News: COVID comeback hits Cowboys, threatens schedule; punter re-signed

During a weekend when college football stadiums were back to maximum capacity for the first time in nearly two years, the ongoing COVID pandemic is suddenly the main story in the NFL just four days before opening night of its season. Connor Williams comes off the watchlist for Dallas just as Zack Martin tests positive for the virus and CeeDee Lamb talks about the symptoms he experienced. Tom Brady reveals he had the virus and believes it will affect the NFL even more this year than last. The fans will be back in full force around the league… but will there be a full 272 games played this year? It suddenly feels iffy.

Also in the news, La’el Collins returns from his neck stinger just in time for Tampa, two of the Cowboys’ biggest stars are eager to finally be unleashed against the Bucs, and the team is still tinkering with the roster by officially re-signing their punter. Uniform news: another batch of new jersey numbers for several Cowboys, and could today’s traditional football helmets be replaced by soft shells in an effort to improve player safety? Plus, get to know the Cowboys’ defensive backs with a new batch of player profiles. That’s all ahead in the News and Notes.

Tom Brady reveals he contracted COVID-19 shortly after Bucs' SBLV championship boat parade :: NFL.com

Link Tom Brady has a stark prediction for the 2021 season. The Buccaneers quarterback thinks COVID-19 will play a larger role in the upcoming campaign now that stadiums will be full and travel restrictions are more relaxed than in 2020. "I actually think it's going to play more of a factor this year than last year," Brady said while revealing that he contracted COVID shortly after the team's notorious Super Bowl boat parade in February. Both the Cowboys and Bucs have several players on the Reserve/COVID list ahead of their meeting this Thursday night.

Cowboys RG Zack Martin ruled out of season opener vs Bucs due to positive Covid result :: Cowboys Wire

Link Ranking pretty high on the list of things Cowboys fans didn't want to hear in the lead-up to Week 1 is this. All-Pro guard Zack Martin will miss the season opener against reigning champions Tampa Bay after testing positive for COVID-19. A tough matchup against the likes of Vita Vea and Ndamakong Suh just got exponentially harder as a backup will have to fill in for Martin.

La'el Collins, Connor Williams back at Cowboys practice as O-line shuffle continues :: Cowboys Wire

Link La'el Collins has overcome his latest neck stinger in time to rejoin the squad at practice on Sunday. Connor Williams was back as well, having been reactivated off the Reserve/COVID list. Both should be key factors in the Cowboys' attempts to shut down the Tampa Bay defense in the season opener on Thursday night. Connor McGovern will likely start in Zack Martin's slot.

With their exclusive home-field advantage gone, Dallas Cowboys must become road warriors in 2021 :: Dallas Morning News

Link Last season, the Cowboys were one of the few teams with a sizable crowd at home games. "Not a ton but enough to make noise," Tim Cowlishaw points out. "Their NFC East rivals had nobody. Most of their other road games were played in front of a few scattered stadium workers here and there." But now in 2021, Dallas will play all their games in full arenas... and there will be more of them on the road than at home.

Rested & Ready: Zeke, Tank preview TB matchup :: The Mothership

Link Neither played a snap in the preseason. Despite that- or maybe because of it- running back Ezekiel Elliott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence are "definitely excited" to strap on the pads this Thursday night to kick off the 2021 season. "Looking back on what we had to go through last year, it was tough," Lawrence said. "But if it don't kill you, it makes you stronger. I'm just ready to see how strong we are."

Updates: Bryan Anger signed back to roster :: The Mothership

Link Punter Bryan Anger was always going to be added back to the Cowboys' active roster. The team got an easy opportunity to do so when Zack Martin was moved to the Reserve/COVID list on Sunday. Also going on the COVID watchlist, backup offensive lineman Brandon Knight; offensive lineman Connor Williams came off.

Kazee, Clement, Ball, DiNucci get new jersey numbers :: Michael Gehlken (Twitter)

https://twitter.com/GehlkenNFL/status/1433957031921192961

Jourdan Lewis struggled in coverage like most Cowboys in 2020, but he brings unique skill to the table :: Cowboys Wire

Link Jourdan Lewis's Cowboys career has been a bit of a roller coaster, depending largely on his defensive coaching staff. From Rod Marinelli to Kris Richard to Mike Nolan, the Michigan man has been- and remains- something of an X factor. Now under Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt, Jr., Lewis looks to finally shine... if he can stay on the field. And Cowboys Wire stays in the secondary with additional player profiles on:

• Maurice Canady

• Anthony Brown

• Trevon Diggs

CeeDee Lamb shares his COVID experience :: Jon Machota (Twitter)

https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/1434586539657412614

COVID-19 still poised to wreak havoc on NFL schedule :: ProFootballTalk (Twitter)

https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1434554289222045696

Guardian Caps: Are the soft-shelled football helmet covers effective at limiting head injuries? :: ESPN

Link The padded "acorn" helmet covers seen in practices at other levels of the game may be gaining more widespread traction in the pros. The squishy headgear wraps lessen the force impact over bare helmets by as much as 10%, according to data. It could be several years before such add-on shells are worn in actual games, but more teams are offering them to players as a way to reduce the chance of injury.

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