Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb aggravates shoulder injury in win vs. Giants, exits in third quarter

ARLINGTON, Texas — There was plenty for the Dallas Cowboys (5-7) to be grateful for on Thanksgiving Day, winning their first home game of the season in a 27-20 victory over the New York Giants (2-10). Thursday night also marked the eighth consecutive victory over the Giants and 15th in their last 16 matchups. 

However, Dallas did also receive some bad news: 2023 All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb reinjured his shoulder. Lamb’s sixth and final target on a night in which he caught just two passes for 39 yards occurred with 2:23 left in the first half. Lamb aggravated the AC joint sprain in his right shoulder with approximately eight minutes left in the third quarter. He attempted to play through the injury but departed the game after a few plays. 

“CeeDee had a shoulder injury, that’s why he didn’t go back in,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said postgame on Thursday. 

Lamb fell on his shoulder three times in Week 9 at the Atlanta Falcons, and he powered though the injury to stay in the game that day. When discussing his health on Tuesday prior to the win over the Giants, he made it clear his shoulder nor any other nagging injury would keep him off the football field this season. 

“I’m banged up, I ain’t even going to lie to you,” Lamb said Tuesday. “It is what it is bro. It’s that time of the year in the season. I ain’t going to get [into] any specifics, but we straight. As far as for me, the pride is unbelievable. I’m willing to do whatever to go out there and have my presence felt. … With me being out there, I feel like the guys are more comfortable, and they’re able to play as confident and as fast as they want, knowing they get the looks that they want. I’m all for the team winning, if you can’t tell by now. … This is definitely one of the toughest years for me body-wise, but that ain’t stopping nothing. That’s for sure.”    

Despite Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott being out for the year with a hamstring injury and Dallas playing with rookies at left tackle and center for most of the year, Lamb has maintained his All-Pro-caliber play this season. He leads the NFL with 79 receptions while ranking third in receiving yards with 880. The good news for Lamb and any other Cowboy dealing with nicks and bruises is that they are essentially set up for an unofficial bye week going forward. Dallas’ Week 14 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals isn’t until “Monday Night Football” on Dec. 9, which is 11 days from Thanksgiving. 

“The rest might be the most important part of the schedule. If you just look at what we’ve been dealing with, rest and recovery will really help us,” McCarthy said. “The schedule is set up for our players to be on a bye week. They have some responsibility on Monday, we’ll do a later start on Wednesday. I do want them to get away, get their batteries charged and be ready to go. We are going to have to play our best football, clearly, in front of us.”   

McCarthy allowing his players to treat the next few days as a bye week will allow Lamb, who prides himself on being an iron man of sorts, to have the greatest possible chance to return to AT&T Stadium on Dec. 9 fully suited up and ready to roll against the Bengals in Week 14.

“I feel like it’s an underrated trait that I have,” Lamb said when talking about his durability ahead of Week 10 vs. the Eagles. “It’s a lot of hits that I’ve taken. It’s a lot of things that I’ve had to take that many others I feel like would have folded. With that, I take it with a grain of salt and keep it moving. Everybody’s different. A lot of hits would have taken a lot of guys out. But with that, again, it’s more so, I’m not just out there for me. It’s a lot of people I’m representing. It’s a lot of people I’m taking care of. And it’s a lot of people that I want to go out there and inspire. So with that being said, I know somebody out there paid their last dollar to come watch me play. I’m going to be out there for them.”