Dallas Cowboys’ disconnect with Trevon Diggs reaches the boiling point
Another week, and more disconnect between the Dallas Cowboys and cornerback Trevon Diggs.
Since having his 21-day practice window opened after of his monthlong stint on injured reserve, it hasn’t appeared as though Diggs has gotten any closer to being activated to play down the stretch of the season.
Despite Diggs saying he felt healthy enough to play last week, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he needed to “do everything the right way” before being activated off the list.
Well, it doesn’t appear like that threshold was met.
Sunday’s contest against the Minnesota Vikings came and went without him being activated, as he watched from the sideline in the team tracksuit. After the game, Diggs voiced his displeasure about the decision.
“I’m definitely disappointed,” Diggs said. “I definitely thought I was coming out here to play and help these guys pull out a win. I think how it was handled, I didn’t like that. It is what it is. We’ll try to focus on next week, and I’ll show them whatever they want to see.”
On Monday, Schottenheimer discussed the decision more in-depth in his press conference.
“Trevon and I sat down, and we had a very detailed conversation on Saturday,” Schottenheimer said. “I told him not only the reasons why, but also the standards and expectations. So again, I’m always going to have real conversations. I would never not play a player and not explain to them why they weren’t going to play. I know he feels like he’s ready, but in our long conversation I thought I made it very clear. And so, I’ll leave it at that.”
Despite owner Jerry Jones saying after the game that Diggs wasn’t healthy enough to play, the former All-Pro cornerback insisted that he feels great and is ready to return to the field.
“I feel good enough to play,” Diggs said. “I practiced all week. I don’t know, it’s not my decision. It’s not my call.
“From the first conversation that we had, I guess it was practice. I wasn’t showing them what they wanted to see in practice. This week, I showed them what they wanted to see in practice, and it still was the same result. I don’t know what else I need to show. At this point, I feel like it’s not even up to me or what I do. It’s up to them.”
Arguably the biggest point of contention between both sides has been the exact parameters that Diggs has to meet to return to the field. While Schottenheimer says that those things have been communicated to Diggs, the player said he still feels left in the dark.
“I don’t know the special requirements that I need to show that I can play,” Diggs said. “I’ve been in practice, I’ve been practicing well. It’s not my decision at the end of the day.”
“We talked about the reasons,” Schottenheimer said Monday. “It was the expectation, and that’s not just an expectation for Trevon. I’m going to make that very clear. It’s an expectation for all of our guys, and the standard is the standard, and I do believe that. I’m not going to play a player without having a man-to-man conversation and have them not understand why. I think it’s too important. I respect them too much, what they do and what they put into it and the competitors that they all are.”
Another point of confusion for the sixth-year corner stemmed from the expectation throughout the week that he would be playing. When he was told Saturday that wouldn’t be the case, he said he was caught off-guard.
“Going into the week, that was the plan,” he said. “I was included in the game plan to play. [Saturday], I was told I wasn’t playing. It was a quick decision. I didn’t know, I thought I was going to come out here and play. They thought otherwise.
“I was upset. They know.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott — who said on Thursday that he has tried to be a sounding board for Diggs’ frustrations and has tried to bridge the gap in communication — said after the game Sunday that he gave advice to Diggs after the decision was made to keep him on injured reserve for at least one more week.
“I had a conversation with him when he told me about the news that they gave him about not playing,” Prescott said. “And it was just about keeping his head up. I told him simple as this, ‘On Monday, ask what they expect from you. You have to plan it throughout the week, so you can make sure you do exactly to know what’s needed for you to become active and to get back to being the guy that you are.’ And he accepted that.”
On Monday afternoon, Schottenheimer said he and Diggs had not spoken.
If Diggs is not activated by Saturday, he will be forced back on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Ahead of an offseason that all but certainly will see Diggs be released or traded from the team, this week is the final opportunity for the No. 7 Cowboys jersey to be put back on his chest.
If not, then his time with the team will be all but concluded. An offseason release would then just be a simple formality.
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 8:54 AM.
