Josiah Trotter has 30 tackles in three games, a substantial tackle total before Dallas meets Tampa Bay on Thursday night. The Cowboys will not be facing a nameless vacancy in the middle of the Buccaneers’ defense. Tampa formally ruled linebacker SirVocea Dennis out in Wednesday’s final game designations, but Trotter practiced fully for the second straight day and remains in position to return.
That changes the shape of Jake Ferguson’s assignment. The Dallas tight end has 12 catches for 83 yards and three receiving touchdowns through four games. The yardage is quiet; the scoring role is not. His 2025 workload suggests a role near the goal line: 13 targets inside the 10 yielded six touchdowns. Tampa’s defense will test whether that earlier option remains useful.
The matchup can be reduced to two striking red-zone figures. Dallas has converted 81.3% of its trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. Tampa has allowed touchdowns on only 45.5% of opponents’ red-zone possessions.
Four games are a small sample, and those percentages do not forecast Thursday’s result. They do, however, describe the tension: Ferguson’s most valuable territory is also the area where Tampa has applied its firmest resistance.
Dennis’ absence could encourage a wonderfully simple game plan: remove one linebacker, attack the linebackers. Football tends to charge extra for simple answers. Trotter’s production in his three appearances shows how involved he has been when available, while his full Wednesday participation removes the easiest assumption Dallas might have made about Tampa’s second level.
His current listing concerns a knee issue; his earlier missed game was associated with a separate shoulder injury. The current report provides participation information rather than a guarantee about his workload.
Green Bay’s tight ends provide a more concrete reason to keep Ferguson involved. Tucker Kraft and Mark Redman combined for eight receptions, 71 yards and a touchdown against Tampa on Sunday. That is background for the matchup, not evidence that Thursday will repeat it. It does show the Buccaneers’ overall defensive success has coexisted with production at Ferguson’s position.
For Ferguson, the work needs to begin before the red zone. If he becomes a player Tampa only has to find inside the final 20 yards, the defense can narrow its attention and make every target more expensive.
His 12 receptions are a much smaller piece of Dallas’ passing volume than CeeDee Lamb’s 37 catches for 498 yards, but that distribution can help the tight end. Tampa has to respect Lamb’s workload. Ferguson becomes more troublesome when he influences the defense on earlier downs rather than appearing only as the designated closer.
Through four games, Prescott has a 105.0 passer rating alongside eight touchdown passes and 1,065 yards, while Dallas converts 51.0% of its offensive third downs. Those numbers matter because a red-zone specialist is only as useful as the offense’s ability to reach the red zone with something resembling a plan.
Ferguson can contribute with a catch, but he can also make the defense account for him while Lamb and the other receivers work elsewhere. Tampa has allowed opponents to convert just 32.7% of third downs, so Dallas cannot expect late finishing to repair a possession that repeatedly dies early.
