Sunday Night Football at MetLife Stadium was already a national stage for the Dallas Cowboys' opener against the New York Giants. It is now also the first game of a season in which Dallas will operate without Malik Davis, the running back DallasCowboys.com said is expected to land on season-ending injured reserve after a hip injury suffered in Friday practice.
Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. The football problem for Dallas is not the television window; it is how the run game is staffed behind Javonte Williams after Davis was carted off at The Star and scheduled for surgery Saturday, according to Nick Eatman's report on the team site.
A national opener with fewer backs available
Eatman wrote that Davis had figured to be the No. 2 back behind Williams and still expected to have a role in the offensive game plan Sunday even after the club claimed Emari Demercado for depth. That role is gone for Week 1 and, if the team site's season-ending IR expectation holds, for the rest of 2026.
NBCDFW, working from DallasCowboys.com and Associated Press reporting, framed the same outcome: Davis's season ended before the opener. NBC Sports, citing ESPN's Todd Archer, reported surgery and IR while reflecting earlier language about an extended absence. For game-week planning, the operative depth chart is Williams, Demercado as the elevated backup, and Israel Abanikanda as a practice-squad candidate for elevation or roster placement.
Run-game stakes without the No. 2
Williams remains the featured back. DallasCowboys.com's roster context presents him as the established RB1 after a breakout season and extension. Losing Davis does not force a new starter; it removes the proven understudy who logged 252 rushing yards and two touchdowns last season while backing Williams up, including a 103-yard Christmas Day performance against Washington.
That production history is why the Week 1 stakes are about continuity more than identity. Dallas still has its lead back. It does not have the same second-wave insurance on early downs, change-of-pace snaps, or situational packages that Davis had earned through camp, per the team site.
Demercado, a TCU product claimed off waivers after cutdowns, steps into that conversation immediately. Abanikanda offers a third body if Dallas chooses to elevate or activate him for MetLife. Neither arrives with Davis's recent track record in a Cowboys offense, but both are the names DallasCowboys.com listed after Friday's injury.
