The Dallas Cowboys need to beat the New York Giants. The team is quickly slipping in the NFC East standings and while it is still anyone's division to win the Cowboys have no momentum going in their favor. With injuries piling up on the roster, the Cowboys are hoping the return and rise of certain players help get a much needed Week 7 win. That includes getting Dez Bryant on the field and utilizing Christine Michael.
News around Bryant is slowly getting positive, but is still not enough to confirm that the wide receiver will be active in Week 7. According to head coach Jason Garrett, via ESPN.com, the receiver was running at full speed in practice and making his cuts on Thursday which is a positive sign for the player who broke his foot in the season opener. However, Garrett is still saying he needs to see more before letting Bryant on the field.
"Those are the facts," Garrett said, via ESPN.com. "When you look at the bone: Is this thing healed? Does it look better than the one you got last week or two weeks ago? All of those things are positive for him. You want that bone to heal fully. You need to be functional to go out and do the things necessary and certainly conditioning is a part of the whole thing. With an injury like that, you try to condition a lot of different ways."
For Garrett, one of his biggest things is chemistry with Matt Cassel. The quarterback did not join the roster until Tony Romo got hurt so he has no practice time with the receiver. The two have been working together this week, but the head coach noted that he is hesitant to put Bryant out there and have things go poorly for Cassel. With that, Terrance Williams and Jason Witten are still expected to have big Week 7 games in terms of fantasy.
Cassel will also rely heavily on the run game which might include Joseph Randle as the starter or Christine Michael. The former Seattle Seahawk has been taking reps with the first-team offense as coaches have praised what he brings to the field. However, the running back admits he really has no idea what his role on Sunday will be.
"I'm just as clueless as you are,'' Michael said, via DallasNews.com. "Those guys did say I'm going to get a little bit more carries, but we'll see on Sunday. I'm just going to help to do my part. Whatever that bigger part consists of, I'm going to just do what I have to do."
The Cowboys have benefitted from the fact that Michael, Randle and Darren McFadden are all different types of running backs. While McFadden and Randle find the edge, Michael shoots up the middle. That could allow Cassel to open up the playbook more in Week 7 as he makes his first start for the team.