OXNARD, Calif.– It doesn't sound like the Cowboys' biggest injury scare of the summer is too serious, to hear it from Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones.
Halfway through Sunday's practice, Jones looked on in concern as his first-round pick, cornerback Byron Jones, was helped off the field following a collision during seven-on-seven drills. The rookie corner was down on the ground for several minutes and had his shoulder looked at by team doctors before heading to the locker room.
The news after practice was encouraging, though.
"I have been worried ever since he had that fall, but I've gotten some information that basically it's not as bad as it could have been," Jerry Jones said.
That doesn't necessarily mean the youngster will be back out at practice on Monday – or even in time to play in next week's preseason game against San Francisco. The Cowboys have been cautious with all their various injuries during training camp, and that appears to be the case for the first-round pick, as well.
Given the concern at the time of the injury, though, Jones appeared to be relieved about his draft pick's status.
"It may involve a few days here of special attention, but over the long but short run this coming week, he should be back out here," the owner said. "I don't know if he'll be back for San Francisco, but we're not talking about out long."
It wasn't even a tackle or a block that caused the injury. The rookie collided with Morris Claiborne while in coverage during seven-on-seven drills. The two cornerbacks didn't see each other coming across the middle of the field and suffered a nasty collision, which Jones got the worse of.
"It's a football accident," Claiborne said. "We were in kind of an under deep man with help over the top, so we play underneath and we didn't see each other and collided. That's football. I'm OK. I hope he's alright."[embeddedad0]
With Jones out for the time being, the Cowboys' cornerback depth is further reduced. Brandon Carr and Orlando Scandrick are already out with injuries, so the loss of the first-round pick leaves them with Claiborne, Tyler Patmon and Corey White as their top three corners. They also have Robert Steeples, Joel Ross and Brandon Smith providing depth.
