Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens is moving in the right direction on the health front.
Pickens was listed as a non-participant on Monday’s injury report, which was merely an estimation of his actual practice output because the Cowboys only held a walkthrough. On Tuesday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said at his press conference that he expects Pickens to take part in practice later in the day.
The Cowboys list Pickens with calf and ankle issues.
Pickens has not appeared to be impacted by either injury in the last couple of weeks. He had nine catches for 144 yards and a touchdown in Week 11’s win over the Raiders and nine catches for 146 yards and a score in Dallas’ Week 12 comeback victory against the Eagles.
The team’s injury report will show Pickens’ participation level, but his presence on the field is a good sign for his outlook for Thursday’s game against the Chiefs.
Chiefs Clips
The Chiefs are set to get one of their key offensive contributors back for Thursday’s game against the Cowboys.
Head coach Andy Reid told reporters in his Tuesday press conference that running back Isiah Pacheco is slated to play this week. He’s been sidelined since the Oct. 27 victory over the Commanders with a knee injury.
Pacheco has rushed for 329 yards with one touchdown in eight games this season. He’s also caught 11 passes for 43 yards with a TD. His season high in rushing yards is 58 so far this season.
Veteran Kareem Hunt has been starting in Pacheco’s stead. In Sunday’s victory over the Colts, Hunt rushed for 104 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown. He also caught three passes for 26 yards.
Reid also noted that while receiver Rashee Rice (hamstring), receiver Xavier Worthy (ankle), and linebacker Leo Chenal (knee) were all listed as limited on Monday, Reid feels they should be able to play.
“I think they’ll be alright,” Reid said. “See how it all rolls.”
Tight end Noah Gray (concussion) and guard Trey Smith (ankle) will be sidelined for Tuesday’s practice.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen calls the team’s offensive plays and his work in that area came under scrutiny after the team’s 23-20 overtime loss to the Chiefs.
The Colts had a 20-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but they failed to pick up a first down on any of their final four possessions and that left the door open for a Kansas City comeback win. During his Monday press conference, Steichen was asked several questions about his thought process on those drives.
After a Jonathan Taylor run on the team’s first offensive play of the fourth quarter, Steichen called passes on the next eight plays. Quarterback Daniel Jones completed two of those throws for 12 yards and the Colts only used 3:14 of clock over the course of the possessions. Steichen said the final drive of regulation was one where he could have done a “better job for sure.”
“You always go back and self-evaluate those situations,” Steichen said. “I really thought that last drive in regulation when we went pass, pass, pass, I could have called some runs there. Absolutely could have eaten up some time there, but, you know, in hindsight, it just didn’t work out, and I look at myself first and foremost in those situations to get better for our guys moving forward.”
The Colts took the ball to open overtime and picked up nine yards on their first two plays, but Taylor was dropped for a loss on third down and the Chiefs drove for the game-winning field goal after a punt. It’s the kind of loss that necessitates a close examination of what went wrong, especially since the team’s margin for error is slim with games against the Texans and Jaguars on the docket in the next two weeks.
From the moment the NFL released the 2025 schedule, it became immediately clear that Thursday’s Chiefs-Cowboys game will be the most-watched regular-season game ever.
The current record came three years ago, on Thanksgiving Day 2022. Then, 42.1 million watched the Cowboys beat the Giants, 28-20. The audience surpassed a Monday night game from 1990 between the 10-1 Giants and 10-1 49ers, which had attracted 41.5 million.
Seven of the nine largest audiences games landed on Thanksgiving. The other happened in 1985, when the Dolphins gave the Bears their only loss of the season on a Monday night in December.
Even if both squads didn’t have their postseason backs essentially against the wall, the game between the franchises that fancy themselves “America’s Team” was destined to set the record — especially with the new Nielsen system that is operating like reverse Ozempic for audience size.
Here’s something else to consider, as the fourth Thursday in November approaches. With the second game of the day destined to finish first, the first game of the day could finish second.
It’s a prediction that was made on Monday by John Ourand of Puck, in his Varsity newsletter. The underpinnings: it’s a consequential game between two currently popular teams, the new Nielsen bump, and the simulcast on Tubi, which added 13.6 million viewers to Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LIX.
With the Lions ascending in recent years, the early game has shifted from captive audience to appointment viewing. This year, it’s must-see TV. And it’s not crazy to think that 42.1 million will be beaten by both of the Thanksgiving afternoon games.
One of the basic realities of short-week football is that injured players have less time to get ready to go.
That time will be precious for Cowboys receiver George Pickens.
Pickens appears on the Monday injury report with knee and calf issues. If the Cowboys had held a full practice (they performed a walkthrough), Pickens would not have participated.
Pickens has near-identical stat lines over the past two games. Against the Raiders, he had nine catches for 144 yards and a touchdown. Against the Eagles, Pickens caught nine passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Left tackle Tyler Guyton also would not have practiced, due to an ankle injury, along with receiver Kavontae Turpin (shoulder/illness) and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (elbow).
Limited in practice would have been defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (neck), defensive end Dante Fowler (shoulder), safety Malik Hooker (toe/thigh), and safety Donovan Wilson (neck).
Quarterback Dak Prescott, who appeared on last week’s report with a hip injury, was not listed in the first report for Week 13.
The Cowboys host the Chiefs on Thursday, in what likely will be the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history. It’s hard to imagine Pickens. who’s having a breakout year in his fourth NFL season (and first in Dallas) not playing in the game.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice had a big role in the Chiefs’ comeback win over the Colts on Sunday and he landed on the team’s injury report on Monday.
Rice was estimated to be a limited practice participant because of a hamstring injury. Rice had five catches for 132 yards in the second half and overtime of Sunday’s 23-20 win.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is also on the report ahead of Thursday’s game in Dallas. He is dealing with a groin injury, but would have been a full participant.
Right guard Trey Smith (ankle) would not have practiced and is not expected to play this week. Tight end Noah Gray (concussion) also looks unlikely to play after being listed as out of practice.
Linebacker Leo Chenal (knee) and wide receiver Xavier Worthy (ankle) were listed as limited. Defensive end George Karlaftis (thumb), running back Isiah Pacheco (knee), cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace (back), and right tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee) were all listed as full participants.
The Chiefs have signed running back Dameon Pierce to their practice squad, the team announced Monday.
They cut wide receiver Jimmy Holiday from the practice squad to make room for Pierce.
The Chiefs needed help at the position with Isiah Pacheco sidelined.
The Chargers, Broncos, Bears, Eagles, Colts, Bengals and Dolphins also had interest, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports.
The 2022 fourth-round pick was in his fourth season with the Texans when they cut him last week.
Pierce led the Texans with 939 rushing yards during his rookie season but wound up behind Devin Singletary the next year and has remained a reserve since then. He has 10 carries for 26 yards and a touchdown as the third option in a backfield with Woody Marks and Nick Chubb.
Cowboys left tackle Tyler Guyton is likely to miss Thursday’s game against the Chiefs.
According to multiple reports, Guyton suffered a high-ankle sprain during Sunday’s 24-21 victory over the Eagles. Guyton left the game in the second half and did not return.
Guyton was replaced by Nate Thomas against the Eagles. Thomas also started when Guyton missed the team’s Week 5 victory over the Jets because of a concussion. Hakeem Adenjii was inactive against the Eagles due to an illness, but will step into the backup role if he’s able to play against Kansas City.
The Cowboys will issue their first injury report ahead of their Thanksgiving game on Monday afternoon. Final injury designations for the game will be released on Wednesday.
It looks like the Chiefs will be without right guard Trey Smith for their Thanksgiving trip to Dallas.
Smith left Sunday’s overtime win over the Colts with an ankle injury and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Smith is expected to miss time in the future as well. Per the report, Smith is dealing with high- and low-ankle sprains.
Smith has missed one game this season and he was the only Chiefs starting offensive lineman to miss one of their 96 offensive snaps on Sunday.
Mike Caliendo replaced Smith against the Colts. He’s made one start this season and he also made six starts across the regular season and playoffs in 2024.
The Chiefs aren’t out of it quite yet.
Down 20-9 late in the third quarter, the Chiefs scored 11 in the fourth period before getting a game-winning 27-yard field goal from Harrison Butker in overtime to beat the Colts 23-20.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made several key plays late to bring the team back from the brink to win. Down by three late in the fourth quarter, Mahomes connected with Rashee Rice on fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive with a 19-yard gain. While Kansas City got down to the Indianapolis 2-yard line, the club couldn’t punch it in at the end of regulation, settling for a 25-yard field goal from Butker.
While the Colts took the ball in overtime, Jonathan Taylor was stuffed on third-and-1 for a 2-yard loss, forcing a three-and-out. The Chiefs’ defense forced three-and-outs on each of Indianapolis’ last four possessions starting at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
That gave Kansas City the opportunity to go down the field and win. Mahomes made another outstanding play, hitting a deep shot to Xavier Worthy on third-and-7 for a 31-yard gain, putting the club in Indianapolis territory. Then a 21-yard pass from Mahomes to Rice effectively put things in place for a Chiefs win.
After getting to the 9-yard line, Kansas City didn’t mess with anything else, sending Butker out to end it and cap a 12-play, 81-yard drive.
Rice ended the day with eight catches for 141 yards. He was battling a hamstring issue late in the contest, but was able to get back on the field for the critical 21-yard gain.
Mahomes finished 29-of-46 for 352 yards with an interception — a tipped pass that led to Daniel Jones’ first touchdown to Michael Pittman. Kareem Hunt ended the day with 104 yards on 30 carries with a TD.
On the other side, Taylor was held to just 58 yards on 16 carries with no touchdowns. He had two catches for 8 yards.
Jones was 19-of-31 for 181 yards with two touchdowns.
With the win, the Chiefs gained a key conference victory and ended a two-game losing streak. Though the Chiefs are still on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason picture, the club at 6-5 still has some life. Kansas City will be in Dallas for a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Cowboys in Week 13.
At 8-3, the Colts are still in first place in the AFC South. They will host the division-rival Texans in Week 13.
