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| Wednesday, September 6 Associated Press | |||
| IRVING, Texas -- Joey Galloway was supposed to be the guy
who turns around the Dallas Cowboys. Instead, his knee injury has
turned things upside down.
Tests Monday revealed a torn ligament in the wide receiver's
left knee that will require season-ending surgery. Making matters
worse, quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Randall Cunningham are not completely healthy.
Aikman suffered his eighth career concussion in the second
quarter of Sunday's 41-14 loss in the opener against Philadelphia.
The Eagles mauled him all nine times he tried to throw, resulting
in four sacks and five incompletions.
Aikman was still feeling dizzy and having headaches Wednesday, and was ruled out of Sunday's game against Arizona.
"Let me be sure we're clear about one thing: I'm not interested
in any way of jeopardizing his long-term well-being," Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones said. "If you think I'm sitting here pushing him
to get back out there on behalf of winning a ball game, the answer
is no."
Cunningham, who missed four preseason games because of shoulder
problems, hurt the thumb on his throwing hand when he hit it
against a defender. On Monday, while squeezing a glob of Silly
Putty borrowed from his kids, he said he expects to be ready.
Jones said he's looking into bringing in another quarterback,
preferably a veteran. He already plans to put Galloway on injured
reserve and activate rookie Clint Stoerner off the practice squad.
Galloway, incidentally, was Dallas' third quarterback.
Galloway's receiving skills made him the centerpiece of the
Cowboys' offseason overhaul of its offense. To get him, Jones gave
Seattle two first-round draft picks and signed the speedster to a
$42 million, seven-year contract.
There has been a decision made on replacing Galloway. James
McKnight, who missed all of last season with the same injury, will take his place in the starting lineup. McKnight led the team in the preseason with 10 catches for 190
yards. He had just one catch for nine yards in the season opener.
Galloway caught four passes for 62 yards in the opener,
including a 4-yarder in the fourth quarter for the Cowboys' lone
touchdown. He was hurt on Dallas' third-to-last snap. Jones said he
had no problem with Galloway still being in the game, even though
running back Emmitt Smith was long gone.
Galloway had a similar injury two games into his sophomore year
at Ohio State in 1992.
"He's distressed about it, very down," Jones said. "But he
basically told the doctor and told me there's no issue about
rehabbing from this so he can play next year."
Aikman's health is much more of a concern. This is his third
concussion in his last nine games and with each one comes the
question of how many more can -- or will -- he take.
The cumulative effect of concussions has ended many careers,
most recently Steve Young. A generation earlier, Roger Staubach
called it quits after concussions were coming too easily, although
he was 38.
"I think Troy is astute enough, smart enough to know when he
can get on the field and perform at his best and whether he's at
risk," Smith said. "He's going to need all the professional
advice he can get and make the decision for himself."
Last season, Aikman, 33, suffered a concussion early in a game
in Indianapolis and returned. He played the next week and a
relatively light blow gave him a second concussion. He sat out the
next two weeks.
The injuries are only part of the Cowboys' problems.
Both lines looked horrible in the opener, resulting in five
sacks and 306 yards rushing allowed, the most in team history. The
27-point loss tied their worst in 41 home openers and they've
already matched their number of home losses last season.
"We knew we were going to have some adversity during the
season," safety Darren Woodson said. "We didn't expect it to
happen so soon."
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  Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks about Joey Galloway's season-ending injury.RealVideo: 28.8   Dave Campo gives an update on Troy Aikman's injury.wav: 264 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Jerry Jones does not want to risk longterm injury to Troy Aikman.wav: 152 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Dallas head coach Dave Campo defends leaving Joey Galloway in at the end of the game.wav: 72 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Emmitt Smith says the Cowboys' have to protect their QB better.wav: 146 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Darren Woodson is discouraged to see his QB hurt.wav: 65 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | ||