DeMarvion Overshown missed Sunday’s game. On Wednesday, he could do some work. For Dallas, the distance between those two facts is encouraging enough without trying to stretch it all the way to a promised role against San Francisco.
Overshown, listed at linebacker with hamstring and back issues, took part in Dallas’ first Week 10 practice Wednesday after missing Sunday. The Cowboys are preparing to host San Francisco on Nov. 15, but the calendar should not dictate the medical timetable. A limited session establishes that Overshown did some work. It does not establish his role, his workload or his availability against the 7-1 49ers.
The immediate question is whether Overshown can build on that session. A limited practice gives the coaches and medical staff something to assess after his absence, while leaving the eventual workload unresolved. Dallas needs to prepare with the players who can participate now and allow Overshown’s work to develop on its own terms.
The importance of Sunday’s opponent does not make that progression any less necessary.
The Cowboys have several moving pieces around the linebacker and edge groups, which makes patience harder and more necessary. Marist Liufau was a full participant Wednesday, listed as an outside linebacker with a forearm issue. That is a stronger practice designation than Overshown received, and it gives Dallas a player who completed the day’s work at the edge position.
It does not make Liufau a replacement for Overshown. Their listed positions are different, and a full session by an outside linebacker cannot answer what Dallas can ask of a linebacker returning from hamstring and back issues. Liufau’s participation improves the picture around the defense; it does not erase the uncertainty attached to Overshown.
The edge group also absorbed a new absence. Donovan Ezeiruaku, another outside linebacker, did not practice because of an ankle issue. Von Miller was listed as resting, not as injured, so his absence belongs in a separate category.
The Wednesday report therefore offered no tidy solution: one outside linebacker was full, another was out, Miller was resting and Overshown was taking a limited step at linebacker.
That collection of labels matters because Dallas cannot build its defensive plan by counting names alone. The Cowboys need players at the correct positions who can complete the work their assignments require. Jonathan Bullard’s full participation at defensive tackle and Devin Moore’s full work at cornerback were positive developments elsewhere, but neither changes the decision facing Overshown’s position group.
The defense also has little room for avoidable disorder. In Dallas’ 27-23 victory over Indianapolis on Nov. 8, the Cowboys committed 14 penalties for 153 yards. Those penalties do not explain Overshown’s absence, and one game should not be pinned on a single player.
They do show why the defense needs a precise plan rather than a hopeful one, particularly with San Francisco coming to AT&T Stadium.
