John Stephens has once again suffered a season-ending knee injury. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday (via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News) the second-year tight end tore his ACL.
The injury occurred during practice yesterday, and Stephens will miss the remainder of the campaign as a result. ESPN’s Todd Archer reports the injury affected Stephens’ left knee, which represents another unfortunate element of today’s news. The former UDFA also tore the ACL in his left knee last year during the preseason.
Stephens has therefore yet to make a regular season appearance in his career. Dallas’ decision to keep him in the fold this past offseason speaks to how the organization views his upside as at least a depth contributor, however. It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys once again elect to hold onto the 25-year-old as he undergoes a lengthy rehab process for the second consecutive year.
Dallas has Jake Ferguson atop the tight end depth chart; the former fourth-rounder has established himself as a key figure on offense as one of Dak Prescott‘s favorite targets. Dallas’ other options at that position are 2023 second-rounder Luke Schoonmaker and undrafted rookie Brevyn Spann-Ford. Stephens could still find himself in that mix next year, but for the time being his attention will shift to his upcoming surgery and the resultant recovery which will be needed.
Joints are clearly not up for a running career or playing in the NFL. Very sad, but the Cowboys will just have to cut bait at this point.