Back in Cowboys training camp after an injury-shortened 2023, Diggs isn’t focused on a poll of NFL coaches and scouts that kept him out of the league’s top 10 CBs.
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) works out on a side field as he still recovering from injury at training camp practice in Oxnard, California, July 31, 2024. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
OXNARD, Calif. — Trevon Diggs spoke about his long road back, how much he missed being with his teammates and where he stands in terms of his health.
After all, there was a lot of ground to cover. The Cowboys cornerback hadn’t spoken to reporters since a brief chat after his ACL surgery in the fall while balancing himself on crutches in the middle of the Cowboys locker room
Diggs knows. After a poll of NFL coaches and scouts ran that didn’t list Diggs among the league’s top 10 corners, he issued a one-word post on X.
“Comical.’’
And now?
“I feel like I’m in a league of my own,’’ Diggs said. “There is nobody that can do what I do. There is nobody that can do what (DaRon) Bland does. I feel like we’re in a league of our own.
“We don’t care about no list.’’
Related:Cowboys’ Al Harris believes Daron Bland deserves more shine: ‘We may not see that in our lifetime’
What Diggs cares about is returning from an injury that robbed him of all but the first two games of last season. He was activated from the physically unable to perform list Tuesday and has been working off to the side with Britt Brown, the team’s associate athletic trainer and director of rehabilitation.
What he cares about is the chance to work alongside Bland, who flourished into a Pro Bowl player in Diggs’ absence.
“Our work is going to show on the field,’’ Diggs said. “If you can pull up another DB on our list that did anything we did, show me.’’
Bland led the league with nine interceptions last season. He did that two years after Diggs led the NFL with 11 interceptions, a number that hadn’t been matched in 40 years since another Cowboys corner, Everson Walls, accomplished that feat.
When asked how impressed he was by Bland’s performance last season in his absence, Diggs said he wasn’t surprised. He expected him to build on what he did as a rookie.
Certainly he didn’t expect Bland to have five interception returns for touchdowns to set an NFL record?
“Yeah,’’ Diggs said. “He’s the best defensive back there is out there, for sure.’’
Better than him?
“One A and One B,’’ Diggs responded, smiling.
Diggs took an awkward step and torqued his left knee during a one-on-one drill in practice after the Cowboys’ 2-0 start last season. An MRI later that afternoon confirmed a torn ACL. He underwent surgery in late October.
He’s more than 10 months removed from that afternoon. This is the longest an injury has kept him off the field since he started playing as a youngster.
“The hardest part of being away?’’ Diggs said, repeating the question. “You have that family feeling when you come to practice, come to work every day. Me not being able to be there with the guys, I felt that was the hardest part.
“Really, these guys are like my brothers. Being away from them and the team, not being able to go to war with my brothers, was the hardest part.’’
Diggs talked about how you don’t know how valuable something is until it’s taken away from you and how his appreciation for the sport and this opportunity has grown since the injury. He can’t wait to start alongside Bland and promised to be there for defensive end Sam Williams, who had his season end with an ACL injury earlier this week, the way other teammates had been there for him.
“You need somebody there with you for sure,’’ Diggs said. “I’m going to pay it back to him and be there for him.’’
Diggs said he’s able to do everything he needs to do physically to return to the field. He’s comfortable with where he is in his rehab but notes there are no football games to win in July.
Better safe than sorry. That’s why Diggs and the coaching staff say the corner hasn’t worked his way back into team drills yet. That will come soon enough.
For now, he’s simply glad to be back doing what he loves.
“I’m super excited,’’ Diggs said. “I haven’t played football in a long time. Just being able to be out here, practicing with them, seeing everything, it’s been a blessing.
“I can’t be more thankful.’’