Cowboys dealing with COVID outbreak two weeks before season

The Dallas Cowboys are battling a COVID outbreak two weeks before the regular season starts.

With only two weeks before the start of the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys are battling a bit of a COVID-19 outbreak internally.

Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports the coaching staff conducted meetings virtually on Sunday to combat the outbreak. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was sent home ahead of last week’s preseason game due to being a close contact. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and safeties Malik Hooker and rookie Israel Mukuamu have been placed in COVID-19 protocol.

Dallas plays its preseason finale on Sunday afternoon vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars in Arlington.

Dallas Cowboys are dealing with a COVID outbreak right before the season

On paper, the Cowboys should have the best team in the NFC East. Anything short of a division crown would be seen as a massive failure for this team. Mike McCarthy would not be getting a third year at the helm if Dallas comes up painfully short again this year. If all goes well for Dallas, the Cowboys can get finally back to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1995.

Overall, there are no excuses for the Cowboys to disappoint this season. They have a franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott, who is the best signal-caller in an incredibly weak division. Well-run organizations will find a way to take advantage of the rest of the division either being down or in a state of flux. Should Dallas miss the playoffs, it has to be seen as an organizational indictment.

Once again, teams with lower vaccination rates will be operating at a competitive disadvantage.