FRISCO, Texas — With just three games remaining in the 2025 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys are giving three players a chance to potentially be activated from injured reserve ahead of the looming matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 21-day practice window has officially been opened on running back Phil Mafah, defensive end Payton Turner and cornerback Josh Butler — neither of whom have practiced at any point this season.
“It’s just a chance to get them on the grass and see the guys compete,” said head coach Brian Schottenheimer. ” … I know they’re excited to get out there and play the game that they love.”
Butler’s journey has been the most arduous of the three. The young defensive back suffered a season-ending knee injury in late November 2024, and he’s been working to recover from that for roughly a year. And though Butler professed his readiness to return to action a few weeks back, the Cowboys erred on the side of caution.
The injury cut short one of the better Cinderella stories of 2024, Butler having a breakout game against the Washington Commanders before suffering the aforementioned knee injury only four days later against the New York Giants.
Turner and Mafah, unlike Butler, have never officially suited up for the Cowboys, at least not in the capacity of a regular season game. The former was signed as a free agent in March, suffering an injury to his ribs in August that landed him on injured reserve, where he’s remained since.
The latter joined the club as a seventh-round pick in April, having a promising training camp in Oxnard and via preseason reps, landing on IR alongside Turner with a shoulder injury — also in August.
It’s undetermined when the Cowboys’ regular season finale against the Giants will be played, but the opening of the 21-day window on Dec. 17 means the team will need to make a decision on all three players fairly soon, and before the clock runs out on them having any chance whatsoever at seeing action in 2025.
