Why Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs wasn’t in starting lineup vs. Packers

ARLINGTON — Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs didn’t start in Sunday’s overtime tie against the Packers. Diggs came in as part of a rotation with DaRon Bland at outside corner.

It’s the second time this season Diggs hasn’t started a game. In the season-opener at Philadelphia, Diggs came in for the nickel package as he was on a snap count coming off offseason surgery. Diggs was expected to miss the start of the season due to his health, but he recovered in time to play Week 1.

On Sunday night, Diggs not starting was part of several Cowboys’ personnel moves, which leads you to believe he was benched.

“He’s been banged up a little bit,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said when explaining Diggs’ role for the Packers game. “I’ve been a little tough on Trevon, just in terms of the consistency and things like that. But man, I thought he played really well tonight. I’m proud of him.”

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Diggs finished with four tackles and a tackle for loss that occurred in overtime, but no pass breakups. He did pick off a Jordon Love pass that was wiped out by a penalty.

“We played a high-powered offense today,” Diggs said. “We still got a lot to clean up. We just need to start holding teams to less than 23 points. These past weeks, the score has been outrageous. So we got to clean it up for sure. I feel like we got the talent. Everybody can do it. We just need to do it.”

Diggs said the defensive signals were a lot cleaner and he didn’t see as many receivers and tight ends running free as in their last two games against the Giants and Bears.

However, in overtime, on a fourth and 6, Love completed a 14-yard pass to Matthew Golden to keep the eventual game-tying drive alive. Before the snap, Diggs was motioning to his teammates about the defensive call.

Diggs said the Cowboys were in Cover 2, and he was telling one of the safeties Golden was going to run his route toward the middle of the field, which he did to catch the pass.

As for his benching, Diggs said, “I don’t know, you got to ask coach.”

Whether he starts next week at the New York Jets remains uncertain.

“And, you know, again, it’s a similar type thing with other guys,” Schottenheimer said. “I mean, it wasn’t just us picking on Trevon. And Trevon is a hell of a player. Trevon is a huge part of what we’re trying to do. I think at the end of the day we talked about the guys that stepped up in this game. And again, I can’t tell you how proud I am of those guys for answering the call the way that they did. And when you do that, guys, you’re going to find a way to win, and that’s coming.”

Watch: Cowboys insiders try to make sense of Dallas’ tie with Packers in Parsons’ return