Dallas Cowboys’ cornerback Orlando Scandrick returns to the field after he missed a game due to an injury, but he is going to wear some kind of protection on his broken left hand. Scandrick planned to return quickly, and that is a good thing for the Cowboys because they ended up with just two healthy players at his position against Denver last week.
Orlando Scandrick is a veteran who leads the secondary, and this man is needed on the field. He said: “Eager to get back and get things on the right track. Good defense we’re playing. And it’s our job to outplay their defense.” Dallas will try to bounce back from a tough 42-17 loss in the Mile High City, and they will be playing against the Cardinals on Monday.
There is a chance that Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) and Nolan Carroll (concussion) will be sidelined against Arizona, so Bene Benwikere, who came to Dallas in a trade with the Bengals could be active for the first time. Both Awuzie and Carroll suffered an injury in the first half of the game against the Broncos, and they were unable to practice at the beginning of this week.
Dallas has a major problem with injuries as rookie Jourdan Lewis, who was drafted in the third round, missed almost the entire preseason with a hamstring injury. Luckily, he debuted against Denver, but Anthony Brown is the only cornerback who played both games.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said: “It’s hard, especially when you’re in the altitude and there was a young player out there, and he hadn’t played. He’d never even played in the NFL and he went out there and did a solid job.”
Lewis may have been unable to guard experienced Emmanuel Sanders against the Broncos, but he had his first interception in the third quarter. “From a mental standpoint, definitely got to get better,” said Lewis, a former Michigan player. ”From a physical standpoint, I feel like I could go out there and do everything. It’s just the attention to detail that definitely needs to be cleaned up.”
Scandrick is a crucial player for the Dallas Cowboys defense since he has at least twice the amount of experience of the rest of the defensive backs with the exclusion of Carroll. Meanwhile, Marinelli addressed the heavy loss to Denver: “We didn’t play with the edge that we should’ve, we didn’t feel. Coaches, players are all in it. And of course he’s a guy that does bring some edge, no question about it.”
Dallas was forced to put rookie safety Xavier Woods as a cornerback against the Broncos. Another option could be Byron Jones, who is a safety, but he was drafted as a cornerback. Luckily, Benwikere is here, and he is willing to go out there and compete: “I’ve played in games before. So for me to have to go everything and for the last two games and just kind of watch, definitely I’ve been itching and eager to finally get in some action.”
