Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland is expected to miss multiple weeks of the regular season due to a foot injury suffered during practice.
Bland reportedly sustained the injury during a team practice on Monday, though it is unrelated to the foot injury he suffered last season, and this injury is not considered serious, according to ESPN.
The Cowboys stated on the weekly injury report that Bland “Did Not Participate” in practice on Wednesday, with Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stating that Bland could be seen wearing a boot on his foot.
This injury now leaves the Cowboys with serious concerns at the cornerback position.
Dallas had already been dealing with multiple injuries at the position, with Caelen Carson, Josh Butler, and rookie Shavon Revel Jr. all being unavailable for Week 2 due to various injury concerns.
As a result, Dallas may eventually look to sign a player in free agency who can help fill in during Bland’s absence.
Although the Cowboys could look to bring in another veteran cornerback next week to fill in this gap, the team will likely have to rely on players who are already on the roster for the upcoming matchup against the New York Giants.
Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam have seemingly already solidified themselves as two of the team’s starting cornerbacks in Bland’s absence. However, there are still meaningful snaps that must be accounted for during the game.
Additionally, Diggs is continuing to ramp up from knee surgery in the offseason, with the Cowboys choosing to only play him in 43% of the team’s snaps in Week 1.
While this snap count is likely to increase in the upcoming game, Diggs is also unlikely to experience a full workload this early in the season.
As a result, Dallas will have to account for a large portion of these snaps with at least one more player.
In all likelihood, Dallas will look to Reddy Stewart to open Week 2 at the nickelback position, with the second-year cornerback making his Cowboys’ debut last week on special teams.
Eberflus spoke highly of Stewart after the news that Bland would miss time, saying that he has the skills necessary to step in and fill that role.
“He knows the position…He’s got really good quickness and ball-hawking ability…He’s got tremendous ball skills,” he said, per Nick Harris.