Cowboys: Orlando Scandrick Lost For Season

The Dallas Cowboys have lost veteran cornerback Orlando Scandrick for the season due to an ACL injury suffered during practice on Tuesday.

If the goal was to keep everybody healthy prior to the season opener against the New York Giants on September 13, the Cowboys have apparently fallen short again. It’s the third straight training camp that Dallas has lost an expected key starter on the defensive side of the ball.

David Moore of the Dallas Morning News confirmed the story Tuesday evening.

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Scandrick is believed to be the most dependable defensive back on the Cowboys roster. Initially drafted in the fifth-round of the 2008 NFL Draft, the former Boise State defensive back has seven career interceptions and 8.5 sacks. Despite the lower numbers in terms of interceptions, Scandrick definitely has a knack for covering opposing receivers that line up in the slot.

At this point, Dallas is in probably in the best position possible to absorb this injury – prior to this past offseason, we certainly couldn’t have said that,

The presence of newcomers Corey White, a veteran corner acquired from New Orleans, and Byron Jones, a rookie first-round draft pick last April, should really help ease the loss of Scandrick.

There’s also the two players that Dallas once envisioned as undisputed starters in a defense that was a true mess as recently as 2012, and probably prior to that as well. Tremendous resources went into securing the services of veterans Brandon Carr and ’12 first- round selection (6th overall) Morris Claiborne.

The results have been tepid, at best, from these two.

Carr had zero interceptions last season, which gives him a Dallas total of six pics in three seasons with the team. Perhaps of greater concern is the recent injury he’s been dealing with, although it’s not expected to keep him off the field. It does not, however, suggest that Carr will be holding on to many errant passes thrown by the opposition.

There’s not much need to chronicle the injury history of Claiborne, a fourth-year player out of LSU that has yet to workout through an entire training camp – ever. Claiborne’s injury almost a year ago is the type that leaves serious questions about a players ability to continue even playing, let alone starting.

In fact, Scandrick is quoted by DMN’s Jon Machota regarding his own experience with a similar type of setback:

"You can feel that. You can feel when your knee is not functioning right. I heard it in his voice. I have been there. I know the feeling. I actually felt myself go back to then after just sitting there looking at him and holding his hand, and he’s squeezing. I know that feeling."

Yes he does, and the Cowboys declined the option on his fifth season as a result.

Scandrick, always having been a relative bargain, was able to force Dallas’ hand this offseason while securing a new contract extension which keeps him bound to the Cowboys through 2019 – or at least through August of 2015.

Scandrick was attempting to tackle rookie wide receiver Lucky Whitehead in an incident that could be described as anything but “lucky.”

Given today’s medicinal capabilities, there’s a strong chance that Scandrick makes it back to action next year. Not turning 29 years old until next February, it will take every bit of a year until the Cowboys have a good idea of what Scandrick will be capable of moving forward.

For right now, it’s a definite blow to a roster that has put much emphasis on the defensive side of the ball heading into 2015.

Next: Cowboys: Panic, But Don't Panic

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