The Dallas Cowboys arrive at NRG Stadium with a secondary that has been rebuilt in public over nine days. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback Cobie Durant are both out with hamstring injuries, according to the club's final Week 4 injury report as detailed by Dallas Sports Journal.
Safety Malik Hooker (forearm) and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. (knee/ankle) closed the week as full participants with no designation. Into that mix walks Joey Porter Jr., acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday night and listed with no injury designation for his first snaps in a Dallas uniform.
Kickoff is noon Central on FOX. Dallas is 1-2 after a 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro. Houston is 0-3 after falling 19-17 to the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans are favored by three points in the Associated Press preview published Friday on ESPN.
What the trade buys - and what it does not guarantee
Dallas sent a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick to Pittsburgh for Porter, Dallas Sports Journal reported. Porter had been inactive for Pittsburgh's first three games amid a contract dispute and a back issue; the Associated Press preview, updated Oct. 2, framed his availability cautiously, writing that there were indications he could have only a limited role after the quick turnaround.
Later reporting moved further. Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan after Friday's practice that the team expects Porter to get snaps, NBC Sports' Charean Williams and Dallas Sports Journal both reported.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer, speaking Thursday and Friday to DallasCowboys.com and local outlets, cast the decision as conditional on stacking a second strong practice and described a plan for how Porter would be used if he played.
Sunday morning's inactive list from Sports Illustrated's Cowboys coverage did not include Porter among the inactive defensive starters, placing him on the active 48 with Overshown, Durant, and Caelen Carson among those ruled out.
The practical reading, based on those sources rather than a projected snap chart: Porter is expected to play, likely in a managed package, not as a locked-in every-down starter on three days of install. Schottenheimer has not published a snap target.
The secondary Dallas is actually fielding
Overshown will miss his third straight game. Durant will miss his second. Both sat out Wednesday through Friday, per the final report.
Revel, hurt in his first start of the season against Baltimore, returned to a full Friday practice after working with the training staff earlier in the week. Hooker was limited Wednesday and Thursday and full Friday.
Dallas elevated cornerback Reddy Steward and safety Juanyeh Thomas from the practice squad Saturday, NBC Sports reported, with Thomas signing to the practice squad earlier in the week after the club lost safety Jalen Thompson to injured reserve.
Those elevations are depth math, not a verdict on Porter. They are the roster's acknowledgment that Christian Parker's defense - 30th in the NFL in yards allowed at 387 per game in the Associated Press preview - cannot absorb two more absences without activating warm bodies who know the calls.
