Dallas has one firm answer in its safety picture before San Francisco arrives: P.J. Locke will not play. The Cowboys announced Monday in Frisco that Locke was ruled out after suffering a second concussion in consecutive games, removing a known option from the plan before the club can sort out the rest of the position.
The other names attached to Dallas’ defensive-back uncertainty do not carry the same status. Jalen Thompson has missed seven games with a hamstring issue, and Monday brought no timetable for his return. Joey Porter Jr. was listed in the rehabilitation group, but the Cowboys did not confirm that he will play or that he will miss the 49ers. Those are unresolved possibilities, not announced answers.
It is tempting to look at a list of injuries and count each name as an absence. The Cowboys have one such decision to make right now in the secondary. They know they have to cover Locke’s work. They also need a plan that makes sense if the other players who have been missing time need more of it.
The opponent is a good reason to get that plan in order. San Francisco is 7-1 and scored 38 against Las Vegas on Sunday. The 49ers benefited from five takeaways in that game. A secondary that has to come back out after its offense gives away a possession gets fewer chances to settle into the game it prepared for.
Caleb Downs supplies the clearest positive development available from Dallas’ last game. On Indianapolis’ final possession Sunday, Downs recorded the first interception of his career. The play ended the Colts’ threat and helped preserve the Cowboys’ 27-23 victory, but it does not establish a depth-chart slot or assign Downs a particular safety responsibility against San Francisco.
A play like Downs’s interception does give Dallas something to build from. The Colts had the ball with a chance to go ahead and Dallas ended the possession before they could mount a drive. The Cowboys could use that kind of finish against San Francisco. They will have to put the right people on the field to make it possible more than once.
There are different ways to miss a defensive back. When the coaches settle the safety rotation, they still have to decide how much flexibility the rest of the secondary gives them. A player returning at another spot can ease some of that pressure. It can also take a few snaps for the unit to find a comfortable division of work.
That leaves the Cowboys with an awkward preparation problem. Locke’s spot must be covered in the plan, while Thompson and Porter force the staff to keep more than one version of the secondary in view. The uncertainty is not evidence that the group cannot function; Dallas just won on the road, and Downs’ interception was a timely piece of defensive execution.
But the win did not answer who will be available against the 49ers.
