FRISCO, Texas – You’ve heard the phrase, “The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry,” with thanks to the poem written by Robert Burns a long, long time ago.

Well, with so many questioning just what in the heck the Cowboys have been doing at the cornerback position the first two games of the 2025 season – more to the point, giving up 450 yards passing to 36-year-old Russell Wilson Sunday in the Cowboys’ somewhat improbable 40-37 victory over the New York Football Giants – let’s go here.
With so far 602 passing yards allowed in two games, this certainly was not the plan of head coach Brian Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Matte Eberflus following the April 24-26 NFL Draft.
Here is what they figured: DaRon Bland would be starting at cornerback. They were counting on Trevon Diggs, who hadn’t played in an NFL game since Dec 9 when his knee injury eventually needing surgery sent him to the bench, would be more than ready to start the season. They had draft in the third round cornerback Shavon Revel out of East Carolina, who had only played three games last year, hoping he would be ready to start the season.
And for insurance purposes, the Cowboys made a pretty-just-in-case trade with Buffalo to pick up Kaiir Elam and a sixth round pick this year for a 2025 fifth-rounder and a seventh in 2026.
They also were counting on second-year corner Caelen Carson returning fully healthy and ready to go. And on an outside chance, same with Josh Butler, counting on him to provide some depth, though knowing he went on injured reserve last December with a torn ACL.
Those would be there top-six cornerbacks heading into training camp, and counting on Bland, Diggs and possibly Revel to be ready for the start of the season.
Then gone “awry” took place.
Diggs was not ready for the start of training camp, having rehabbed away from the team, costing him a $500,000 reduction on his $9 million base salary. He missed all of training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Neither was Butler, and he’s still on PUP. Carson, after an offseason shoulder repair, ended up spraining his knee at the end of July and must remain on Injured Reserve for at least another two games. And Revel, while rehabbing mighty hard, though didn’t start his knee rehab with the Cowboys until May, was placed on the Non-Football Injury list, where he must remain for two more games.
Then came the gut punch. After starting the season opener, Bland suffered a foot injury in practice the Monday after the Thursday night game. He’s out multiple weeks and still hasn’t returned to practice.
Think about all that now when wringing your hands over Wilson’s 450 yards passing. That meant going into the Giants game, four of the Cowboys’ presumed top-six cornerbacks were not available. And as for Diggs, after playing only 27 snaps in the opener, he was forced out of necessity to play 61 snaps (91 percent) against the Giants, and he sure didn’t seem to be ready for that either.
So Diggs starts against the Giants. Elam starts against the Giants, his second of the season. And then as the nickel slot corner, so does Reddy Steward out of process of elimination, having been claimed off waivers on Aug. 27 with all of one game of NFL experience. And as for backups, there was Trikweze Bridges, claimed off waiver on Aug. 27, and Zion Childress, signed as an undrafted free agent in May and becoming a game-day elevation off the practice squad.
Yeah, just the way the Cowboys had planned.
And that sure seems to be status quo going into Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears (0-2) at Soldier Field on the banks of Lake Michigan. They know for sure Carson, Revel and Butler all need to be inactive for two more of the four required games required after being placed on the various reserve lists. Kind of a mess.
But hey, nobody in the NFL feels sorry for you.
“The word I use is ‘consistency,’ and we weren’t very consistent,” Schottenheimer said of Sunday’s play, the head coach eventually saying when asked if some of the inconsistencies can be fixed in a week’s time, “Yes, it can get fixed.
“I expect (the communication) to be much better this week.”
Hear that, loud and clear.

• Butter Brandon: No surprise Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey is named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Heck, might as well name him NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for his one-game performance. Hey, who else in two more games over the month will go four-for-four on field goals totaling 205 yards worth of kicks, hit a 64-yard fourth-quarter walk-off to force overtime and then hit the 46-yard overtime walk-off for the Cowboys victory? Nobody. Or for that matter, a kicker getting “slimed” by Nickelodeon as he did after Wednesday’s practice, which also included a Nick trophy he tucked away into his locker.
• Wise Decision: Schottenheimer might be new at this head coaching business, but he knew better than to put his team through a padded practice (as usual) on Wednesday, the Cowboys having a pad-less walk-through for a good 90 minutes. Remember, there were nine guys playing the entire game on Sunday, 89 snaps on offense and 67 on defense, and then the likes of CeeDee Lamb 82 snaps and George Pickens 79. These guys needed a blow. Legs matter.
• Hidden Yardage: Former head coach Bill Parcells would school us on “hidden yardage,” those that did not count in the immense number of stats after a game. Well, here is one that should be tracked. While Pickens after two games has eight catches for 98 yards and one touchdown, he’s been interfered with three more times. And we’re talking 79 yards worth on passes he’s been denied the opportunity to catch. Said GP, “I get a lot because I know if they don’t grab me, I’m definitely going to catch it. That’s the thing. But I definitely want to make the catch most of the time. Every time I get a P.I., I’m trying to (still) make the catch.” Heck, we track targets, why not potential P.I. yards?
• One Of A Kind: Former Cowboys linebacker D.D. Lewis, having passed away Tuesday at the age of 79, may not be in the Ring of Honor or the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he carved out a mighty distinguished 13-year career (1968, 1970-81). Think about this: Dwight Douglas started 135 consecutive games (third in team history), until his retirement after the 1981 season. He was voted the Most Popular Player by Cowboys fans and given the Bart Starr Meritorious Award in 1981. He is one of only eight NFL players who have played in five Super Bowls (V, VI, X XII and XIII), winning two of those. And consider this contribution to Cowboys lore: He played in nine NFC Championship Games while being one of two Cowboys players (Larry Cole) to play over three decades. He was quite the jokester, and while I never covered any of the games he played, during an interview with him several years back, I asked him if he was one of those guys who had to have an offseason job back then to make ends meet, and how much he worked out in the offseason. He said, “I sure did work out. Spent my time in the pool doing 16-ounce curls.” At least D.D., having played his college ball at Mississippi State, has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Game. He is the franchise’s second linebacker to pass away over the past three weeks, Ring of Honor member Lee Roy Jordan the other. D.D. replaced Hall of Fame member Chuck Howley at linebacker and started four consecutive years next to Jordan.
• Shorties: In 2024, Brock Hoffman was in a battle for the starting center position with the Cowboys, eventually losing out to rookie Cooper Beebe but serving as the backup center/ guard after logging nine starts over his two previous years. Think he will do a credible job since considered him a better center than a guard for what that’s worth, the undrafted rookie in 2022 saying, “I’m definitely ready to get out there Sunday.” … The Cowboys certainly are hoping to get similar results from 12-year veteran Jadeveon Clowney as they have so far from nine-year veteran Solomon Thomas (12 tackles so far) and 10-year vet Kenny Clark (nine tackles, a sack and seven QB pressures) … If the Cowboys win on Sunday, Dak Prescott will tie Tony Romo for the third-most quarterback wins in franchise history at 78, only Troy Aikman (94) and Roger Staubach (84) with more.

We go back to Schottenheimer for this week’s final word, putting into perspective how Eberflus is handling this week after his defense got scorched by the Giants for 506 total yards, and the fact Eberflus, the former Bears head coach, will be playing his former team.
“In terms of this week, it’s no different,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s put together a hell of a plan with his defensive staff. … I addressed it the other day. What Matt won’t do, and what (his former Bears assistants) D.A. (David Overstreet) won’t do and what Andre (Curtis) won’t do, those guys won’t make this about them. It’s got nothing to do about them. We’re not going to line up and play a single snap.
“It’s our job to put together a hell of a plan that gives our players the best chance to perform well, and when we do that, we’ll probably have a chance to win in the fourth quarter like most games come down to. But he’s been great, Flus has been very much like this (hand gesture meaning even), and that’s why he is so well-respected around the league. Because good, bad or indifferent, he’s going to be the same guy every day, and the guy up here talking is the same way, always trying to be the same person every day.”
Back to that word “consistency.”