With star WR CeeDee Lamb out for a few weeks with a high-ankle sprain, the Dallas Cowboys have elevated WR Jalen Cropper from the practice squad for Sunday night’s game against the Packers. Cropper will provide depth in a wide receiver room that’s a little thin with Lamb out of the lineup.
Cropper, a former undrafted free agent out of Fresno State in 2023, has spent his entire NFL career on the Cowboys’ practice squad. He was elevated for one game in 2024, but has yet to record a statistic in the regular season, though he’ll have a chance to do just that against the Packers.
Lamb was injured early in the Cowboys’ Week 3 loss to the Bears. He lined up in the backfield and ran to the right, with the defender rolling up on his legs as he made the tackle in the flat. In two-plus games in 2025, Lamb has 16 receptions for 222 yards. He has yet to find the end zone this season.
The Dallas Cowboys Offense Relies Heavily on Injured WR CeeDee Lamb
Stacy Revere/GettyARLINGTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 22: Jalen Cropper #16 of the Dallas Cowboys participates in warmups prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Atlanta Falcons at AT&T Stadium on August 22, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Cowboys’ offense runs through Lamb. He’s their field-stretcher, zone-beater, one-on-one separator, and reliable third-down target all in one. Since his rookie season in 2020, in which he had 74 catches for 935 yards, Lamb has had at least 1,100 receiving yards in four consecutive seasons.
His best season statistically came in 2023, when he had 135 receptions for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns, dominating the NFL in every category. WR George Pickens was acquired from the Steelers this offseason to provide a secondary target in Dallas’ offense to take some pressure off of Lamb, but now Pickens is being thrust into a role he’s not ideally suited for.
With Lamb out and WR Jonathan Mingo on Injured Reserve (IR), the Cowboys will turn to a combination of WRs Pickens, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and Ryan Flournoy. TE Jake Ferguson will also play a big role — he leads the team in targets and receptions so far this season and is reliable in the short and intermediate areas of the field.
Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Has a Lot Riding on This Game vs. the Packers
Cowboys fans are all too familiar with Jones making a mess of things in the media, and this week has been an all-timer in that regard. Jones infamously traded away Defensive Player of the Year-candidate ED Micah Parsons before the season, ending a summer-long dramatic saga of contract negotiations — or the lack thereof.
Jones didn’t want to pay Parsons, and while he got a pair of first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark in return for the star pass rusher, Parsons has been a revelation in Green Bay, transforming their defense. Meanwhile, Dallas’ defense has been awful to start the year, ranking near the bottom of the league in both points and yards allowed per game.
The Cowboys’ pass rush, in particular, has struggled without Parsons. As he returns to Dallas on Sunday night, Jones continues to take shots at his former pass rusher, claiming the team will be fine without him and insinuating Parsons is at least partially responsible for Dallas failing to win a Super Bowl during his time with the team. If Parsons has a big game in his return and the Cowboys lose, it’ll put Jones’s comments right back in the spotlight.
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