The Dallas Game took an immediate turn when Jake Ferguson suffered an ankle injury against the Cardinals and was ruled out for the rest of Sunday’s game. That left the Cowboys to adjust on the fly, with Brevyn Spann-Ford and James Mitchell stepping into the tight end duties after Ferguson exited.
Ferguson's exit forced an instant reshuffle
Ferguson had already been part of the story earlier in the week after failing to haul in his lone target during Monday’s 38-21 win over the Eagles. But the bigger concern on Sunday was his availability, and once the ankle injury struck, there was no chance of a return.
For Dallas, that kind of in-game change matters because tight end usage is often tied to rhythm and protection as much as production. When a starter goes down, the replacement plan has to work immediately, not later in the drive or later in the half.
Brevyn Spann-Ford and James Mitchell take over
With Ferguson unavailable, Brevyn Spann-Ford and James Mitchell were the available tight ends. That meant the Cowboys had to move straight into a different rotation, with the rest of the game shaped by whoever could absorb those snaps most cleanly.
The key question now is simply whether Ferguson can get back quickly enough to avoid this becoming a longer-term issue. For Dallas, Sunday’s answer was clear enough: once the injury happened, the tight end room had to carry on without him.
