It feels awfully early to be talking about injury reports with almost four months to go before the season kickoff, but several teams have already seen notable players go down, including two of the first four opponents on the Cowboys’ schedule.
Defensive starters for both the Giants and Texans have suffered serious injuries this week, separate developments that will impact the Cowboys’ matchups in Weeks 1 and 4, respectively.
For the Giants, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris suffered an Achilles tendon tear this week and is expected to miss the entire 2026 season as a result. Robertson-Harris started all 17 games for Big Blue last year and played on over half the unit’s total snaps. The 10th-year veteran was likely to be an even bigger piece of the puzzle along New York’s defensive line after the offseason departure of Dexter Lawrence.
Robertson-Harris’s injury, sustained during an 11-on-11 drill at the team’s OTAs, comes just days after Giants undrafted free agent cornerback Thaddeus Dixon also tore an Achilles and in the same week head coach John Harbaugh cast considerable doubt on the Sept. 13 season opener’s availability of star wide receiver Malik Nabers. Nabers tore an ACL last September and required two offseason surgeries; Harbaugh called the issue “not a simple knee [injury]” and called any timetable for his recovery “just impossible to predict.”
That’s the Cowboys’ Week 1 opponent. But word also came Friday that their Week 4 foe could be depleted defensively, too.
Houston Texans linebacker E.J. Speed partially tore a quadriceps muscle and tendon during a weightlifting session that was part of the team’s offseason program, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Speed, the Forth Worth native and eighth-year pro, saw action in 16 of the Texans’ 2025 contests, making nine starts.
Dr. Dan Cooper, the Cowboys team doctor and noted orthopedic surgeon, is slated to perform the procedure to repair Speed’s leg next week. While the soon-to-be 31-year-old is expected to return to the field “at some point” this season, his injury carries “at least” a three-month recovery time followed by rehab.
The Cowboys and Texans play Oct. 4.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 2 of Cowboys’ first 4 opponents suffer serious defensive injuries early in offseason
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
