9:50pm: While Bland’s absence will be felt at the start of the year, Jones said the Cowboys will not explore a cornerback addition to fill the vacancy created by his injury (h/t Nick Harris of the team’s website). Jones further indicated (via Machota) Dallas is not likely to be active at any positions during roster cutdowns with the team having already added along the defensive line by way of the Jordan Phillips trade acquisition and the Linval Joseph signing.
1:58pm: The Cowboys defense was hit with yet another significant blow before the season has even begun. As Dallas has been scrambling to make up for the loss of Sam Williams to a season-ending ACL tear, they will now be forced to replace another starter, as well. First reported by Jon Machota of The Athletic, All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland is set to undergo foot surgery that will keep him out for six to eight weeks.
According to Machota, “Bland experienced foot discomfort on Wednesday of last week during training camp.” He underwent imaging that “revealed a stress fracture in his foot,” requiring the necessary surgery. While experts are predicting the above six- to eight-week absence, team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones was quoted predicting an absence of four to five weeks during an interview on 105.3 The FAN. Regardless, the team will be without an All-Pro defender to start the season.
Bland burst onto the scene two years ago, despite being a fifth-round pick out of Fresno State. Originally a dual-sport athlete at Sacramento State where he competed in track and field for the Hornets during both indoor and outdoor seasons, primarily as a long jumper, Bland’s collegiate career did nothing to suggest the impact he would have in the NFL. With only three interceptions in three years at Sacramento State and only two picks in his lone season with the Bulldogs, Bland matched his collegiate interception-total in his rookie season alone.
As a rookie in Dallas, Bland started eight of the final 10 games and recorded the first five picks of his career. The Cowboys didn’t start him in Week 1 of last year, but when he returned an interception for the first pick-six of his career, it didn’t take them long to remedy their error. Three weeks later, in his second start of the season, Bland picked off two more passes returning another for a touchdown. Bland would end up leading the league with nine interceptions and setting an NFL record with five pick-sixes on the year.
The Cowboys were set to enter the season with Bland across from Trevon Diggs as their starting cornerbacks with Jourdan Lewis returning as a near-permanent fixture in the slot. After Diggs went on injured reserve near the start of the season last year, the Cowboys saw Bland and veteran addition Stephon Gilmore make up 85 percent of the team’s defensive snaps at outside cornerback, so they don’t have anyone with extensive experience ready to fill in.
Nahshon Wright had reportedly been mixing in with the first-team defense a bit on the perimeter this offseason, but the team shipped him off to Minnesota, receiving Vikings cornerback Andrew Booth in return. A former second-round pick out of Clemson, Booth has struggled to live up to his draft stock so far in his NFL career, only making two starts with the Vikings in as many years. Second-year defensive back Eric Scott Jr., who failed to make an appearance in his rookie season, and fifth-round rookie Caelen Carson out of Wake Forest will both join Booth in attempting to fill in early for Bland.
The Cowboys will likely utilize one of the NFL’s newer roster rules and place Bland on IR. Though, usually, players placed on IR before the start of the regular season are forced to miss the entire year, a new rule allows teams to place two players on the injured list before roster cutdowns who are exempt from that requirement, allowing them to be activated and return within the same season. Bland is likely to receive that distinction for Dallas.
