Do The Dallas Cowboys Get Orlando Scandrick Back By Sunday?

Update: An hour after NFL.com posted an article on their site that Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick were being allowed to return to their teams immediately, the site pulled the story. Now the NFL has released this statement: “We have not yet reached an agreement with the union. There continue to be significant unresolved issues.”

Please stay tuned with The Landry Hat as we’ll update the situation as soon as we can. Below you’ll find our original story.

Late Friday, the NFL Players Association voted and approved the league’s new drug policy proposal. One of the side effects of that new policy is the reversal of certain suspensions currently in place for some exiled NFL players. One of them being Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick. It now appears Scandrick will be reinstated immediately and could play as soon as Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Scandrick was serving a four-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance under the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) policy. According to the seven-year veteran, he ingested MDMA this offseason, which is also known as Ecstasy or Molly, in a cocktail while vacationing in Mexico. MDMA is not considered a PED. But apparently the drug was laced with amphetamines, which are.

Following the announcement of the suspension, Scandrick was very remorseful about the entire situation.

"“I would like to apologize to my children, my family, the Jones family, my coaches, my teammates and my fans. Failing a drug test is far out of my character, and although I never knowingly took a performance-enhancing drug/banned stimulant while on vacation in Mexico, I take full responsibility for what goes in my body and more importantly for the embarrassment of a failed drug test…I hope that my family, my Cowboys football family and all my fans can forgive me for this situation. I look forward to a successful 2014 season.”"

When asked about the possibility of Scandrick returning to the field this Sunday, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett admitted there are a lot of unknowns still to answer.

"“Certainly, Orlando being a veteran player who knows our system, has played a lot of football in this league, you will try to give him as much consideration as possible. We’ll wait and see what happens as this day unfolds. Obviously, we have everyone else prepared and ready to play in this game. We’ll try to make our best decision…We’ll just sit down and discuss it and try to figure out what the best thing is to do for our football team.’’"

Certainly, the best thing to do for this football team is to have their best defensive player back on the field. Scandrick excelled in the preseason and was arguably the best player on that side of the ball. His battles with Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant over the offseason were epic.

And with the Cowboys defensive backfield being torched for two passing touchdowns in the span of less than two minutes in the first quarter of last Sunday’s 28-17 blowout loss the the San Francisco 49ers, Scandrick’s presence was absolutely missed and needed.

Last season was a career year for the 27-year old corner. Scandrick recorded career highs in tackles (64), passes defended (13) and interceptions (2) in 2013. He replaced former 2012 first round pick Morris Claiborne as the starter early last season. In December, Scandrick received a two-year extension making him a Cowboy until 2018. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the best Dallas cornerback, and the 38th best in the NFL in 2013.