Cowboys’ Claiborne leaves team facility after being demoted

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne has gone from disappointing to disgruntled.

An unhappy Claiborne left the team facility Tuesday after learning he would be benched in favor of Orlando Scandrick, according to several sources.

Claiborne did not attend position meetings or the film review of the St. Louis Rams game. The Cowboys could fine Claiborne for missing practice and/or conduct detrimental to the team.

But they want him back at the facility on Wednesday and ready to go for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints as part of the Cowboys’ nickel defense.

Whether he’s starting or not, a source said “we need all the corners we can get this week, and he was/is going to play a lot.”

Claiborne, who has for the most part been a disappointment after being picked sixth overall in 2012, started the first three games of the season largely because Scandrick was serving a league suspension for the first two games.

Both played similar amount of snaps against the Rams last Sunday as the Cowboys gauged Scandrick’s conditioning.

It was assumed that Scandrick would regain the starting job he earned last season when he supplanted Claiborne in Week 2.

Scandrick’s return to the starting lineup against the Saints this week was hastened by Claiborne’s poor play this season, capped by game-long struggles against the Rams that couldn’t even be offset by his interception in the final minute to seal the 34-31 victory.

Claiborne even admitted that he played poorly after the game, saying he “stunk it up.”

His departure came on the same day that owner Jerry Jones acknowledged that Claiborne hasn’t played as well as expected and a move to Scandrick was in the offing.

“Morris had a really good training camp,” Jones said. “Very competitive. And then he suffered a little setback there injury-wise, and didn’t quite get it back by the time we left training camp. On the other hand, Scandrick arguably had the best training camp of any player we had, certainly in the top three or four. So we’ve got to look real hard.

“We’ve got a guy that’s playing lights-out, played really good the other day, Scandrick. [He played] probably as well as anybody did in the secondary. So Scandrick or Claiborne, in certain situations, all three of them out there in a lot of situations. It’s really something we’ll have to see how they practice this week and we’ll go from there.”

Jones said Claiborne has not been the player the Cowboys thought they were getting when they traded two picks to move up to the sixth position to take him in 2012. But they are not ready to give up on him.

“We’re not giving up on him at all. Is he what we had hoped for at this point when we drafted him with the sixth pick, gave up a pick to go up to the sixth pick to get him? No. But he’s going to be a good player.”

The question now is whether he will show up Wednesday.

Melton’s status

Defensive tackle Henry Melton is uncertain what he’ll be able to do this week after suffering a right hamstring injury at St. Louis.

Melton is hopeful he’ll be cleared to participate in practice in some form Wednesday and progress throughout the week to play Sunday night against New Orleans.

“Hopefully, I say a few prayers and hopefully I come up here tomorrow and it feels awesome,” Melton said. “And we can just move forward.”

Melton said he initially felt it before the game started and it kept getting tighter as he played through it.

Melton, who had anterior cruciate ligament surgery last season, has dealt with multiple injuries this season. He had a groin injury in training camp that forced him to miss the entire preseason.

Linebacker update

Justin Durant plans to practice Wednesday and hopes to return Sunday. Rolando McClain isn’t as certain.

The Cowboys released linebacker Keith Smith this week, with the expectation that they’ll get Durant back on the field. Durant started the season opener at weakside linebacker before injuring his groin. He has missed the past two games.

The test, he said, will be “explosions, getting out of drops and stuff like that.”

McClain started the first two games at middle linebacker before injuring his groin against Tennessee. He missed last week’s game against the Rams.

He said he is not ready to practice yet, but the injury has improved.

Smith cleared waivers, and the Cowboys will re-sign him to the practice squad.

Encouraging outing

Tony Romo had his best performance in St. Louis. He overcame a sluggish first half with a promising second half in leading the Cowboys from a 21-point deficit to a 34-31 victory.

“It was as encouraging, if not the most encouraging, part of the game, apart from the win,” Jones said.

Romo also altered his practice routine from the first two weeks, taking last Wednesday off. That could become part of his regular routine, although nothing has been set yet.

Staff writers Charean Williams and Drew Davison contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Cowboys’ Claiborne leaves team facility after being demoted."