Cowboys' Josh Butler suffers ACL injury, Juanyeh Thomas dodges disaster

The six-game losing streak at AT&T Stadium ended on Thanksgiving with a victory over the New York Giants, but it came at a cost for the Dallas Cowboys. In a season that's seen the latter overwhelmed almost weekly with injuries of all sorts, Josh Butler and Juanyeh Thomas are the latest victims of that ravaging.

Butler, a promising young cornerback who delivered a breakout game in instant classic against the Washington Commanders just four days prior, suffered a torn ACL in the waning moments of the first half against the Giants.

His injury will require surgery, per executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones to 105.3 The Fan, and Butler will soon be moved to season-ending injured reserve.

The news is a good bit better for Thomas, who went down writhing in pain early in the second quarter on a Cowboys' kickoff to the Giants. Despite being carted off of the field and not returning to the contest, it's been determined Thomas suffered a meniscus injury that gives him a chance at returning before the 2024 regular season concludes.

The expectation is he'll miss roughly 2-3 weeks as he recovers.

Losing Butler and Thomas strike two additional blows to both defense and special teams, seeing as Thomas was also integral in securing the upset victory over the Commanders by way of an onside kick return for a touchdown — the first of his career — after essentially escorting KaVontae Turpin to a 99-yard return on the prior kickoff.

Though DaRon Bland has returned to the field, the Cowboys have been without Trevon Diggs over the last two matchups, and it's thrust Butler (and the overall depth at the position) onto center stage; and his absence will task Israel Mukuamu with continuing to step up going forward.

The hope is that the minibye week will help Diggs for the hosting of the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14, but that is yet to be determined.