The noise around Christine Michael has reached a crescendo, as the Cowboys wait to determine whether their newest running back will be active this weekend in New Orleans.
It's been a month since the Cowboys traded a seventh-round pick to Seattle to acquire Michael, and he has yet to dress out for a game. That could change this week, though, as Cowboys coach Jason Garrett acknowledged that Michael got first-team reps this week in practice.
"We've given him some work this week and we'll play it out today and tomorrow and see if he's one of the guys we want to have on our 46," he said.
The Cowboys' running game hasn't been bad, but it is middling through three games this season. Dallas is 18th in the league with 316 rushing yards this year â an average of 105 yards per game. Joseph Randle raced out to 91 rushing yards and three touchdowns, all before halftime, last week.
But he -- and the Dallas offense -- started down the stretch. The Cowboys' inability to run on a focused Atlanta front had led for no shortage of calls for Michael to get a chance. It makes sense, considering the former Seahawk checks in at a stocky 5-10, 221 pounds.
"Well, I just think that he offers a little different dimension," said Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones on Friday. "He's got really great feet, he's fast to weigh that 230-something pounds and he's a load in there."
Jones got a taste of those dimensions last weekend, when Atlanta's backup tailback worked the Dallas defense for 193 all-purpose yards. The 5-9, 209-pound Devonta Freeman was seemingly unstoppable in the second half, prompting an obvious question from Jones.
"Maybe that would cause you to say 'Do we have one of those? Short to the ground and a load?'" Jones said. "Well, Michael is that."
It remains to be seen if the Cowboys will activate Michael this weekend against the Saints. But after a four-week wait to see him, it certainly seems possible.
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