’s a work in progress. But it certainly won’t be next week, or for that matter, probably (not) in the next couple of weeks.”

It’s hard to be optimistic about the linebacker’s short-term future with a delicately phrased “he isn’t close to coming back.”

Vander Esch has had a number of neck injuries dating back to his college days, perhaps prompting further caution on the Cowboys’ part. His replacements have come in a handful of shapes and sizes, including hybrid Markquese Bell, safety Juanyeh Thomas, and linebacker Damone Clark. They’ve largely played pretty well in mitigating Vander Esch’s absence.

With the lowly New York Giants and Carolina Panthers next on the schedule, there’s a decent chance the linebacker’s absence won’t be noticed.

In Week 14, though, Philadelphia visits Dallas in what could be the last chance, albeit small, of winning the division or proving they can play with the big kids in the NFC. It sure would be nice to be fully healthy for that contest.