Donovan Ezeiruaku #6 of the Dallas Cowboys
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The Dallas Cowboys promised that changes were coming this week as part of a shift that began with the hiring of senior advisor Mike Pettine, primarily to help struggling first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker, and now has continued with actual on-field changes. Dallas will pull former second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku from the starting lineup–he started all five games this season and nine last year–as part of the shake-up. He will be replaced by Malachi Lawrence, chosen by the Cowboys with the team’s second first-round pick in the NFL draft back in April.
Lawrence struggled early in the year, but appeared to have a breakthrough in the loss to Tampa Bay last week when he registered his first career sack as well as a pass defensed. Ezeiruaku has 0.5 sacks this season after registering 2.0 last year. He has mostly been a disappointment in the NFL, and while coach Brian Schottenheimer said last week that Lawrence would play more this week, this move is still something of a shock.
As Cowboys beat writer Nick Harris wrote on Twitter/X: “Per @KristiCowboy, the Dallas Cowboys will start Malachi Lawrence over Donovan Ezeiruaku tonight. Brian Schottenheimer promised changes at OLB, and this is the first notable one made public.”
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Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including "Fun City," "Before Wrigley became Wrigley," and "Facing Michael Jordan." More about Sean Deveney
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