5 Cowboys Most Likely to Be Inactive vs 49ers on Sunday Night Football

2. Rico Dowdle

Rico Dowdle's missed practice on Wednesday wasn't a "rest and hip injury" kind of situation — it was just that he straight up couldn't go, even in a limited capacity.

If Dowdle's status is even a little shaky on Sunday, there's just not much reason to suit him up. He's not doing anything special as the RB2, and rolling with Deuce Vaughn while elevating Malk Davis from the practice squad still leaves us with plenty of depth behind Tony Pollard.

Another wrinkle is that if Dowdle can't go, we might see rookie fullback Hunter Leupke get a little more work carrying the rock too. Leupke had a pair of short-yardage carries last week, scoring a touchdown on one of them.

Dowdle has firmly just been “fine” this season. His 4.0 yards per carry track right along the team-average of 4.1, and Pro Football Focus has his rushing grade at 68.9. That’s not poor play by any stretch, but it’s also far from irreplaceable, especially behind a potentially complete starting offensive line.

This may be a crucial matchup, but there's no reason to push Dowdle here and risk aggravating the injury or getting decreased production from him if the injury slows him down.