Turpin's Ribs Add Another Name to a Receiver Room Running Out of Them

KaVontae Turpin is hurt, and the Cowboys are heading to Green Bay with a receiver room that has been picked apart piece by piece. Turpin's rib injury is the latest in a stretch that has already cost Dallas George Pickens for the season and left CeeDee Lamb managing her own health week to week. The depth chart at wide receiver lists Turpin third, and he was the one player in that room who could hurt a defense in ways that didn't require a target — on a jet sweep, on a return, in the slot on a quick screen where his quickness after the catch made something out of nothing.

Last season Turpin caught 26 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns while also contributing on the ground, and those numbers undersell what he actually does for this offense. He's the kind of player who changes a coordinator's preparation. Without him, Jalen Tolbert is the next name up at receiver, and Tolbert caught 18 passes in 11 games last year — a fine backup, not a playmaker.

The receiver need was already the most glaring on the offensive side of the ball before this week. Dallas was carrying essentially one proven wideout in meaningful snaps all season, and the Turpin injury makes that thinner still. Going into Lambeau with a compromised receiver group and two linebackers — I wrote about the Overshown situation yesterday — is a lot to ask of Dak Prescott and an offense that already fell apart down the stretch last year.