IRVING, Texas - The Dallas Cowboys have updated the status of Morris Claiborne and Bruce Carter, both of whom were injured in Sunday's blowout win over the Saints. And it's a mixed bag.
The Cowboys are losing for the long term a player who has struggled to find himself in Claiborne and likely losing for the short term in Carter a pivotal piece of the Cowboys' turned-around D.
Claiborne's unfortunate week -- he went AWOL on the club last Tuesday after being demoted -- got even worse on Sunday when he sustained a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee in Sunday's victory over New Orleans. The struggling third-year corner, once the team's No. 6 overall draft pick, will undergo surgery within days and will be out for the year.
Sterling Moore becomes the team's third cornerback. Tyler Patmon, an undrafted rookie free agent who had a fine training camp, will be part of the defense, too. Sources tell FOX Sports Southwest that Dallas will likely stay in-house here and has no real interest in veteran star Champ Bailey, who is on the street but at the very end of his potential productivity, in the eyes of the Cowboys personnel department.
The news on Bruce Carter is much better.
He's off to a dynamic start for the Cowboys defense (including six tackles and a deflection of a Saints pass that was intercepted by teammate Justin Durant) but underwent an MRI on Monday morning that confirmed a quad strain. Carter tells CowboysHQ that he doesn't believe the injury is serious but his availability for Sunday's game against Houston is in doubt.
Dallas does have two more players in the fold, in a sense, today. Safety Jakar Hamilton is back from his drug suspension and defensive tackle Josh Brent is eligible to return to practice in preparation for playing in Week 10.
"Anybody we can get who can help," Henry Melton tells FOX Sports Southwest, "we'll take."a
