The Commanders made a late addition to their injury report for Thursday’s game against the Cowboys.
Running back Chris Rodriguez is now listed as questionable to play. An illness is the reason for Rodriguez’s change in status.
Rodriguez has 96 carries for 435 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games for Washington this season.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt is the Commanders’ leading rusher on the season. Jeremy McNichols and Chase Edmonds are the other running backs on the team’s 53-man roster.
The Commanders ruled out quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (left elbow) and Marcus Mariota (hand, quad) on Wednesday. Josh Johnson will start with Jeff Driskel and practice squad elevation Sam Hartman also on hand. Linebacker Nick Bellore (concussion), defensive tackle Daron Payne (back), and left tackle Laremy Tunsil (oblique) are also out on Thursday.
Last year’s Christmas games, at least on paper, were good. (The games themselves, not.)
This year, the NFL’s three-pack of December 25 offerings are roughly the equivalent of a bowling ball, a can of Simoniz, and mismatched dress socks.
Despite the relentless hype, the games have no inherent appeal. Cowboys-Commanders, which starts the day, includes two teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention. It also features a 39-year-old, third-string quarterback (Josh Johnson) for the home team. Yes, it’s the Cowboys. But who really cares?
The second game has the Lions, who are clinging to wafer thin playoff hopes, against a Vikings team led by a rookie free agent (Max Brosmer) whose only other start was a 26-0 disaster in Seattle.
Then comes the night game, starring the Chiefs — who suddenly look like anything but the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is out. His backup, Gardner Minshew, is out. The quarterbacks for the home team will be Chris Oladokun and Shane Buechele. The Broncos, at 12-3, are favored by 13.5 points in the first game to be played at Arrowhead Stadium since the team’s eventual move to Kansas was announced on Monday.
Whatever the audience numbers may be for the three games, the P.R. execs will try to find a way to paint the glass of eggnog as half full. Even with the new Nielsen metric that has pumped up numbers across the board, it’s hard to imagine anyone stopping what they’re doing to watch any of these games.
They’ll probably still beat the NBA games easily. But the NFL games may not win by the usual wide margin.
The Cowboys will not have left tackle Tyler Guyton in the lineup for the final two games of the regular season.
Guyton was placed on injured reserve Wednesday due to the ankle injury that has kept him out of their last four games. Tyler Smith is expected to play left tackle for the rest of the season.
The Cowboys also ruled linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (concussion), cornerback Josh Butler (knee), running back Phil Mafah (shoulder), and defensive end Payton Turner (ribs) out for Thursday’s game against the Commanders.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (neck), guard Tyler Booker (ankle), cornerback Caelen Carson (hamstring), and wide receiver Ryan Flournoy (knee) are all listed as questionable for Thursday.
The Cowboys filled Guyton’s roster spot by signing defensive back Corey Ballentine from the practice squad to the active roster. They also elevated linebacker Justin Barron from the practice squad for the Christmas game.
When the NFL scheduled the Commanders to play on Christmas, the hope was that they’d be showcasing quarterback Jayden Daniels against the Cowboys.
They’ll have to settle for Josh Johnson. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn confirmed on Wednesday that Johnson will be getting the start in the first of the three games scheduled for Thursday.
Daniels was shut down for the season last week due to a left elbow injury and Marcus Mariota has been ruled out due to the hand and quad injuries he suffered in last Saturday’s loss to the Eagles. Jeff Driskel will serve as Washington’s backup quarterback.
Johnson will be making his first regular season start since he was with the Ravens in 2021. He’s started eight other NFL games, including three for Washington during the 2018 season. He also started games for the Bucs in 2009 and 2011, which makes for one of the more unusual career records in league history.
The Commanders have also ruled out linebacker Nick Bellore (concussion), defensive tackle Daron Payne (back), and left tackle Laremy Tunsil (oblique).
The Cowboys are out of the playoffs for a second consecutive season and for the fifth time in Dak Prescott’s 10 seasons. They have not made the NFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl, since 1995. It is the longest title game drought in the conference.
Prescott, though, has issued a guarantee for 2026.
“We won’t be back here in this spot,” Prescott said Tuesday, via Todd Archer of ESPN.
The Cowboys were 7-10 last season. They are 6-8-1 this season and need to beat the Commanders and Giants to avoid back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since going 5-11 for three consecutive seasons from 2000-02.
“I feel like the last few times I’ve said that were playoff losses,” Prescott said. “Each year has its own troubles. Each year has its own highs, lows, ebbs and flows and everything within it. The importance is controlling what you can. . . . I’m going to do my damnedest, controlling what I can and as you get older, I think having more input, having more say so and being asked more questions from the front office. Maybe there’s a little bit more that I can do, and it’s not physically or me getting better at my game. Maybe it’s speaking up and saying that this will help or I think this can help. Whatever it takes, once again I’m going to do my damnedest and make sure that I’m influencing and encouraging everybody else around me, not just the players, to do the same.”
Despite the Cowboys and their final two opponents having been eliminated from the postseason, Prescott said he plans to play the final two games.
He has thrown for 4,175 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season, earning him a fourth Pro Bowl. Prescott, though, has only two playoff wins. The clock is ticking.
“My success, that accolade is 100 percent is shared with each and every one of those guys in there,” Prescott said. “It’s pretty cool to be a Pro Bowler, but at the end of the day, it’s not what we’re going for.”
