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Cowboys CB shuffle: DaRon Bland activated, Trevon Diggs sits out practice, backup goes to IR

DaRon Bland is back on the Cowboys’ active roster, a signal that the third-year cornerback is growing tantalizingly close to making his 2024 regular-season debut.

Just in time, too. The team also placed fellow corner Amani Ouwariye on injured reserve after a back injury sustained last Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers.

Bland has been out since suffering a stress fracture of the foot during training camp and started the season on IR. The former fifth-round draft pick and defending league leader in interceptions had surgery just prior to the team’s Week 1 season opener in Cleveland; he was given a six-to-eight-week recovery estimate at the time.

Even though it was now been nine weeks, Bland is still no lock to play Sunday when the Cowboys travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons.

His 21-day practice window was opened on Oct. 9, meaning the team had until the end of business to move him to either the active roster or season-ending injured reserve.

Bland was slated to spend the day’s practice working with the rehab group, according to head coach Mike McCarthy.

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“We’re not going to put him out there until he’s ready to go,” McCarthy told reporters during his Wednesday press conference.

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The Cowboys will need someone ready to go at cornerback in very short order, though. Veteran Trevon Diggs did not practice Wednesday with what is being classified as a calf issue, and thanks to a shoulder injury, rookie Caelen Carson hasn’t played since Week 3’s loss to Baltimore.

And now Oruwariye has been shelved as well.

The onetime Detroit Lion and Jacksonville Jaguar, signed to the Cowboys just days after Bland’s foot procedure, made his first appearance for Dallas in Week 4 and logged an interception for the club in that Thursday night’s 20-15 win.

The 28-year-old Penn State product played almost every defensive snap over the Cowboys’ next two games against Detroit and Pittsburgh. Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s contest, he appeared to take a knee in the back during a block from 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk.

Oruwariye will have to miss at least four games before he may return to action. He will be lost until Thanksgiving, at the earliest.

The Cowboys currently have just four interceptions on the year. This week, they’ll go up against a Falcons offense that ranks third in the NFL in passing yards.


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