The Dallas Cowboys have not played a regular-season snap in 2026, and they are already rewriting parts of the offensive roster around injuries. Malik Davis, the projected No. 2 running back, left Friday's practice at The Star with a hip injury that DallasCowboys.com says will require Saturday surgery and is expected to place him on season-ending injured reserve.
That update lands alongside another early absence already on the books: left guard Tyler Smith is on injured reserve recovering from thumb surgery, according to the team site's roster notes. The Smith situation has been extensively covered; the new development is Davis, and it is the one reshaping the backfield two days before Sunday Night Football against the Giants at MetLife Stadium (7:20 p.m.
CT, NBC).
A second early hit on offense
Nick Eatman's DallasCowboys.com report detailed a non-contact Friday practice - slightly above a walk-through - that still ended with Davis carted off. The subsequent medical path, as the club site described it, points to surgery Saturday and season-ending IR. NBCDFW echoed the season-ending framing while citing the team site and AP reporting.
Chief operating officer Stephen Jones did not soften the diagnosis on 105.3 The Fan. Quoted by DallasCowboys.com, Jones called it "a pretty serious injury," voiced disappointment for a player who "come from nowhere to be our No. 2 back," and repeated the next-man-up standard.
Pairing Davis's expected IR placement with Smith's existing IR status gives Dallas two early offensive absences before Week 1. One is on the interior line; the new one is in the running back room that had just settled its August competition.
What the backfield looks like heading to MetLife
Javonte Williams is still RB1. Emari Demercado, claimed off waivers and a TCU product, moves forward as the primary backup in the absence of Davis, according to both DallasCowboys.com and NBCDFW's summary. Israel Abanikanda remains on the practice squad as a candidate for game-day elevation or a roster move.
