The Dallas Cowboys' offense has looked sharp under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The defense, however, has been a different story, with Matt Eberflus' unit failing to gain much momentum in the first five weeks of the season.
Notably, Trevon Diggs has had plenty to do with that. The former defensive star has been a liability in coverage all year long, and, to add insult to injury, he also seems to have some pointers about his defensive coordinator's decisions.
With that in mind, it's hard to believe the Cowboys will look to keep him around for much longer. If anything, he may have the next four weeks to save his job, given that the Cowboys will have a bye after that and could either bench him again or trade him.
Trevon Diggs Needs to Get His Act Together
Following the tie to the Green Bay Packers, the former All-Pro cornerback questioned Matt Eberflus' decision to play as much zone coverage as they had. That's why he doubled down on his comments when a man-heavy scheme worked better against the New York Jets:
“When we have pressure like that, we can call whatever. We can call prevent (defense) and it would’ve won,” Diggs said after the game, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I definitely felt like it worked. We got off the field. The D-line was getting back there so fast. We say when they get back there fast, it’s called Instant Grits. You know how you make the Instant Grits in the packet? You don’t want oatmeal. Oatmeal takes too long. You want Instant Grits. We had Instant Grits (Sunday)."
So far, Diggs has played 262 snaps on defense, including every single defensive snap in Week 5. However, that hasn't done much to help his team's cause. Through five weeks of play, he's ranked 69th among 169 eligible cornerbacks with a PFF grade of 62.6
Diggs has given up nine receptions on 11 targets for an 81.8 completion rate, the worst in his career. He's also posting career-worsts in yards per completion (18.7), yards per target (15.3), and passer rating allowed (158.3).
Long gone are the days when Diggs was a playmaking defensive back with a great nose for the ball. And after watching him pick a fight in Week 5, call out his defensive coordinator, and give up big play after big play, he might be walking on thin ice in Dallas right now.