Cowboys get good news on Martin
Peterson expected to work out for injury plagued Redskins
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys got the good news they were expecting following a magnetic resonance imaging exam Sunday on the right knee of Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin.
Per a source, there was no structural damage and Martin will be ready for the Sept. 9 season opener against the Carolina Panthers.
Martin went down in the second quarter of Saturday’s 21-13 preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was initially diagnosed with a hyperextended knee after the game, but the Cowboys wanted to do an MRI to make sure it wasn’t anything more serious.
Owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett expressed optimism over the positive reports they were hearing on Martin but expressed caution until they got the official results from the MRI.
Martin will be ready for the season opener. But he is likely done for the preseason. He is not expected to play against the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s third game, and none of the starters will play in the preseason finale against the Houston Texans.
Kadeem Edwards replaced him against the Bengals and will likely start in his place against the Cardinals.
That would likely put two starting offensive linemen out until the season opener. Jones said Saturday night that he didn’t expect Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick back until the opener.
Frederick missed the Bengals game after going to see a specialist in Los Angeles last week because of stingers he was suffering at training camp. There are no long-term concerns, but Dr. Robert Watkins diagnosed rest to allow the inflammation in his neck to subside.
With Martin and Frederick out, might the Cowboys continue to keep running back Ezekiel Elliott in bubble wrap until the start of the regular season?
Jones said Saturday night that he didn’t need to see Elliott at all in the preseason and it had yet to be decided if he would play against the Cardinals Sunday. Elliott has sat out the first two preseason games.
REDSKINS: The search for another running back is in full swing at Redskins Park and a future Hall of Famer is scheduled to make a visit.
Seven-time Pro Bowler Adrian Peterson plans to work out for the team today, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, as the organization looks to replenish a position that’s been ravaged by injuries.
The Redskins only had three running backs — Rob Kelley, Kapri Bibbs and Chris Thompson — at the last two practices and are contemplating signing at least one more.
Rookie Derrius Guice was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason opener and both Samaje Perine (sprained ankle) and Byron Marshall (lower leg) were injured in the second preseason game Thursday and are expected to be out multiple weeks.
“We want to bring [Jamaal Charles and Peterson] in to get physicals on them just in case,” coach Jay Gruden said. “We have had very [unlucky] situations with our running backs with obviously Guice and Marshall and Samaje, if something else happens, we are going to be really, really, really thin.”
GIANTS: First-round draft pick Saquon Barkley ran on his own as the New York Giants returned to practice.
The former Penn State running back drafted No. 2 overall carried a ball and ran at roughly three-quarter speed Sunday as strength and conditioning coach Aaron Wellman watched.
Barkley strained a hamstring catching a pass out of the backfield at practice last Monday. He did not participate in the workouts held jointly in Allen Park, Michigan between the Giants and Detroit Lions. He also did not play in Friday’s preseason game.
Coach Pat Shurmur continues to say Barkley will be handled on a day to day basis.
BILLS: Buffalo’S offseason-long quarterback competition is down to two players now that AJ McCarron is seeking a second opinion to determine the severity of an injury to his throwing shoulder.
Coach Sean McDermott on Sunday declined to reveal many details on McCarron’s status except to say the team is still evaluating the injury after initial tests were inconclusive.
And yet McDermott acknowledged the injury will have an immediate effect on McCarron’s place in the quarterback pecking order with rookie first-round pick Josh Allen and returning backup Nathan Peterman still competing for the starting job.
McCarron took several hits and was hurt during the first quarter of Buffalo’s 19-17 preseason win at Cleveland on Friday.