The Cowboys have been battling injuries in the back seven of their defense all season. The linebacker group and the secondary have been ravaged, but Dallas has still been able to win two of its first three games thanks to the steady performance of All-Pro Sean Lee.

Lee injured his hamstring in the win over Arizona, putting his status for this Sunday’s game against the Rams in jeopardy. The club may turn to fullback Keith Smith to take some snaps on defense.

#Cowboys hopeful on Sean Lee (hamstring), but Keith Smith will get scout-team reps at LB just in case for Sunday — mike fisher ✭ (@fishsports) September 28, 2017

Smith has been the Cowboys fullback for the past two seasons, but he was originally signed as an undrafted linebacker out of San Jose State in 2014. He played linebacker his first two seasons, bouncing back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster.

Related 3 ways Dallas will look to exploit Rams defense in Week 4

During his exit interview after 2015, coach Jason Garrett informed him he was being moved to the offensive side of the ball. Having a linebacker learn fullback would allow the club to have emergency depth for such a situation as this week, while also having a capable player with a limited role on offense.

This season’s early injuries on defense are thankfully not too extensive but are starting to pile up.

Almost every young defensive back had hamstring issues, keeping third-round pick Jourdan Lewis out the entire preseason and Week 1 and second-round pick Chidobe Awuzie out currently. Orlando Scandrick is back playing with a broken hand, while Nolan Carroll remains in the concussion protocol.

Starting middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens suffered a serious knee injury during the preseason that knocked him out 4-6 weeks. He’s been replaced by Jaylon Smith, who redshirted all of 2016 and is about 80 percent recovered from a gruesome knee injury that caused nerve damage. Hitchens started to resume practice but was listed as limited and isn’t expected to be ready this week.

When Lee left the Cardinals game with his hamstring injury Monday night, it brought with it a new set of issues.