Pettine Joins the Staff as Overshown Remains TBD and the Secondary Flirts With Another Sick Week Before Lambeau

By Jake "Star" Whitfield, RF Sports Radio Cowboys voice

Cowboys Nation, you wanted a response after Tampa. Schottenheimer gave you one on the staff side. Now the body count on the practice field has to catch up before Sunday Night in Green Bay.

The facts

On Monday, Oct. 12, the Dallas Cowboys added Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant to support first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker, per DallasCowboys.com and multiple national reports including AP and NFL.com. Schottenheimer said he worked with Pettine for years with the Jets, and that Parker and Pettine overlapped in Green Bay. Pettine most recently helped Brian Flores in Minnesota, had stepped away from coaching, and was described as coming in after time in Italy. Schottenheimer framed him as a sounding board for Parker and for the entire staff, not as a coordinator replacement.

That hire lands in the same week Dallas is preparing for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 7:20 p.m. Central on NBC at Lambeau Field. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who has missed four games with a hamstring injury from Week 1, told team media he is hopeful he can return; Schottenheimer kept Overshown's status TBD and said Wednesday and Thursday pads will tell more. Cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson were sent home ill Monday and missed practice. Ameer Speed and Shavon Revel Jr. had sore knees that Schottenheimer said were not a major concern, per the Dallas Morning News and DallasCowboys.com injury notes.

Dallas is 2-3. The secondary has already been stressed by Joey Porter Jr.'s flu absence against Tampa Bay and by Cobie Durant's ongoing hamstring rehab. Parker is still in his first year as an NFL defensive coordinator. The Pettine addition is the organizational answer to a defense that has allowed too many points through five games, while the illness and Overshown timelines are the on-field variables that will decide whether Sunday Night looks like a plan or a scramble.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: hiring Pettine is the right kind of panic. Not a midseason coordinator firing. Not a press-conference apology tour. A veteran 3-4 mind who already knows Parker's language and Schottenheimer's history. That is adult leadership after a bad Thursday night. What it does not do is put Bland on the field or heal Overshown's hamstring by kickoff. Staff help shows up in the meeting room this week. Coverage help shows up only if the corners are healthy and the green-dot situation is settled by Friday.

My call: Pettine's fingerprints show up more in November than on Sunday Night, and Overshown is active but on a snap count at Lambeau. Packers 27, Cowboys 23 if Bland or Carson is limited; Cowboys by a field goal if the secondary is close to full. That is a prediction, not a report. The hire buys Parker time. It does not buy Dallas a free pass at Lambeau.

What to watch next

Watch Wednesday and Thursday injury reports for Overshown, Bland, Carson, Speed and Revel. Kickoff is Sunday at 7:20 p.m. Central on NBC at Lambeau. Catch up on our last Cowboys post on secondary illness and Overshown's TBD status, and follow every update on the Dallas Cowboys page.

Radio question: does adding Pettine calm you down about this Cowboys defense, or do you need Bland and Overshown healthy before you buy in at Lambeau?

Sources: DallasCowboys.com — Cowboys add Mike Pettine to defensive coaching staff; DallasCowboys.com — Overshown hopeful he can return Sunday vs. Packers; Dallas Morning News — Cowboys injury updates: Bland, Carson illness.