{"id":53798,"date":"2025-06-06T03:57:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T03:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=53798"},"modified":"2025-06-06T03:57:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T03:57:56","slug":"breaking-cowboys-playmaker-endures-major-injury-scare-during-otas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=53798","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Cowboys Playmaker Endures Major Injury Scare During OTAs.."},"content":{"rendered":"
The Dallas Cowboys dodged a major bullet as Malik Hooker is believed to not have suffered a significant injury.<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0continued their offseason program this past Tuesday and there were some notable takeaways during the OTA practice from inside The Star, where CowboysCountry.com’s Mike Fisher was present.<\/p>\n

Promising young defenders DeMarvion Overshown and Sam Williams were working with the rehab group as they push towards returning to the field this season.<\/p>\n

Elite wide receiver George Pickens sported his new No. 3 jersey and made plays all over the field.<\/p>\n

Now for the bad news.<\/p>\n

While the\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0are anticipating the return of several key players, starting safety Malik Hooker suffered an injury that forced him to leave practice early.<\/p>\n

We now are told that Hooker was dealing with back spasms and the word is that the defensive back will be fine for Thursday\u2019s OTAs.<\/p>\n

Hooker is arguably one of the Cowboys\u2019 most underrated players and has brought stability and playmaking to the free safety position since his arrival in 2021.<\/p>\n

The former\u00a0Ohio State\u00a0Buckeye was selected 15th<\/sup>\u00a0overall in the 2017\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0by the\u00a0Indianapolis Colts.<\/p>\n

Hooker has always been an undeniably talented football player but a devastating torn Achilles in 2020 with the Colts was a setback.<\/p>\n

Hooker was recently ranked as a top 20 safety in the\u00a0NFL by PFF\u2019s Zoltan Buday\u2014further proving his value to the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Buday ranked the top 32 players at the safety position but noted Hooker declined in 2024.<\/p>\n

“Following two strong seasons in which he ranked among the top 15 safeties in PFF overall grade, Hooker\u2019s play declined this past season. The Ohio State product\u2019s 65.3 PFF overall grade ranked only 42nd at the position. However, over the previous two seasons, he combined to allow just 19 receptions and three touchdowns in coverage,\u201d Buday wrote.<\/p>\n

With Matt Eberflus now in the fold as the new defensive coordinator in Dallas, Hooker will be in a system he is familiar with\u2014one that will hopefully allow him to tap into his early career success. … as he pushes on with good health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys dodged a major bullet as Malik Hooker is believed to not have suffered a significant injury. The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0continued their offseason program this past Tuesday… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Cowboys Playmaker Endures Major Injury Scare During OTAs.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=53798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Cowboys Playmaker Endures Major Injury Scare During OTAs.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dallas Cowboys dodged a major bullet as Malik Hooker is believed to not have suffered a significant injury. 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