Going into Thursday’s practice, the Dallas Cowboys defense was feeling pretty good about where their team was. Two games in, with two wins under their belt and only allowing 10 points total against both the New York Giants in Week 1 and New York Jets in Week 2. They have been the best defense in the NFL in those two games where they had 10 sacks, five interceptions (one being a pick-six), four forced fumbles and a blocked kick that resulted in a touchdown. The duo of cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and Stephon Gilmore have been really solid besides the one blemish for Gilmore, the 68-yard touchdown given up to Garrett Wilson, the lone touchdown given up by the defense this season.

What seemed like a normal day at practice completely changed when Trevon Diggs stepped in for a one-on-one redzone drill. In the drill he made a play on a ball and landed badly. He would need to be carted off the field and would get an MRI immediately. The team as well as the fanbase in a matter of hours would learn the terrible news that in the drill, Diggs tore his ACL and would be out for the rest of the season. 

Since being drafted by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2020 draft, Diggs became an All-Pro in 2021 with his team record 11 interceptions, and to this point he has the most interceptions in the NFL with 18 since entering the league. Cowboys Manager Mike McCarthy on Friday in a conference call said, “Obviously you feel sick [for] him. It's definitely a punch to the gut for our football team, but this is an opportunity for our defensive depth to stand up and continue to move forward."

The rest of the cornerbacks will have to step up in Diggs absence, and here is how the Cowboys plan on doing so. Obviously Stephon Gilmore is going to be the team’s main outside corner. Opposite of him is going to be DaRon Bland, who is in his second year in the league. Jourdan Lewis will occupy the slot and Noah Igbinoghene, who the Cowboys traded cornerback Kelvin Joseph for in late August will be used for depth purposes.

Bland obviously has some big shoes to fill in, but this is not his first time having to step into a bigger role for the team. Last season Anthony Brown tore his achilles allowing Bland to start eight games. Bland had five interceptions and 8 pass breakups. Knowing that there was a rookie, opposing teams targeted Bland more often, about 63 times. Bland allowed 45 completions for 412 yards and five touchdowns. In this season Bland has gotten targeted 6 times and has allowed 3 completions for seven yards. Moving forward, opposing teams will target Bland just as they did last season and they might find some success against him, but Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn has a lot of depth at safety that could possibly help Bland.