It's going to be a messy final three weeks of the Dallas Cowboys' season. Not only has Jerry Jones' frustration with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus reached a boiling point, but the disconnect with Jones and cornerback Trevon Diggs has never been greater.
The Cowboys have until Saturday to activate Diggs, who has practiced for the last two weeks, from injured reserve. If they don't, his season will be over. While Diggs maintains that he is healthy enough to play, Brian Schottenheimer said that Diggs needs to be more consistent in practice and meetings.
Well, Diggs caught up with NFL Network's Jane Slater this week and admitted that he's been having some mistakes in practice since returning from injury.
“According to him (Diggs), he’s been a full go but conceded that he, Brian Schottenheimer, and Matt Eberflus discussed his mistakes in practice in Cover 2,” Slater said. “The way he has played, though, has them questioning the health of the knee . . . Diggs also conceded that his talents at corner may not be his strengths in Cover 2, but he tells me he's working on it and wants to be here. With effort and communication, perhaps this gets fixed . . ."
Trevon Diggs' disconnect with Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus is a big reason he's not playing
It's no secret that Diggs and Eberflus have not seen eye-to-eye this season. However, Slater's conversation with the former All-Pro confirms that the disconnect -- not Diggs' knee injury -- is why he hasn't been activated off IR. It sounds like Diggs won't play until he and Eberflus reconcile, but as noted above, the sand in the hourglass is nearly empty.
Diggs will have just two practices between Slater’s report and Saturday’s deadline to mend fences with Eberflus. The 27-year-old appears to have made a concerted effort to make things work in Eberflus’ system, but this may ultimately be a case of too little, too late.
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If nothing else, Slater's reporting provides more clarity to a situation that, while still has some loose ends, has been littered with mystery.
Contrary to what Jerry Jones said after the loss to the Vikings, Diggs might have a clean bill of health. However, until he functions in the system at the team's desired level, they will continue to question if the knee is fully healed.
Of course, you can point the finger at Eberflus for not adjusting to what his players do best, but that's been a conversation the entire season. What's that old saying? You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Diggs clearly still has not cleared the required benchmarks to play. Barring something truly unforeseen, he won't be activated by Saturday, and his season will be over.