A month ago, the Dallas Cowboys were still talking about how clean their training camp had been.
Almost no one of consequence was missing, and even players who had spent 2025 fighting to stay on the field — linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback Shavon Revel among them — had come through the summer healthy and looking the part. That picture did not last.
The injuries arrived in stages. On offense, guard Tyler Smith and backup running back Malik Davis were among the first to go down. The defensive secondary has taken the heavier hit since.
Safeties Malik Hooker and Jalen Thompson are out, along with backup PJ Locke. Starting corner Cobie Durant is sidelined with a hamstring.
Revel, who stepped into Durant’s spot and started in Week 3, then left that game with knee and ankle trouble and spent the early part of this week listed as uncertain for Sunday’s trip to Houston.
Friday changed that.
The Cowboys practiced at The Star, and Revel was a full participant. Afterward his name came off the injury report, which means he is expected to be available without restriction against the Texans.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Nick Harris noted that both Revel and Hooker worked in a full capacity and were cleared for the game. Hooker’s return would be its own lift for a thin safety room, but Revel’s status is the more immediate fix at corner.
With Durant still out, Revel is the logical choice to start again.
Dallas spent much of the week discussing the addition of Joey Porter Jr., acquired in a trade from Pittsburgh after he sat out the season with a back injury while locked in a contract dispute with the Steelers.
The Cowboys appear prepared to have Porter available on Sunday, yet asking a player who has not been in a game all year to open as a starter on the road would be a steep ask. Revel, by contrast, already has a start on his ledger this season and now has a clean practice week behind him.
None of that erases how thin the defense still is. A secondary that entered camp looking settled has been rearranged by hamstrings, knees, and ankles, and Houston will not be a soft landing for whoever lines up outside.
What Friday did provide is a measure of clarity the Cowboys did not have at midweek: Revel is off the report, expected to play, and positioned to take the snaps Durant cannot.
For a team that has spent September watching the injury list grow, getting one starter back is a modest piece of good news, and right now modest is about all Dallas can claim.
