Xavier Woods groin not serious but should Dallas Cowboys be worried about secondary?
On the surface, the groin injury suffered by Dallas Cowboys strong safety Xavier Woods in Sunday’s practice is not deemed to be serious.
Vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys are being cautious but they saw nothing from Sunday night’s medical report to be overly worried.
“We felt pretty good about it yesterday,” Jones said on his radio show on Monday. “He just kind of felt it a little bit. But never felt a pop and never lost strength in it.”
But because it’s a soft-tissue injury there is still a question about Woods’ availability for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
Woods is the third member of the secondary who opened training camp as a presumed starter who is now iffy for the season opener, including cornerback Chido Awuzie (knee) and slot cornerback Jourdan Lewis (ankle).
Lewis has been out since Aug. 20 and was wearing a walking boot on the sideline during practice on Sunday.
Awuzie has been limited in practice after suffering a knee injury on Aug. 24. He has not practiced the past couple of days and was watching the Sunday night practice with Lewis on the sideline.
Rookie Trevon Diggs and veteran Daryl Worley have emerged as starting options at cornerback and the slot in place of Awuzie and Lewis.
HaHa Clinton-Dix replaced Woods with the starters alongside Darian Thompson Sunday night.
That would likely be the safety coupling if Woods was unable to go against the Rams.
Second-year safety Donovan Wilson, who played at Texas A&M, is someone to keep an eye on as well. Jones also mentioned Worley and Awuzie as options at safety.
Diggs has used Awuzie’s absence to develop and emerge. Worley is a veteran who has experience playing multiple positions in the secondary.
But Clinton-Dix, who has a history with coach Mike McCarthy from their days in Green Bay, has been somewhat of a disappointment. He signed with the Cowboys as a free agent to presumably replace the departed Jeff Heath alongside Woods at safety.
Thompson has surpassed Clinton-Dix with a stellar camp.
It’s certainly a situation that bears watching, depending on Woods’ recovery from the groin issue.
