The Dallas Cowboys are off to a great start in the 2024 season, and fans couldn’t have asked for a better start. Mike Zimmer’s defense delivered a stunning performance, smothering Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, while Dak Prescott and Co. did enough on offense to effortlessly cruise to the win.

In the midst of the brawl, however, the Cowboys got a scare when Jake Ferguson suffered a strange injury in the second half. Ferguson’s leg got caught under a Browns defender and he came up clutching his knee.

Ferguson doubled over in pain before limping off the field and being escorted to the locker room for further evaluation. Ferguson was able to walk to the locker room under his own power, but was limping noticeably. Although the details of Ferguson’s injury were unknown, it was a dark cloud over an otherwise brilliant afternoon for Dallas.

Prescott met with Ferguson after the game and the quarterback provided an encouraging update during his media appearance.

“I think we avoided a big mistake,” Prescott said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Talking to him gave me a lot of confidence. He gave me good news.”

It seems that Ferguson’s message to Prescott was correct. Shortly after, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport announced that the Pro Bowler’s X-rays came back negative and he probably did not tear his ACL. Tomorrow he will undergo an MRI that will show the full extent of the injury.

Ferguson is not quite out of the woods yet, but it’s a huge sigh of relief that he (seemingly) avoided an ACL injury. That’s always the first fear when a knee is involved, and the Cowboys are obviously not uncommon when players suffer ACL tears.

Even though he misses time, Dallas has avoided the worst-case scenario. Ferguson was adamant he could have played despite the injury. According to Patrick Walker of the team’s official website, Ferguson had no brace on his knee and did not require crutches. Nothing was spotted other than an ice pack. All promising signs.

Ferguson played no role on Sunday. He caught three passes for 15 yards on five attempts. However, other than CeeDee Lamb, no Cowboys pass catcher managed more than 60 receiving yards. The offense was in full swing after building a 27-3 lead.

Make no mistake: The 2022 fourth-round pick is a key part of the offense. Last season, he shone with 71 catches for 761 receiving yards and five touchdowns. You could say he’s Prescott’s second favorite target behind Lamb.

We’ll know all the details of Ferguson’s injury on Monday, but given the scary impact of the injury in real time, the Cowboys couldn’t have asked for better news.

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