It appears Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs could utilize all 21 days of his practice window as Mike Garafolo of NFL Network announced today that the veteran will remain on injured reserve after being designated to return at the turn of the month. He was questionable to play against the Vikings this week. Even yesterday, The Athletic’s Jon Machota relayed that Diggs expected to play, but it appears the team’s skepticism has won out, as he is now officially out and inactive.
Diggs is now set to miss his ninth week in a row, so it’s no wonder he is antsy to get back onto the field. “I’m ready,” he told members of the media following practice on Friday. “It’s definitely been hard (not playing) because, of course, you want to get back out there. But people feel how they feel, and you just gotta roll with the punches and keep pushing forward.”
Diggs’ road to recovery has been a rocky one in more ways than one. Back in October, as Diggs was continuing to work his way back from a knee injury, he suffered a concussion in his home, landing him on IR. Even further back, in the offseason, the Cowboys fined Diggs $500K for “failing to meet workout participation requirements at the team’s headquarters.
Per Machota, as good as Diggs has been in his return to the field, the team brass appears to be waiting on improvement in “other areas beyond his work on the field.” Head coach Brian Schottenheimer filled reporters in on the situation.
He’s still in the ramp-up period,” Schottenheimer told them this week. “I think he does feel healthy. I know he wants to play, but at the end of the day, we have to do what we think is in the best interest of not just him, but also the football team. And when you miss some time, there’s the ramp-up period. It is not just for your body but for your mind and figuring out some of the defense, and there’s some new faces in the huddle and things like that.”
Schottenheimer then relayed that Diggs needed to show them “he’s ready to do everything the right way.” When asked to clarify what that entailed, Schottenheimer simply said, “Everything. Consistency through everything.” There wasn’t much clarification past that, but Schottenheimer claimed this week was better than the last, and if next week is again an improvement, Diggs can expect to be on the field. At this point, it’s improvement or nothing. Digg’s 21-day practice window will close a week from today, so if he doesn’t get activated this week, he’ll be reverted to season-ending IR.
A move that dire, when Diggs clearly feels he’s healthy enough to play, could be detrimental to his status with the organization. Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports tells us multiple sources have claimed that the relationship between Diggs and Dallas has “soured” and “been severed.” Diggs’ contract has an out built in after this season, and if the two sides are no longer seeing eye-to-eye, we may see the end of his tenure with the Cowboys.
For his part, Diggs has said he wants his future to be in Dallas, per Machota. Diggs said that he understands “at the end of the day, it’s a business” and that “whatever happens, happens.” According to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, Diggs told the media he doesn’t have an agent and that he represents himself.
