Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Brandin Cooks is going to miss at least this week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and potentially longer due to an infection that developed in his knee, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.

Brandin Cooks stayed in New York following the Cowboys' win over the New York Giants and had a procedure on his knee. That is when the infection developed for Cooks, and now he is going to miss at least this upcoming game for Dallas.

The Cowboys heavily rely on CeeDee Lamb on offense regardless, but not having Cooks on the field will be detrimental as it takes another option away from quarterback Dak Prescott.

Dallas is already undermanned with the injuries to Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. It seems likely that Parsons will miss some time, while Lawrence will miss at least four games after being placed on injured reserve. It will be a big test for the Cowboys defense against the Steelers without those two. Prior to facing the Giants, Dallas' run defense had been the biggest problem, so those two missing this Sunday's game is a blow to that. It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer plans to guard Pittsburgh's running game, which has Justin Fields as a factor.

Cowboys trying to withstand injuries during tough part of schedule

This upcoming game against the Steelers starts a rough stretch of games for the Cowboys, and this is arguably the easiest one of this upcoming stretch. The next seven games could be tough for Dallas before the team hosts the Giants on Thanksgiving.

This Sunday's game against the Steelers is going to be an interesting barometer, as it could be a good tell on how the Cowboys will stack up against their competition moving forward. After this Steelers game, Dallas has four straight against NFC playoff hopefuls in the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions look like one of the best teams in the NFL, while the 49ers are still one of the most talented, although they are 2-2 and are dealing with injuries. The Falcons have steadily looked better over the first four weeks, and the Eagles are always a big matchup for the Cowboys. Then, there are games with the Houston Texans and upstart Washington Commanders heading into that Thanksgiving Giants matchup.

It is vital that the Cowboys pick up some wins to stay afloat in the next several weeks at the very least, and it will be interesting to see if they are able to do so with the injuries they currently face.