Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown set to return Monday night in Philadelphia
Dallas expects its defensive signal-caller back for the Week 7 trip to the Eagles, with Overshown in the mix to wear the green dot again after a hamstring absence
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Dallas is set to get its defensive quarterback back. DeMarvion Overshown is expected to return Monday night at Philadelphia, the linebacker's first action since the Cowboys' opener and a lift for a position group that has been thinned out by injury.
Jon Machota (@jonmachota): Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring) is expected to make his return Monday night at Philadelphia. Overshown: "I've definitely taken this rehab, this recovery, very serious. I've been trying to get back on the field since the week after I got out, so getting this opportunity to go this week. I'm thankful that I'm still able to get to do what I love." Overshown is in the mix to be back wearing the green dot
Overshown's return lands in the same week Dallas is bracing to be without other pieces of its defense. Coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters that Dee Winters, dealing with an Achilles strain, and KaVontae Turpin, who is managing injured ribs, are both likely to miss the Eagles game, while cornerback Cobie Durant is trending in the right direction on his hamstring but still needs to practice before he is cleared.
Winters' likely absence is the reason the linebacker room matters so much this week. Overshown stepped out of the lineup earlier this season and had already been ruled out of the Packers game in Week 6, so his return restores the Cowboys' most experienced option in the middle of the defense at the moment they need it most.
Just as significant is the communication piece. Overshown is in the mix to be back wearing the green dot, the designation that makes a defender responsible for relaying the play call and getting the front aligned. That job gets harder on the road in a divisional game, which is exactly the setting awaiting Dallas in Philadelphia.
Overshown's own accounting of the rehab, in the post above, describes a player who has been working back since shortly after the injury rather than easing in — a relevant detail for a linebacker whose value to this defense is tied to range and tackling volume.
The Cowboys still have to get through the week healthy enough to make the plan hold. Durant's practice participation will be the name to watch, and Turpin's ribs will affect both the offense and the return game if he cannot go. But the Overshown piece gives Dallas a defensive centerpiece back for a Monday night game that carries real weight in the NFC East race.