Injury Report: Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of having to deal with another major alteration to their too-often beleaguered defense as they gear up for a "Sunday Night Football'' opportunity to upset the 49ers at San Francisco.

The acceleration of the availability of Micah Parsons? That might come next week. Help from DaRon Bland? Same deal.

But rookie cornerback Caelen Carson is OK to go, right? Wrong.

Multiple reports have Carson not responding well to his efforts to work through a shoulder problem in pregame, leading to the likelihood that the still relatively obscure Amani Oruwariye is going to to make his third consecutive start at corner.

DeMarcus Lawrence and Brandin Cooks have both landed on the injured reserve in the last three weeks while DaRon Bland has not yet made his return from the injured reserve and Eric Kendricks missed the team's 47-9 defeat to the Detroit Lions in Week 6.

But atop all these listed absences, Parsons' status remains the most essential and one the Cowboys will be monitoring heading back into action next week. Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain against the New York Giants in Week 4 and has not played since.

Dallas hoped to have him back for this week's showdown with the San Francisco 49ers in a key road matchup on Sunday night. But they were not going to rush him back into action, and he was a DNP all week. So he has been ruled out for this week as has DaRon Bland, who was also a DNP.

There was hope on Carson. But now those hopes might have to be transferred to the unheralded Amani Oruwariye.