As if the Dallas Cowboys' defense hasn't had enough to worry about during this 2025 NFL season, Matt Eberflus' underperforming unit went into its Week 8 matchup with the Denver Broncos without the services of starting safeties Donovan Wilson (elbow) and Juanyeh Thomas (migraine).
America's Team was already thin at the position with Malik Hooker (toe) still sitting on injured reserve, thus forcing Brian Schottenheimer to start Markquese Bell and seldom-used Alijah Clark. Things took another turn for the worse when Clark had to exit the game with a rib injury, putting Schottenheimer in a position where he had to use cornerback Reddy Steward at safety to close out the embarrassing 44-24 defeat.