The Dallas Cowboys were outscored 28-3 in the first half of their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. They didn't allow a touchdown in the second half, but the Cowboys looked outmatched throughout that 28-17 loss.
Jerry Jones suggested on Friday that Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick could have been the difference. Scandrick was suspended by the NFL the first two games of the season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
Scandrick returned to practice this week and he'll play Sunday in St. Louis. Jones said Scandrick's return is "going to make a big difference" going forward.
"Orlando probably had the top two or three of the best training camps of any player we had," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. "He's a really top player. You give him [Morris] Claiborne and you give [Brandon] Carr out there. Of course, as can happen, that led us to [finding] a pretty good player in [Tyler] Patmon. Let us put him out there and see what he could do under fire and all of that is a plus.
"We're stronger now. You could say, 'Well with Scandrick you might have won the game against San Francisco,' but whatever, we're at least 1-1 right now and we're stronger with our corners than we were because we got to see some young guys do some good stuff."
