For the Cowboys, the margin of error for a defense that has been sapped of talent and whacked by injuries is already thin. And while there’s good news in the secondary, with DaRon Bland returning to practice, there was corresponding bad news, too: cornerback Trevon Diggs did not practice, according to the team’s injury report.
Diggs hurt his shoulder in the Week 3 loss to the Bears, and the team listed his return as questionable, though he did come back to play. Diggs said on Sunday he did not expect the shoulder to be a problem going forward and, indeed, the injury listed on the report is his knee.
It’s not exactly a unit that can withstand losing bodies at this point. The Cowboys’ secondary has already been undermanned, and even when he has been on the field, Diggs has not been great. But bringing back Bland and having Diggs opposite him would give the Cowboys their best bet in the secondary.
Trevon Diggs Playing on a $97 Million Contract
Now, the issue could be that the Cowboys are simply giving Diggs some rest because he has had a hard time with his knee in the past, as Cowboys fans well know. He lost most of the 2023 season to a torn ACL suffered early in the year, and had his season cut short last season with another knee surgery.
Diggs then underwent yet another knee surgery in January. He played 33 games in 2021 and 2022, and made the Pro Bowl in each season, inducing the team to give him a five-year contract worth $97 million. Since then, though, Diggs played two games in 2023 and 11 in 2024, raising concerns about his long-term health.
Cowboys Have Not Gotten Much From Trevon Diggs
Also a concern: He is allowing quarterbacks an eye-popping rating of 156.2 when they pass his way. In the eight times he has been targeted in the first three weeks, he has given up six receptions and three touchdowns. In 2021, by way of comparison, he allowed a quarterback rating of 55.8.
Remember that, as training camp wound up and the team was deciding how to structure its 53-man roster, there was a question about whether the Cowboys would start the year with Diggs on the PUP list, giving him four more weeks to recover from the January surgery.
“I think it’s a mutual decision,” Diggs said at the time. “If they see something that I don’t see or if I feel something that they don’t know that I feel, it’s going to be that. It’s just about communicating and going out there and seeing what I can do.”
Cowboys Secondary Is Struggling Badly
But that’s the problem. The Cowboys did keep Diggs active, and it’s clear he is not 100%. The team is thin at cornerback even when completely healthy, and is hopeful of getting rookie Shavon Revel back on the field in the coming weeks.