After beating the New York Giants on Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys evened their season record to 2-2, but injuries to star pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence could cost them in the near future.

On Friday, both Cowboys defensemen’s injuries came under more scrutiny and it’s bad news on both fronts. According to NFL Network reporters, Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain — which typically takes a month to recover from — while Lawrence injured his foot and is expected to miss several weeks.

“Dallas will now likely be without two of its best defensemen until after Week 7,” Tom Pelissero said.

“Micah and DeMarcus are the top two pass rushers on the Cowboys roster and the group lost Sam Williams to a torn ACL in the early days of training camp,” Blogging the Boys RJ Ochoa wrote. “To say that the team is currently performing poorly in this position would be the understatement of the year.”

Marshawn Kneeland (Grand Rapids native and second-round pick out of Western Michigan) is expected to take over for Lawrence, but there is no clear replacement for Parsons. According to the Cowboys’ depth chart, it’s possible that Chauncey Golston (Detroit native) or third-round rookie Marist Liufau steps into the hybrid edge rusher role on the other side, but that’s not the complete package that Parsons is either.

In Week 5, the Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh to take on the undefeated Steelers, and then are back home in Week 6 to take on the Detroit Lions, who will be saying goodbye in Week 5 and hopefully recovering some of their injured players see returning to competition. line-up.

This could potentially be a huge breakthrough for the Lions. Not only will they have two fewer Star Edge Rushers to plan their game, but they will also have the entire bye week to set everything up so they can take full advantage of a reeling Cowboys team.