P.J. Locke Exits with Right Foot Plantar Fasciitis; Cowboys List Him Out

Cowboys safety P.J. Locke left the game with right foot plantar fasciitis — a soft-tissue injury to the plantar fascia along the bottom of the foot — and has been listed Out by Dallas. The injury grade is INFERRED from reporting; team language of "a few weeks" is consistent with a moderate presentation, though plantar fasciitis exists on a spectrum and no imaging confirmation has been disclosed.

The resolved injury date from this thread is September 14, 2026, placing Locke now roughly 9 days into what is typically a multi-week recovery arc for in-season plantar fasciitis management in a professional athlete. The literature on return-to-play for plantar fasciitis in NFL players is moderate-confidence — it's a load-dependent soft-tissue injury that responds well to conservative management (offloading, targeted rehabilitation, anti-inflammatory protocols) but is notorious for recurrence when athletes return before symptoms fully resolve.

For a skill-position defensive back, plantar fasciitis carries real functional weight. The push-off and deceleration demands of DB play put direct load on the plantar fascia with every rep. That's why a "few weeks" estimate should be taken seriously: even when symptoms improve quickly, returning to full DB-level loading too early invites a setback. The biology here supports a 3–6 week window for moderate presentations, which aligns with the team's language. At roughly one week post-onset, Locke is in the early phase of that range. Watch for trajectory signals — if he's practicing limited by Week 3 of the season, that's on track; continued DNP into Week 4 or beyond would suggest the more conservative end of this window is in play.