If the Dallas Cowboys secondary wasn’t already the primary concern for Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff, it probably is now. Injuries are unfortunately starting to pile up, especially at the cornerback position.
The Dallas Cowboys are sadly down two of their starting cornerbacks right now. Both Anthony Brown (injured reserve) and Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) are expected to miss several games, leaving rookie CB Trevon Diggs as the only starter remaining from Week 1 and even he’s less than 100% right now.
According to the injury report yesterday, Trevon Diggs is dealing with a shoulder injury right now that puts his status for the Week 3 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks up in the air. With Awuzie and Brown already out for the foreseeable future, the Cowboys need their rookie CB more now than ever.
While Diggs’ status Sunday against the Seahawks is uncertain, I’d be willing to guess the Dallas Cowboys are taking the cautious approach with him to get him ready to play this week. How they decide to deploy the rest of their secondary though is probably the bigger concern.
No doubt Jourdan Lewis will once again handle the slot duties for Anthony Brown like he did in Week 2, but things are less clear as to who the Cowboys decide to take over for Chidobe Awuzie. Odds are it will probably come down to either Brandon Carr or Daryl Worley, but whichever they choose will also end up impacting the safety position.
Brandon Carr, Daryl Worley, and Darian Thompson have all rotated in and out of the lineup opposite Xavier Woods, a rotation that was expected to continue until someone emerged as the starter. Needing CB help though likely puts it into that competition for now. Unfortunately, that’s just what happens when injury start piling up.
If it were me, I’d start Brandon Carr and Trevon Diggs (if healthy) on the outside with Jourdan Lewis in the slot. The Cowboys can then rotate Daryl Worley and Darian Thompson if they so choose opposite Xavier Woods. To me, that gives them the best possible coverage unit. Anyway you choose to look at it though is pretty concerning to say the least.
Sadly, the Dallas Cowboys are caught between a rock and a hard place because of the current injuries to their secondary. All they can do right now is deploy the players they have at their disposal who are healthy enough to play and pray they are good enough to get the job done. Hopefully for the sake of success they can hold up just long enough until reinforcements arrive.
