FRISCO, Texas – After Sunday's game at Philadelphia, Orlando Scandrick will have completed his 10th season with the Cowboys.
Will he be back for an 11th in Dallas?
"I don't know," Scandrick said Thursday when asked about his future with the only NFL team he's ever played for.
Although he has returned to practice on a limited basis, Scandrick seems less likely than others on the injury report to play in Sunday's season finale, having missing the last three games with two transverse process fractures in his back.
The Cowboys have given more snaps to rookie defensive backs Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods in the last month.
Scandrick is under contract through 2019. He also recognizes the Cowboys' youth movement in the secondary. What that means for his future remains to be seen.
"The young players here, Jourdan, Chido, A.B. (Anthony Brown), Xavier, Byron (Jones), Jeff (Heath), they're playing well together right now," Scandrick said. "They're going to continue to grow and continue to get better, and I'm not at the point in my career where I'm willing to just be an inactive guy or a guy that's not a part of what's going on and can't help the team win. Obviously I'm still under contract, so that's not ultimately my decision. But I'm prepared for whatever."
Scandrick, 30, does know he wants to continue playing. He says his back injury is not a long-term issue.
If this is Scandrick's last year in Dallas, he says he's "so grateful" to the Cowboys and the Jones family for drafting him in the fifth round and giving him an opportunity back in 2008. He has seen former teammates such as Terence Newman and DeMarcus Ware leave the Cowboys after many years and continue to play at a high level for other teams.
"It's definitely not over. We'll see what happens," he said. "I just want to play somewhere where I can finish things out the right way, kind of go out on a good note.
"I'm still a good football player when I'm healthy, and we'll see what happens."
