In a season where the Dallas Cowboys have already been forced to patch together their secondary week after week, Reddy Steward’s exit says plenty about how thin things have gotten.
The Cowboys released Steward from the practice squad Tuesday to clear space for running back Kendre Miller, who was brought in after Tyler Goodson’s injury. On paper, that’s a routine roster move. In Dallas, it lands differently because Steward started two games earlier this season.
That’s the part that jumps out. A player who was pressed into starting duty not long ago is now off the roster entirely, and not because the secondary suddenly got healthy. It’s because the Cowboys have been juggling bodies all season and still haven’t found a stable answer.
Steward’s play made the decision easier. He is, at best, a fringe practice squad corner in this league. He brings physicality against the run and isn’t shy about coming downhill, but he has been exposed in coverage and has not looked like someone who should be starting for a team with real postseason ambitions.
The numbers from his three appearances tell the story. After being activated from the practice squad, he played just two snaps in Week 3 but still gave up a 27-yard completion, according to Pro Football Focus. The next two weeks were rougher.
Against the Texans, Steward allowed three catches on four targets for 43 yards, was penalized, and finished with a 114.6 passer rating allowed. The following week versus the Buccaneers, he gave up all five completions on five targets for 42 yards and a touchdown. Undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels posted a 141.3 passer rating when throwing at Steward in coverage.
Even with the Cowboys scrambling for help at corner, Steward didn’t get another look. Not when Joey Porter Jr. missed time.
Not with Shavon Revel playing zero snaps over the last two weeks. Not even while DaRon Bland was struggling.
At this point, Christian Parker appears to trust only Joey Porter Jr. when healthy, Bland, Cobie Durant, Caleb Downs and Ameer Speed. Steward had slipped so far out of the picture that Dallas treated him as expendable the moment a need opened up at running back.
That need is part of a much bigger problem. The Cowboys’ secondary has been battered all season, and the list of absences is long: Jalen Thompson has missed six games, P.J. Locke five, Cobie Durant four, Malik Hooker two and Joey Porter Jr. one.
That’s five of Dallas’ seven primary defensive backs missing time. Only Caleb Downs and DaRon Bland have been on the field for every game.
Because of that, Parker has had to lean on players like Steward, Markquese Bell, Caelen Carson, Alijah Clark and Juanyeh Thomas. Some of those names belong more to special teams work than to major defensive snaps, and Carson has since been cut. That’s the reality Dallas has been living with in the back end.
It won’t get any softer this week, either. The 7-1 San Francisco 49ers are next, Jalen Thompson’s practice window still hasn’t been opened, and P.J. Locke has already been ruled out after suffering his second concussion in as many games.
Steward’s release is just another sign of how desperate the Cowboys’ situation has become. They needed him to start two games earlier this season, and now they couldn’t even keep him on the practice squad. Injuries have driven the chaos, but they haven’t made the results any easier to swallow.
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