Brandon Carr

The Cowboys lost two starting DBs in their win over the Eagles

Published Nov. 15, 2016 1:47 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The Dallas Cowboys came away with their biggest win of the season Sunday, beating the Philadelphia Eagles at home in overtime to take a two-game lead in the NFC East. But in doing so, they suffered two major blows on defense.

Executive VP Stephen Jones announced Monday that starting safety Barry Church fractured his arm and will be out three to five weeks. As big of a loss as that is, the injury likely won’t require surgery, which is good news.

In addition to losing Church, the Cowboys will also be without No. 1 cornerback Morris Claiborne for the foreseeable future. Claiborne suffered a groin injury in the fourth quarter that is now believed to be a sports hernia.

Jones couldn’t confirm that news, but it doesn’t sound particularly promising.

"We're still in the diagnosis stage," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan's G-Bag Nation show. "He hasn't been diagnosed for sure with a sports hernia, but we're certainly looking at it. We'll make that diagnosis here over the next day or so."

Regardless of whether it’s a sports hernia, the Cowboys will likely be without Claiborne for at least a week or two. If it is a sports hernia, he’ll probably miss four to six weeks. Terence Newman had the same injury in 2008 and returned after six weeks.

Claiborne has been playing extremely well this season after struggling the past few years. His performance has been Pro Bowl-caliber, which makes this injury hurt even more.

The Cowboys’ cornerbacks play sides with Claiborne on the left and Brandon Carr on the right, so Carr will likely stay where he is. Anthony Brown or Orlando Scandrick will take over for Claiborne on the outside.

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