Veteran cornerback Jourdan Lewis was activated from the PUP list on Tuesday and will be on the roster against the New York Giants next Sunday.
He won’t be ready for week one, but could be ready within the next few weeks.
Lewis missed all of training camp and the preseason while recovering from a Lisfranc injury.
I and others thought Lewis came off the PUP list a bit early. It was surprising.
Jourdan Lewis returns to practice after his long road back. #Cowboys
Stride for stride with KaVontae Turpin. pic.twitter.com/jAEkEBvy20
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) August 30, 2023
He will still need a handful of weeks to get game-ready, so the one pushback I have is adding him to the 53-man roster and not just starting him on the PUP list.
He is going to miss the first three weeks of the probably season, anyway.
Once ready, Lewis will compete with DaRon Bland for snaps as the slot cornerback.
With an already loaded cornerback room, adding Lewis back just a few weeks into the season will be huge.
This defense has a chance to be special.
“I feel really good. The best I have in a while,” Lewis said.
“The tough part is over. I can do all the breaks and cuts and stuff like that, it’s just now getting back in the fold and actually playing football against people.”
With the trade of Kelvin Joseph, the room now has Lewis, Bland, Trevon Diggs, Stephon Gilmore, Noah Igbinoghene, who they traded Joseph for, and Eric Scott Jr.
Nahshon Wright is on the I.R.
Scott Jr. impressed me this camp, but I didn’t think he did enough to make the roster; I’m glad I was wrong.
Lewis has been with the Cowboys for his entire career and can still play at a high level.
The Cowboys will put CB Jourdan Lewis on the 53-man roster, not on PUP, as the season opens, according to multiple sources. Still needs time to be game ready but this allows him to practice after suffering horrific foot injury last season that had him a cast or boot for 6 months.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 29, 2023
His best year came in 2021 when he started 13 games and recorded three interceptions.
It will take some time to get him remotely close to the player he was before the injury, but I know Dan Quinn will have a game plan for him.
Bland will start the year as the starter, but Lewis should have his chance to get that job back.
I love Bland, but both are great with dime-man coverage and the type of defense Quinn runs.
All of this will iron out once Lewis can step on the field again, but for now, he will continue to practice for the next couple of weeks.
This is a good problem for Dallas to have. Depth is always a good thing.
It is even better when you have backups who could be a starter on 90% of the other teams in the NFL.
Regardless, Lewis is going to make his way back into this defense sooner rather than later.
If they didn’t think he could make it back sooner, they would not have removed him from the PUP list.
It is only going to add more fire power on the defense when he can check in.
I am so excited for the season to start, I can’t wait for next week.
I always have high hopes, but with the amount of talent on this football team in a weaker NFC, the door is wide open for them to take it.
