FRISCO — Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said several roster decisions were difficult to make.
That was the case at running back.
“When you talk about competing every day and adding value and raising the level of competition, both those guys were drafted because we love those guys,” Schottenheimer said. “I think this is more a testament to a guy like Malik Davis that has just time in and time out come back and proven his worth and the way he’s wired. I know both Jaydon and Phil should and will reach out to Malik because now they’re in an unfortunate situation like that.”
Schottenheimer said Demercado’s ability to play special teams and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams’ familiarity with him for two seasons in Arizona were the reasons he was acquired.
When it comes to whether Blue or Mafah return to the practice squad, Schottenheimer offered no guarantees.
“We said to both those guys that we weren’t sure that we were,” Schottenheimer said. “Not sure that it would go that direction. And that’s as honest as I could be with them.”
It’s a surprising decision not to bring at least one of those players back to the practice squad. The Cowboys signed 13 players to the unit, which included running back Israel Abanikanda. An NFL team can carry up to 16 players on the practice squad. A team that has a player in the International Player Pathway program gets an exemption for 17. Defensive tackle Dayo Odeleye is on the Cowboys’ practice squad through the International Player Pathway program.
“As you know, there’s a lot of able-bodied guys out there that are good players,” Schottenheimer said. “They’ve played football. And again, I feel really good about Javonte. I raved about Malik. Hunter Luepke’s a guy that doesn’t get talked enough about, but we feel like we’re going to build a really good running back room from top to bottom, including the practice squad as we finalize that and one that is very competitive and fits with our model of compete every day.”