The Dallas Cowboys expect defensive tackle Jeremy Mincey to return to action in the season finale against the Redskins, after he was held out of last Sunday’s loss to the Bills so the team could get a look at nose tackle Casey Walker.
Walker recorded two tackles in the loss, his Cowboys debut.
“The biggest thing with Mince was more of the position,” head coach Jason Garrett explained, per the team’s official website. “We’ve been playing since Terrell McClain got hurt, we’ve been really been stressed at the nose tackle position. We’ve played a lot of different guys in there. Nick Hayden, Tyrone Crawford played in there a lot of snaps a few weeks ago. Jack Crawford has been in there. The biggest thing we wanted to do was give (Walker) a chance to come up and play. He’s a natural nose tackle for us. He’s done a good job for us on scout team. We felt like he deserved that opportunity. Mince went in there last week and played nose—a lot of snaps. But that’s not really his natural position. We do anticipate Mince being back up this week with the injury to David [Irving].”
A rookie who showed some major upside in limited action, Irving suffered a fractured wrist in the loss, and finishes his rookie year with 13 tackles and a half of a sack.
He’ll most likely head to injured reserve this week, along with veteran safety Barry Church, who broke his arm n the third quarter in Buffalo.
