Dallas Cowboys: Cornerbacks need to get healthy soon

The Dallas Cowboys are having problems keeping their cornerbacks healthy this training camp, and that continued on Sunday with rookie first-round draft choice Byron Jones suffering a “minor” shoulder injury.

Jones was injured while colliding with fellow cornerback and former first-round draft pick Morris Claiborne.

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Todd Archer of ESPN.com wrote the following about the injury on Sunday:

"“Byron Jones was hurt on a collision with fellow cornerback Morris Claiborne. While covering tight end Jason Witten down the middle of the field, Jones got turned around and ran into Claiborne, who was covering receiver Nick Harwell on a crossing route.”"

Even if this is a “minor injury” suffered by Jones, this still isn’t good news for the Cowboys and Jones because for starters, the Cowboys are already playing without Brandon Carr, who has a hand injury, and Orlando Scandrick, who has a knee injury.

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To be honest, with just three preseason games left, it would be nice if the three cornerbacks could get healthy before those are over just to get some in-game reps under their belt before they face the New York Giants on Week 1, as they are the first Sunday Night Football game of the regular season.

With cornerback Corey White out with an injury to his ankle on Sunday as well, the Cowboys are currently left with Claiborne, Tyler Patmon, Joel Ross, Brandon Smith and Robert Steeples at the cornerback position.

Of those above players, Claiborne has the most NFL time with four seasons, though he’s missed a lot of time during his career with injuries or below-average play since being the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of LSU. The rest of the players on the list have no or very little time in the league.

Sep 28, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick (32) in game action against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium. Dallas beat New Orleans 38-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The good news is once Scandrick, Carr and Jones are healthy enough to play ,the Cowboys will be in a much better place, but what hurts the team the most about Jones’ injury is the fact the rookie is losing valuable reps, which would hamper the growth of any rookie in the NFL, but especially one being looked at to have a good amount of playing time like Jones this season.

Scandrick finished last season with 55 tackles, one sack and two interceptions, while Carr totaled 54 tackles and one sack. With the University of Connecticut last season, Jones finished with 24 tackles and two interceptions in just seven games, missing the final five games of the season due to shoulder surgery.

The good thing about all the aforementioned injuries is the fact each time the Cowboys seem to feel the injuries aren’t serious, even with the broken right hand of Carr, who has since had surgery on the injury and is currently recovering. The injury Carr suffered is the same one that former Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray had last season, though he didn’t miss a game.

At least it seems Carr is on schedule to play Week 1.

Todd Archer of ESPN.com also wrote this about Carr in an article this camp following the injury:

"“(Head coach Jason) Garrett did not want to rule Carr out for the remainder of training camp, saying the team expects him to be back ‘sooner rather than later.'”"

Waiting for these players to recover will be a big part of the remainder of camp for the Cowboys and something to keep an eye on. The Cowboys will need Carr, Scandrick and Jones on the field this season to have success on defense. If they can’t stay healthy or recover the way they need to, it will be another long season for the Cowboys defensive backfield.

But if I were a betting man, I believe the Cowboys will overcome these injuries and “hopefully” will be ready for Week 1 when they host the Giants.

Next: Can Cowboys recover from RB injuries?

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