Having traveled the long road of recovery from a 2019 season-ending neck injury, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch found more bad fortune on Sunday night.
Vander Esch suffered a broken collarbone and is headed to injured reserve after suffering the injury in the first half of Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Rams, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Vander Esch should be back this season, but it's a huge blow for the Cowboys and adds injury to the insult of a season-opening defeat.
Though he only played the first quarter, Vander Esch tallied three tackles -- indicative of how important he is to Dallas' defense.
Having gobbled up 140 tackles as a rookie in 2018, Vander Esch was a Pro Bowl selection. However, the former first-round pick missed seven games last year with the aforementioned injury.
In other Cowboys injury news, tight end Blake Jarwin is believed to have suffered a torn ACL in the first half Sunday. He'll undergo an MRI exam to determine the extent of the injury.