Cowboys' Leighton Vander Esch Placed on IR with Neck Injury, out at Least 4 Games

The Dallas Cowboys will be without linebacker Leighton Vander Esch for at least the next four games.

Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday that the team placed Vander Esch on injured reserve because of the neck injury he suffered during Sunday's loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk noted "the team's hope is that he will be able to return from injured reserve before the end of the season."

McCarthy also told reporters the Cowboys worked out Rashaan Evans and will be adding him to the team. Evans was a first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2018 and has appeared in 76 games for the Titans and Atlanta Falcons throughout his career.

He is a potential veteran fill-in option for Vander Esch while the starter is sidelined.

Still, the loss of the Boise State product will be an impactful one for the Cowboys.

Vander Esch came to Dallas as a first-round pick in 2018 and wasted no time making his presence felt as a Pro Bowler with 140 tackles as a rookie. While he hasn't quite reached that level since, he finished the 2022 campaign with 90 tackles and had 30 tackles and a fumble return for a touchdown in the first five games this year.

The Cowboys are off to a decent 3-2 start but have struggled of late with a Week 3 loss to an Arizona Cardinals team playing without Kyler Murray and Sunday's blowout 42-10 defeat at the hands of the 49ers.

San Francisco has eliminated Dallas in each of the last two playoffs, and the latest game was an indication of how much still separates the two potential NFC contenders.

There will be an even bigger gap if Vander Esch cannot return, although the focus now is on the upcoming four contests against the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.

Dallas at least has a bye week during that stretch, so Vander Esch will have five weeks to recover during a four-game stretch. That could help him return to the field for the stretch run, which would be a welcome development for the NFC East club.