Dallas Cowboys: Loss of Orlando Scandrick sets defense back

The Dallas Cowboys defense took a huge blow on Tuesday evening when it was confirmed following an MRI that starting cornerback Orlando Scandrick tore his ACL and MCL in his right knee, leaving him out for the season.

This news is devastating for a Cowboys defensive backfield that already has some problems before this injury.

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The Cowboys have Morris Claiborne, a former first-round selection, but his NFL career has been more bust than boom, and then we have the first-round rookie from this year’s draft in Byron Jones, who seems to have continued shoulder problems, amongst others.

Any way you look at it, no matter the angle, this injury to Scandrick stings the defense, and it might be tough for this current unit of players to replace Scandrick, just from knowing their on-the-field history and some of their unknownsin the NFL.

Since ’08, Scandrick had totaled 322 tackles (27 assisted) in 102 games, with 9.5 sacks and seven interceptions, with four of those coming the past two seasons.

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In ’14 alone (14 games), the top cornerback of the Cowboys finished with 55 combined tackles (four assisted), with one sack and two interceptions.

The most tackles Scandrick had in a game during the ’14 season came in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears, where he had nine tackles and one interception. In the two playoff games, he finished with eight tackles.

But what Scandrick brought to the Cowboys defensive backfield will be tough to replace, particularly his leadership of the unit and his experience of playing the slot, which seems like Tyler Patmon will be taking over.

Todd Archer of ESPN.com wrote this about the situation of replacing Scandrick:

"“In light of the season-ending injury to Scandrick, second-year cornerback Tyler Patmon likely will take over in the slot. Free-agent pickup Corey White also could see time there as well.”"

As for Patmon (5-10, 188), last season as a rookie out of Oklahoma State, he collected eight tackles (one assisted) with one interception vs. the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 2, which he returned for 58 yards for a touchdown.

I’m also interested in how Claiborne responds to this situation, because as all of us know, this is his final chance to prove himself with the Cowboys.

In an Associated Press article (on the USA Today web site), it spoke of Claiborne and his preseason:

"“The Cowboys have brought Claiborne along slowly in camp, keeping him out of both preseason games, even though he reported to California much further along than expected in his recovery.”"

Even if Claiborne is healthy, he still must prove himself on the field, because thus far his NFL career has been forgettable. The 25-year-old played in four games in ’14 before his season-ending injury. In those games, he had seven combined tackles and one interception. In each of his three NFL seasons, Claiborne does have one interception.

In his three-year career, Claiborne has played in just 29 games, never completing a 16-game slate. The closest he’s come was his rookie season in ’12 when Claiborne played in 15 games.

As the saying in the NFL goes, it is “Next Man Up” for the Cowboys’ defensive backfield, and the remainder of camp and the preseason with this defensive backfield will be a must-watch for football fans.

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