![\"Malik](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dallas-cowboys-v-seattle-seahawks-seattle-washington-august-15-malik-davis-e1788691499148.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys running back Malik Davis. <\/p>\n
Just because it\u2019s the preseason, it doesn\u2019t mean that Big Brother isn\u2019t watching.<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys<\/a> running back Malik Davis<\/a> found that out the hard way when the NFL\u2019s Gameday Accountability Committee doled out its penalties for 3 preseason games, with Davis hit with a $6,735 fine for unnecessary roughness\/impermissible use of the helmet in a 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> on August 22.<\/p>\n Interestingly enough, it\u2019s the 1st time in 6 seasons the NFL<\/a> has had to fine Davis.<\/p>\n The Cowboys open up the 2026 regular season on Sunday, September 13, in a primetime road game against the New York Giants<\/a>.<\/p>\n Undersized RB Made Roster as Undrafted Free Agent<\/p>\n Davis, 5-foot-9 and 202 pounds, made the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Florida in 2022 and has been with the franchise ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cDavis is a patient runner with adequate size and an above-average feel for run-lane development,\u201d NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote<\/a> in his 2022 pre-draft evaluation. \u201cHowever, he doesn\u2019t have the burst or speed to play behind schedule in racing through creases, and that could be a problem for him at the next level. Davis will need to do most of his work off tackle or between the tackles and his contact balance and toughness can help in that regard. He has enough third-down potential to help his cause but might need to state his case for a spot as a RB3\/4 as an undrafted free agent.\u201d<\/p>\n Malik Davis Becomes Reliable Backup for Cowboys<\/p>\n Davis has faced stiff competition to become the Cowboys\u2019 top backup running back behind $24 million starter and 1,000-yard rusher Javonte Williams<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2025, Davis outdueled rookie draft picks Jaydon Blue<\/a> and Phil Mafah<\/a> for most of the year, but finished the season on injured reserve after putting up a career-high 266 yards from scrimmage to go with 2 touchdowns.<\/p>\n Davis put even more distance between himself and the unemployment line in 2026, when he played well enough for the Cowboys not only to keep him on the initial 53-man roster but for them to cut Blue and Mafah.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, and the entire NFC East Division. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dallas Cowboys running back Malik Davis. Just because it\u2019s the preseason, it doesn\u2019t mean that Big Brother…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-428017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}