OXNARD, Calif. –It probably had something to do with the fact he said he was making a generalization about all injured players, but Stephen Jones hasn't expressed any frustration to Morris Claiborne directly.
The Cowboys VP clarified on Saturday that he has no concerns about the first-round cornerback's toughness. Of course, Claiborne was surprised that such an issue even came up given the fact that he played through a wrist injury at LSU all of last year, and is only now being held out of practice with a mild MCL sprain under the direction of team athletic trainers.
"I've got a little limp here and there, but I feel like I can go," Claiborne said. "But until they give me the OK, I'll be where I've been. … I'll always play through injuries."
Claiborne anticipated making some strides in Saturday's afternoon practice, but Jason Garrett ruled him out of the preseason opener on Monday.
The cornerback missed 14 practices this offseason while recovering from wrist surgery, a medical issue the Cowboys knew about when they traded up to select him in the draft.
The bold move up the draft board in April made it pretty obvious Jones was speaking about injured players in general when he said Claiborne couldn't "make the club in the tub." The top defensive player in the draft, Claiborne is expected to start for the Cowboys when he's healthy, and his four-year contract is fully guaranteed.
"I mean, I plan on being here," Claiborne said. "I don't plan on going nowhere anytime soon. Whenever the trainers give me the OK to come back out and get on the field, that's what it's going to be. … Of course I'm frustrated. I missed a lot of time in the past due to my wrist, and to have something else happen to me to where I miss more time, it's frustration. But I can't do nothing about it."
