3 Dallas Cowboys Facing Make-or-Break Game in Week 10 vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Dallas Cowboys will face what might be their toughest test of the 2026 season thus far when they host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Week 10.

The Cowboys were already up against it because the 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFL, but Dallas is also very banged-up, which only makes the uphill climb even steeper.

But those injuries have opened the door for a few players to make a statement and earn themselves more playing time moving forward if they can answer the bell.

Here's three players who qualify.

Jaishawn Barham

After it looked like Barham was going to be a major factor in Dallas' defense this season, the rookie has seen his playing time dip big time in recent weeks and Barham saw a season-low three snaps last week.

In Week 10, Barham is expected to get snaps at edge rusher with Donovan Ezeiruaku ruled out, defensive coordinator Christian Parker said.

"Then we'll get Jaishawn more involved there. He's kind of been involved there in some spotlight duty already with some different packages we've had throughout the season. We'll be able to deploy him there some too," Parker said.

The Cowboys desperately need a jolt at edge rusher thanks to the lackluster showing from the group overall this season. If Barham can provide that, he'll open up a new avenue to get more looks.

If not, it'll be back to irrelevance for the third-round rookie.

Israel Abanikanda

The Cowboys were hit by the injury bug at the running back spot once again last week after Tyler Goodson suffered a knee injury that is slated to keep him out for multiple games.

With Goodson on the shelf for now, the Cowboys are going to call up Abanikanda from the practice squad to serve as the RB2, the Cowboys announced.

A former fifth-round pick of the New York Jets, Abanikanda hasn't gotten into a game since his rookie season in 2023.

Safe to say, this amounts to a huge and long-awaited opportunity that the veteran running back must capitalize on to give himself a chance to see more playing time moving forward. If he doesn't, Dallas could turn to Kendre Miller next week instead.

Camden Brown

With Jonathan Mingo ruled out, Brown has an opportunity to see some snaps on offense, assuming the Cowboys don't give all of Mingo's looks to KaVontae Turpin.

The WR4 job is very much up for grabs considering Mingo has done nothing signficant in that role this season.

Brown, who has routinely been a healthy scratch in 2026, could wrestle that job away from Mingo if he can put together a strong performance on Sunday. The failure to do so will put him back on the inactives list for the foreseeable future now that Turpin has returned from injury.

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