Cowboys Announce Brutal Injury News Before Giants Game

The Dallas Cowboys entered the weekend with a backfield plan that finally seemed settled. Javonte Williams would carry the load, and Malik Davis, after years of bouncing between the practice squad and the active roster, had earned the job as his primary complement. That plan lasted until Friday practice in Frisco.

Davis suffered a hip injury serious enough that he was carted off the field, and by Saturday the organization confirmed both the medical and roster consequences.

He underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve, via the NFL transaction log. Israel Abanikanda was signed from the practice squad to take his place on the 53-man roster.

The timing is especially cruel because Davis had just won the role. An undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2022, he spent four seasons proving he belonged in Dallas. He was waived and re-signed more than once, including a futures deal last January followed by another cut after the draft.

Last season, he finally forced his way into meaningful work, appearing in 10 games with 52 carries for 250 yards and two touchdowns, plus a pair of receptions. A 103-yard Christmas Day outing against Washington was the clearest sign that the coaching staff trusted him.

He then beat out drafted backs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah in camp. For a player who had spent so long on the fringe, 2026 was supposed to be the first year he started as a featured piece of the offense rather than an emergency option.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones called the injury “pretty serious” and said the team was disappointed for Davis. Injured reserve requires a minimum four-game absence, but hip surgery typically means a much longer wait.

For practical purposes, Dallas is moving forward without him for the foreseeable future, including Sunday night against the New York Giants.

The immediate depth chart now runs through Williams, with Emari Demercado as the likely change-of-pace back. Demercado was claimed off waivers in late August after time in Arizona, where offensive coordinator Klayton Adams previously coached.

Abanikanda, a 2023 fifth-round pick of the Jets out of Pittsburgh, adds size and burst after stops with San Francisco and Green Bay. He joined Dallas’s practice squad last year and impressed enough in camp to stay in the building.

Whether he is active on game days or used mainly as insurance remains to be seen, but the Cowboys now have three running backs plus fullback Hunter Luepke heading to New York.

Injuries in September often reshape a season more than they appear to at first glance. Davis’s absence does not change the identity of the Dallas run game while Williams is healthy, but it removes a reliable veteran who had already shown he could produce when given volume.

For Davis himself, the story is familiar and unfinished: another climb from the practice squad, another chance earned the hard way, and another setback just as the door opened.

The Cowboys will try to replace the production. Replacing the path that got him there is harder.