Dallas Cowboys: New update on Michael Gallup injury timeline

When Michael Gallup tore his ACL on January 2nd, many feared the worst. Traditionally regarded as a one-year injury, we thought Gallup’s ACL tear not only ended his career with the Dallas Cowboys, but tanked his ability to cash in on the free agent market.

Maybe 10 years ago that would have been true. But yesterday’s potential career-ender, is today’s bump in the road. According to uchealth.org, “exceptional athletes can return to sports in six months.” The Cowboys were clearly unconcerned with the timetable, inking Gallup to a five-year, $62.5 million deal in March and essentially promoting the four-year vet to the all-important WR2 role in 2022.

After giving the injury a month to reduce swelling, Gallup had surgery in February, officially starting the clock to his recovery. His return date has been a topic of conversation throughout Cowboys Nation. With Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson gone, the Dallas Cowboys are without two of their top four WRs from 2021. They can’t afford to be without Gallup any longer than they absolutely have to this season.

Minicamps and OTAs have brought optimism. Michael Gallup has been seen running and jumping on the sideline, indicating he’s progressing rapidly and showing no signs of diminished athletic capacity.

But is he really ahead of schedule?

And while we’re asking questions, what is his schedule?

Bryan Broaddus recently discussed this on his Love of the Star podcast. Broaddus, a former Dallas scout with ties inside the franchise, gave us the inside scoop on Michael Gallup. He asked his sources on the team and shared the latest update:

"“I can read verbatim what I was told,” said Broaddus. “’Gallup is doing very well, but the timetable likely the same.’ Then we were talking about one or two games potentially there.”"

Broaddus elaborated, explaining the plan is, and always has been, to avoid starting the season on the PUP. The PUP (Physically unable to perform) list would rule Gallup out for the first four weeks of the season.

So we can conclude the hope is one or two games missed, with the expectation being less than four.

We now have an update regarding Michael Gallup’s recovery and expected return to the Dallas Cowboys

This can be seen as either good news or bad news depending on where your expectations were set. Some were seeing Gallup’s sideline activities as a sign he’ll be good to go in Week 1. Others were counting the days from his February surgery and saying there was no way he could perform before October.

The recent update from someone most of us see as a very reliable source, reins in those extremes and gives us a reasonable, yet still somewhat worrisome, view of Michael Gallup’s recovery.

Does this update make you feel better, worse, or the same? Discuss below.