FRISCO, Texas – As the Cowboys get ready to face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, they’ll get both DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs together on the field for just the fifth time in the last three years.
Bland has missed the Cowboys last two games with a foot injury, but was a full participant in Thursday and Friday’s practices. Diggs missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury, but was full-go as well on Thursday and Friday. Both hold no injury designation, officially clearing the path to full health. For Bland, he wants to be out there again not just with Diggs, but the entire defense.
“Really I’m just looking to get back out there, just playing for my guys,” Bland said. “Having us both out there healthy is something that I’m definitely always looking forward to.”
Dallas has given up 748 yards through the air in the last two weeks, and a lot of that has to do with communication issues in the secondary. The Cowboys are hoping that re-inserting Bland into the mix helps eliminate some, if not all, of those short comings.
As he’s had to watch from the sidelines the last two games, it’s been difficult for Bland to balance the recovery aspect as well as wanting to go out there and help with those issues.
“It’s kind of hard because you’re still worrying about trying to just get back healthy, so at the same time, you’re trying to just tie it in in-between. It’s kind of hard.” Bland said.
One of the valuable assets of Bland’s game is his ability to play both on the outside and at the nickel spot in the secondary. In the season opener against Philadelphia, Bland played in the slot with Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam starting on the outside.
According to Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones, it sounds like the Cowboys may move Bland to the outside opposite of Diggs more against Green Bay.
“I think we’ll see Bland more outside, I think Reddy [Stewart]’s doing a good job for us. Certainly, we’ve also got Kaiir [Elam], certainly [Trevon] Diggs, so we’ve got a good group there. We’ve just got to go out and execute the coverages.
In 2024, Bland missed 10 games after suffering a stress fracture in his foot during training camp. This injury feels nothing like the previous one.
“No, not even close…” Bland said when asked if it the injury is similar to his one from last season. “It’s the whole opposite foot… different issue.”
When Bland and Diggs played together in Week 1, the Philadelphia Eagles passed for just 152 yards on the night. The Cowboys are hoping that effort can be replicated when Jordan Love and the Packers come to town in two days time.
