Getty ImagesCornerback Orlando Scandrick was carted off the practice field Tuesday, and Pro Football Talk has confirmed that one of Cowboys’ top defenders is done for the season with a torn ACL.
Mike Garofolo of FOX Sports was first to report it. Tuesday night, Cowboys secondary coach Jerome Henderson told reporters that Scandrick told him he knew he had torn his ACL.
The non-contact injury came after Scandrick had two interceptions in practice.
Scandrick has been with the Cowboys since he was a fifth-round pick in 2008 and signed a contract extension last spring after tying his career-high with two interceptions last season. Scandrick also forced two fumbles and recorded a sack in 2014.
The only other cornerbacks on the Cowboys roster with real NFL experience are Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne. Either Claiborne or 2015 first-round pick Byron Jones will replace him in the starting lineup.
Ugh
Well damn
No gloating from an Eagles fan here.
Sucks to see anyone go down. Season can’t start soon enough…
Allowed 0 TDs last season on 1,027 snaps. Big blow. Prayers for a speedy recovery.
Welcome back to the starting lineup MaurBust Bustborne. Your first assignment if you choose to accept it is covering the best WR on the planet. Mr Odell beckham
That stinks. Best cover man in division.
He’s the best DB on the roster. Big loss hope it’s not that bad. But considering Jordy Nelson jogged off the field w a torn ACL doesn’t give me high hopes.
Next man up.
Speedy recovery OS
Oh oh, looks like the Cowgirls are done.
Damn it
Oh oh, looks like the Cowgirls are done. I hope Romo can play corner back.
That’s too bad I hope it’s not true and wish him the very best. Is he the 1 with the gorgeous fiancee? At least he has beautiful company as he gets healthy.
No chance Byron Jones plays safety now.
Sucks for him… Wish him the best also the NFL should stop practicing since players keep getting hurt…………..
That sucks man. Geez. Worst part about football are the injuries.
Really unfortunate but from a season standpoint not unrecoverable; lee/claiborne healthy (so far) and didn’t have them last year plus byron jones/corey white/tyler patmon and improved pass rush.
It just seems that there are way too many injuries. GWS
Hope he has a quick recovery.
-Giants Fan
I’ve heard good things about “2015 first round pick”. Much better than “2015 second round pick”.
Awful news… Time for Mo to finally step up
“Happy Trails To You…” Cowboy fans.
That first round pick keeps looking more sexier. Claiborne is healthy. Dallas will be fine. Get well Scandrick.
Bad news…cause MoClay cant cover. Like DJ Haden with the Raiders.
Let me guess… Cowboys fans will say he’s not good and the completely unproven guy behind him is actually better and the scheme is why Scandrick was good. I mean that’s how they justify letting go of Murray, so it has to work here too, right?
No need for an mri then
Before people bash his stats mentioned above, please take into account he has only given up 5 Tds over the past 2 seasons. That is 1 TD less than Richard Sherman (6) and Revis (6).
It’s a shame because with this years passrush he was positioned to have a great season. Hopefully they don’t push the rookie Byron Jones out there week 1 covering the slot.
Best corner on this team what a damn shame
Last year, Dallas lost their best LB. This year, their best DB.
I think they’re cursed.
Sick of these all ligaments tearing apart. Here’s hopes of a speedy recovery from an eagles fan
Never want to see a guy’s career in jeopardy and I hope he makes it all the way back. Nevertheless the reality is that Scandrick was a big fish in a very inexperienced pond in Dallas.
This is really a shame and I don’t celebrate injuries but will this slow the incessant trash talk from Cowboys bandwagoners across the country? 3 points against a San Fran team that lost half its roster; no Murray to take pressure off the defense; and now your best corner is lost for the season and you’re relying on Mo Claiborne, Carr and a rookie?? Yeesh. Dem Boyz might be in trouble.
Corey White is entering his 4th year having started 19 games in 3 seasons
A defense that played grossly above their head last year (credit to marinelli) is poised regress back to the mean and then some. Another 8-8 season for den boyz
Guy who cries about injuries in meaningless preseason games probably wants all practices eliminated now too.
The Cowgirls are lucky they don’t play my team this year. We would torch them.
Advice to NFL teams. If you want to win games kiss Goodells rear end. That way you can cheat all you want and just lose a draft pick every 5 years. Ask Kraft he knows. Draft picks for a super bowl win is a no brainer……….for the Patriot organization.
Well, they do need to get back to .500 for their lopsided record last year. Well on their way to 4-12.
Well that sucks. Time to be a baller Byron Jones!!!
Wow. The only decent CB on their team. This one’s gonna hurt.
thats just plain old sad….we already had problems in the secondary and he was the lone bright spot at times….send backup!!!!
How bout them Cowboys!
Carr and Claiborne… Look for the ‘Boys to lead the league in total passing yards allowed.
ACL injuries really piling up
thought the pats had it tough at cb
Brutal loss for the Cowboys but a big opportunity for Mo Claiborne.
Where is all the talk of “Practice is useless! Stop it now before someone else gets hurt.” SMH
Huge blow.. Dallas could be in for another rough year w their secondary. Scandrick is very good and very underrated.
These torn ACL’S are getting outta of hand.
That’s called karma for signing Greg Hardy. Deal with it Jerry.
Wow, is he having an of-season from hell..
Join the party!
Heal well my friend.
-Eagles fan
Would love to see the difference in preseason major injury rate both pre post the practice amount changes with the new cba. Maybe practicing less is causing the body to not adjust quickly enough to such an intense game.
That team is going down in flames before the season even begins. In other unrelated news, it still wasn’t a catch.
What is the deal with these non contact mcl tears?? Is there something wrong/different with the playing serfaces??
The bright side is he gets to spend more time with that hot lady of his.
That sucks!
Dog gone giants giving us their ju ju.
The preseason won’t go away as long as the owners are making money hand over fist. Sad.
Well… At least his Woman Draya’s knees still properly work so money still will be coming in
Rogers throws high and no issues with the media, now they are out for romo!
What free agents are left?
We’ll rally and still play sound D.
So much for the playoffs this year.
So now they’re down to a rookie corner and Mo claiborne who is coming off a torn ACL himself
I remember some bonehead Cowboy fan saying in the thread about the Jordy Nelson injury that it was God punishing the Packers for that Dez Bryant catch being incomplete.
Well guess what, this injury in God punishing Cowboy fans for that boneheaded comment! lol
It’s never good for any player to have an injury like this, but the number of key players gone for the season is really starting to get depressing.
It’s just not as fun when we’re not watching teams at their best, and we all know it.
Should sign chump bailey to join in with the clowns they have in their secondary
Their biggest loss was DeMarco Murray.
Too bad they weren’t smart enough to trade for boykin
Wait….. When did the Cowboys start playing defense?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
So when are we going to start talking about the ACL epidemic in the NFL? This is absurd. Too much training and too many “supplements”. There’s been like 5 ACL tears on non-contact plays and we’re not even to week 3 of the preaseason. This isn’t normal. These injuries weren’t happening 20, 15, even 10 years ago. Who’s gonna start talking about it, because it’s obviously real.
Get well soon! Eagles fan.
Another non-contact ACL tear….this one in practice. Will Aaron Rodgers be telling us we need to cancel practices because they are meaningless?
I think when this happens, it’s because the ACL is about to tear anyway and it is a matter of time. I suppose the hope is that being non-contact, it is a bit less serious than blowing up the entire knee because it happened in a real game with a real hit.
And Claiborne is an injury waiting to happen.
Sucks they have to rely on a bust and a rookie now. Scandrick was there best defensive player by far. His career has been weird and it might give Claiborne some hope. Scandic stunk his first 3-4 years in the league but something click a couple of seasons ago.
People were talking about how good he was going into last season and thought it was all hype. I thought Scandrick? The guy who I seen get abused time and time again? IMO I saw him have 1 and a 1/2 good seasons vs 3-4 terrible ones, but then last year he was good yet again. He definitely proved that he deserved the recognition.
So maybe Claiborne can have the same career arc. The only thing is Scandrick was a 5th round pick precisely because he needed time to improve his technique and adjust to the talent level of NFL wrs and the style of play of nfl offenses. He was suppose to take that long to reach his potential. Everyone drafted in the middle rounds are suppose to be able to be really good players but have a thing or 2 in their game that needs to be fixed before they can reach that level. Some guys are under drafted and are good right away other guys are over drafted and never do either bc the scouts got it wrong or the player didn’t work hard enough to fix his flaws or his coaches weren’t good enough to teach him how to. Then there are the text book mid round picks. Guys who become quality players a few years into the league after putting the work in. Scandrick is exactly what coaches are looking for in the middle rounds. Of course they love to find instant superstars but it’s really all about guys like Scandrick.
Claiborne on the other hand was suppose to be an instant top 5 corner. He had all the talent and no obvious flaws that would hold him back from being ready right away. Now it’s possible he breaks out after a few years of learning like his teammate but the fact he didn’t have those flaws will probably make it harder. He had such talent coming in that when he sucked the first year Jerry called it growing pains. He was giving the benefit of the doubt to long. Where guys like Scandrick are forced to fix there problems from the second they make a team top 5 picks arent. Not because they’re lazy but bc they werent suppose to have them. Like I said he might be able to have a career like OS but to me he just seems like a guy who was way overvalued bc of his physical abilities and prowess vs lesser players, then his ability to continue to do so vs nfl talent. I just think his game was based solely on being a much better athlete then most college players and now that his opponents are just as gifted his lack of non physical talent at the cb position has been exposed.
It sucks for Cowboys fans that they won’t get to see there best defensive player play this year but hopefully some how losing Orlando means that Sean Lee will be able to go without missing a significant portion of the season for the first time in 4 years.
Oh boy that hurts a lite bit….Mo just can’t play!! Guess they will have to look for someone. I don’t know if he’s irreplaceable per say but he brings energy to the defense and stepped up as a leader on that side of the ball last year!
God’s will. Sometimes lessons are learned through adversity.
Cowboys defensive, and offensive, backfield will be their undoing.
Expect a big step back this year.
“The non-contact injury came after Scandrick had two interceptions in practice.”
It was a contact injury
So many teams losing key personnel in the preseason. Any team that manages to make it to the regular season without losing a key starter could be in a distinct minority.
Is it just me or is ACL tears happening way more frequently this year?
A very tough loss, but you got to keep the attitude of next man up. The injury bug has been bad for many teams this year.
Scandy brought his own swagger to the CB position, but the Cowboys went out and got some depth at that position in White, Jones, and Claiborne has a chance to finally show he can do something good on the field.
Best wishes on getting healthy as soon as possible, Scandy. Come back strong in 2016.
is it my imagination or have there been more non-contact injuries this year?
hope there’s a successful surgery & quick recovery
To many damn players tearing there ACL’s now a days. It’s an epedemic. I was reading on a website that he is the 24th player this football year. Why does it happen so often the past few years but wasn’t nearly as common 10 years ago? Yeah I know it happened to players back in the day but not nearly at such an alarming rate as it does now.
Nut allergies and torn ACLs. Didn’t see either of them when I was a kid.
How times change!
What is up with all these injuries during the preseason it is literally getting quite ridiculous
I have two ideas if they want to seek outside help:
1) See if Champ Bailey or Cortland Finnegan might want to try one more year with a Super Bowl contender. Teams that are this close can sometimes recruit a really good veteran that way.
2) If that doesn’t work, Carlos Rogers and Dmitri Patterson are the two best experienced corners that are still available.
Well, this just doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy 😦 😦 Get ready for next year, Orlando and best wishes!!!!!
I was pretty sure this was the Eagles division even before this… Now though… I mean… I think its very reasonable if you’re not being biased to expect the Eagles to win this division… Heck maybe more than that the way they are looking…
Ouch
dude is an average corner at best…
Time to step up by byron,Claiborne is a bum
Just don’t start Corey White and the Cowboys will be OK. The over/under total for the Cowboys-Saints game on October 4 just went up to 65 1/2
It’s only fair that the Packers’ loss of their top receiver be nullified by their NFC competition losing their best cornerbacks. Richard Sherman, you’re up.
Nfl preseason is like Russian Roulette. Teams just hope players get out alive.
Years ago, torn ACL injuries were quite rare. However, today it seems like there are 1 – 2 per day across the NFL and many are completely non-contact. It seems that the CBA which has placed tighter restrictions and limit the time players train, may be a factor in this spate of horrific knee injuries. Maybe it warrants serious analysis to better understand why and how they can be prevented or at least, significantly reduced.
Over $5M has been spent by the NFL on the services of Ted Wells to investigate ball deflation in the AFC conference game. Maybe funding a comprehensive study of the root cause of the ACL injuries and what can be done to prevent them, would serve as a more prudent way to spend large sums of money?
If all 32 teams put just $1M each into a pool, maybe it could help to fund this study.
Claiborne is still in the NFL? wow, thought he got cut years ago
Not a Cowboy fan, but, really? Enough already. It’s a daily thing now.
What the hell is up with these ACL injuries? Maybe it’s the immediacy or total exposure the internet presents, but it seems as if there have been an enormous amount of these each year and increasing.
There has to be a way to reduce these. My best to Scandrick and all of the players who’ve been injured in this manner in coping with the arduous road ahead of them.
I hope the pass rush is, indeed, better this season. The Cowboys just lost their best cover corner and they’ll need the improved pass rush to help compensate for this loss. It’s time for Morris Claiborne to earn his paycheck and status as a top 10 draft pick.
Uh oH!
Cry now Dallas!
#ICWT
That is a tough injury for him and the org. Get well soon.
That secondary is now dangerously thin..
Only CB’s with experience on the roster…wouldn’t Corey White fit that description since he started alot of games for the saints last year??
Cowboys are done.
Can’t they throw a reserve from the best oline in the history of history back there?
Cheers
I cannot wait for Eli to come into Jerrys world and shred that D with ODB VC and Randle hahah…get ready for another wall signing Jerrahhhh
Not only a great DB but a great story too. He came out of nowhere to help turn around what was then a terrible secondary. Hope he fully recovers.
Big blow to that secondary. If we thought that front 7 was going to have to dial it up before now they are going to have to go into overdrive.
Scandrick is a more devastating loss than Jordy Nelson.
Cowboys have no viable replacement for Scandrick. He was their best outside corner AND arguably the best slot corner in the NFL when they went nickel. He was a sure thing. This leaves the Dallas defense in complete shambles. They now have by far the worst set of corners in the NFC East. Claiborne gets smoked by any receiver with quickness. Carr is below average. Byron Jones is a rookie and rookie corners almost never make any impact, it’s the toughest position on defense to transition from college to NFL. In a league where you need multiple cover corners, the Cowboys essentially have none.
Nelson is a stud, but that is a QB/WR/TE-friendly offense. He is more scheme-replaceable.
Good luck and heal fast Scandrick, from an Eagles fan. ///
This epidemic of ACLs is so sickening. Every few days another star player goes down and it’s still the pre-season.
I remember training camp injuries always happening but nothing like this where every one’s a season-ender. Yeesh.
Everyone is talking about Claiborne, we have Jones who is a hell of a lot better! Calm down it will happen to every team
Big blow to the defense. Hope he recovers soon.