5 Cowboys Most Likely to Be Inactive vs Chargers on Monday Night Football
By Tyler Maher
The Cowboys' rollercoaster season continued in Week 5 with a 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football.
Dallas won't have much time to recover, however, with another primetime road game on tap in Week 6. The Cowboys will stay on the West Coast and head south to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.
Dallas' depth and injury situations have been in flux so far, leaving plenty of question marks around who will be on the gameday roster in any given week. That's no different with Week 6's tough road test ahead.
Here are the five Cowboys most likely to be inactive for this one.
Cowboys Predictions: Week 6 Inactives vs. Chargers
1, Trey Lance
Even with Dallas getting blown out in Week 5, Trey Lance still didn't get a shot to play. Cooper Rush came in to relieve Dak Prescott once the game got out of hand, mopping up in garbage time to ensure nothing happened to Prescott.
That will likely be the case again in Week 6, barring a surprise injury to Prescott or Rush. Mike McCarthy needs to optimize his roster this week if he wants to beat the Chargers, and carrying three active quarterbacks isn't the way to do that.
With the new NFL rule regarding emergency quarterbacks, Lance will maintain his usual role as the designated emergency third quarterback, making him eligible to play if both Prescott and Rush are forced out of the game with injuries (or are ejected). Lance hasn't played at all yet this season, so he hasn't done anything to prove he deserves one of the two active QB spots over Prescott or Rush. Expect Lance's situation to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
While it would be nice to get the 23-year-old former first-round pick some reps eventually, now isn't the time. The Cowboys are 3-2 after last week's loss and need every win they can manage. If Rush really struggles in the backup role or we get to a point late in the year with a meaningless game on the schedule, then it might make sense to throw Lance in.
But until then, he'll just have to keep waiting.