Dallas had to scramble for DB depth after gameday curveball

News and notes from the sideline following the Cowboys’ 34-17 road loss to the Giants in the regular season finale:

Gameday curveball: Alijah Clark boarded the team bus at 9 a.m. for the 25-minute ride from the team hotel in Jersey City to Met Life Stadium thinking he would be lining up for opening kickoff four hours later, playing special teams and backup safety in the final game of his rookie season.

Little did he know that as soon as he arrived at the stadium, he would soon depart in a private car service headed across New Jersey toward his hometown of Camden.

En route to the stadium he got word that his presence was needed elsewhere. His girlfriend’s water had broken, she was in labor, and their child was on the way.

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Clark’s happy news set off a series of events.

First was getting permission from coach Briam Schottenheimer to head home to take care of family business — not his “football family” but family as in becoming a new father.

Second, Craig Glieber, the Cowboys director of team travel and logistics, set up a car service for the 90-minute ride from East Rutherford to Camden, located just across the river from Philadelphia. It was faster to travel via car than to head to Newark airport and wait for the next flight to Philly. Clark was soon on his way.

Third, the coaching staff had to deal with the domino effect of Clark’s unexpected absence.

Coaches knew that LB DeMarvion Overshown (concussion) and CB Shavon Revel (concussion/neck) would be on the “inactive” list, but Clark was a late addition.

Over the past several weeks, either WR Jalen Tolbert or WR Jonathan Mingo would be on the inactive list. The plan for Sunday was for Mingo to be “up” and Tolbert to be inactive. But without Clark on special teams, Tolbert’s gameday gear was placed in his locker because he was going to play. In fact, Tolbert had a key block on KaVontae Turpin’s 84-yard kickoff return to set up the first Cowboys touchdown of the game, Jaydon Blue’s 14-yard run.

The last domino to fall regarding Clark’s baby-on-the-way curveball occurred in the second quarter when backup safety and special teams player Markquese Bell suffered a concussion and was subsequently ruled “out” for the remainder of the game.

Gosh, by the second quarter Clark was probably already in the labor and delivery room. And Bell was in the blue medical tent on the Cowboys’ sideline. That meant the Cowboys had no backup safeties available if starters Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson suffered injury. And if the coaches wanted to rest Hooker or Wilson and get young guys some snaps in the second half, that plan was out the window.

If there had been an injury at safety, cornerback Corey Ballentine would have moved to safety. Ballentine played 20 snaps versus the Giants in the slot as the nickel cornerback in the defense’s subpackage for third downs and longer downs-and-distances. Reddy Steward, who started the game in the slot/nickel, played 45 snaps.

No word yet from the Cowboys on the gender or name of Clark’s baby. We’ll provide an update when that information becomes available.

Missed opportunities: Jadeveon Clowney was a heat-seeking missile on Sunday, wrecking everything in his path. The 12-year pro had arguably the most productive game of his career, finishing with a career-high three sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and four tackles-for-loss.

Clowney brought his season total to 8 ½ sacks. If only …

If only the Cowboys had made the playoffs, he would have earned an additional $750,000 in incentives written into his one-year contract.

Clowney’s incentives, according to spotrac.com, were as follows: six sacks plus a playoff berth equaled $250,000; eight sacks and a playoff berth equaled $750,000; 10 sacks plus a playoff berth equaled $1.25 million.

Obviously, those incentives are a moot point because the Cowboys did not make the playoffs.

But if you as a Cowboys fan are watching the next month of postseason action on television asking “what if” in regards to the Cowboys, imagine how Clowney must feel. Not only would he have reached his first incentive on Sunday, he would have reached the second, too.

Clowney is not alone. Missing the playoffs was costly for RT Terence Steele.

Steele, who played 1,162 offensive snaps this season (98%), earned one of two incentives. Because he played at least 85% of snaps, he receives $500,000. But if the Cowboys had made the playoffs, he would have earned $1.25 million. Yowza!

In addition to Steele, another Cowboy who reached contract incentives was RB Javonte Williams who earned $250,00 for topping 1,250 scrimmage yards plus another $250,000 for topping 12 total touchdowns, according to spotrac.com. Williams’ incentives were not tied to playoffs.

Williams finished the season with 1,338 scrimmage yards and 13 total TDs.

And he also earned a fat, new contract as he enters free agency. Hopefully that fat contract comes from the Cowboys.

Happy 250: Now that the calendar has turned to 2026, let me be the first to wish you a HAPPY SEMIQUICENTENNIAL, something the NFL will commemorate through February with the use of special logos on their game-used footballs.

A happy what?

The word is too hard to spell and pronounce, so let’s go with Happy “BIG 250” as our country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

For the final regular season game as well as the postseason, a red-white-and-blue “250” ribbon logo appears on each football next to the NFL shield logo.

Each team received their shipment of logo balls several weeks ago from the Wilson factory so that equipment managers would be able to properly prepare the footballs for their respective offenses. That preparation includes brushing, etc., and making sure the quarterbacks are comfortable with the ‘feel’ of each football.

The 16 playoff teams will wear a special “250” patch on their uniforms throughout the course of postseason.

A final thank you: For The Dallas Morning News readers and subscribers who take time each week to read about the sideline goings-on throughout the season, my sincere gratitude for your time. It’s a privilege to share news from the Cowboys sideline and I look forward to sharing more news and notes in the 2026 season.

Kristi Scales is the sideline reporter for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. She writes this column for The Dallas Morning News after each Cowboys game.

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