Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne was selected sixth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. The third-year pro has been starting for Dallas in the team's first three games, but he was notified yesterday he was being replaced in the starting lineup. Claiborne then left the team's training facility in frustration.
Claiborne is likely bothered over what has transpired since the Cowboys game on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. Dallas defeated St. Louis 34-31, but Claiborne had a poor showing against a weak Rams offense up until the fourth quarter. The former LSU Tiger allowed five receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown and was also flagged for defensive holding.
But on St. Louis' final drive of the game, Claiborne pressured Rams quarterback Austin Davis on a cornerback blitz and forced him to throw an incompletion. Two plays later he intercepted Davis and sealed the win for the Cowboys. After the game, Claiborne acknowledged he had a bad game and that his contribution on the final defensive stand did not erase his poor performance in the first three quarters. However, his self-reflective comments didn't seem to matter to Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones or the coaching staff.
On Tuesday, Jones appeared on KRLD-FM and when asked about Claiborne, he didn't provide a very friendly quote and was perhaps too honest.
"Is he what we had hoped for at this point when we drafted him with the sixth overall pick, giving up the [second-round] pick to go up to the sixth pick to get him? No," he said, via this NBC Sports ProFootballTalk article. "But he's going to be a good player."
And now, the team notified Claiborne he is being replaced by Orlando Scandrick at the starting cornerback position. Scandrick was previously serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, but the league and the players association agreed on a new drug policy that lifted some existing suspensions of current players. Scandrick returned to the field against the Rams and showed he's still the team's best corner, so it's no surprise he was given his starting job back. Claiborne was only starting because Scandrick was suspended.
However, Claiborne hasn't much to worry about because he will still be getting plenty of reps as the slot cornerback, which is why the Cowboys likely drafted him and signed Brandon Carr in the same offseason. It's a passing league now, and cornerbacks are needed more than ever.
