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By Jon Machota Oct 3, 2021
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott knew the Cowboys had a special cornerback on their roster during a training camp practice last year at The Star.
On consecutive two-minute drills, a rookie named Trevon Diggs picked him off twice.
“I knew then there’s certain routes and certain concepts that you’ve got to know where he is and you’ve got to know his position,” Prescott said Sunday after the Cowboys’ 36-28 win over the Carolina Panthers. “He’s just a helluva player and he’s going to continue to get interceptions because of the way he studies, the way he goes about the game.”
Diggs, the brother of Buffalo Bills star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, came into Sunday’s game at AT&T Stadium with a streak of three interceptions in their first three games, helping him earn NFC Defensive Player of the Month.
Not only did he keep the streak alive, he repeated what he did against Prescott in that training camp practice on consecutive third-quarter possessions.
The first came in a third-and-5 situation with Carolina trying to come back from a 26-14 deficit with 3:48 left in the quarter.
Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold stepped up in the pocket near Carolina’s 40, looking for wide receiver Robby Anderson, who had been lined up in a bunch set to the left. But what he didn’t see was Diggs dropping back, almost like a safety playing zone coverage.
“No. 7 is a good player,” Darnold said. “He was just reading my eyes the whole time. Made a good break on it.”
Three plays later, Prescott found Cedrick Wilson for a 23-yard touchdown pass, putting Dallas up 33-14.
Carolina’s next offensive series lasted only three plays. On third-and-3 from the Panthers’ 32, Darnold looked left to the team’s top wide receiver, DJ Moore, near the left sideline. But Diggs, who was playing man coverage, jumped the route. The Cowboys cornerback initially bobbled the ball before wrestling it away from Moore.
“Obviously, there are balls I shouldn’t throw,” Darnold said. “He was just waiting for that second one. Obviously, I should have checked it.”
Diggs now has an NFL-leading five interceptions and eight in the first 16 games of his career. He is only the second Cowboys player to record an interception in each of the first four games of the season. The other is Don Bishop, who did it in 1961, the second season in franchise history. The last Cowboys player to intercept a pass in four consecutive games was Dennis Thurman in 1985. Diggs’ five interceptions are the most by a Cowboys cornerback in a season since Terence Newman had five in 2010.
“Some of these interceptions he’s getting, I learned long ago in the spring not to try him on those routes or on those plays,” Prescott said. “When he gets interceptions I almost laugh, like, ‘Yeah, I understand.’
“He’s an instinctive player and obviously he has hands. He’s an old receiver, so he’s disguising a lot of these guys. And also just playing the best guy on the field, he’s going to get the opportunity. Just proud of him.”
Prescott was later asked if Diggs is the best cornerback in the NFL right now.
“For sure,” Prescott responded. “Turn on the tape. Watch what he’s doing. Watch the guys that he’s following week in and week out, the (opponents’) best player.
“But, yes, it’s easy to see.”
Diggs didn’t want to go that far when told of Prescott’s response.
“I feel like I still got work to do,” he said. “I haven’t reached what I wanted to reach and I haven’t accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. So I feel like I’ve still got work to do. Everything is great, but I still got to fight, still got to keep pushing, keep working, so that’s our main focus. But thank you, Dak.”
Diggs’ value Sunday afternoon went beyond just seeing two interceptions on the stat sheet. Following his second takeaway, Dallas added a field goal, extending its lead to 36-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. Diggs didn’t play another snap. He was on the sideline, helmet off, towel over his head. His day appeared to be done.
But why?
There was no announced injury in the press box. Diggs never went to the blue medical tent. Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver said Diggs was being held out for “player management.” The Panthers were so thrilled that Dallas’ takeaway machine was on the sideline that they went on a 14-0 run to make things a little too close for comfort in the final minutes.
The Cowboys said after the game that Diggs was dealing with some back tightness.
“He could have returned in the game if he really needed to,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “I know it was something. I think he got a cleat on it.”
Diggs didn’t appear to be in any discomfort during his postgame press conference or as he was leaving the stadium.
“I was having back tightness,” Diggs said. “They wanted to hold me out. They just didn’t want me to risk it.”
It doesn’t appear to be anything that will prevent him from playing next Sunday against the division rival New York Giants.
After the Cowboys traded up and used the sixth overall pick in 2012 on LSU star cornerback Morris Claiborne, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the only corner they had ever graded higher than Claiborne was Deion Sanders, arguably the greatest defensive back to ever play the game.
The Cowboys never got anything close to Sanders out of Claiborne, who intercepted four passes in four seasons (47 games) in Dallas.
Diggs wasn’t drafted until Pick 51 last year. Seven cornerbacks were selected ahead of him. At this point, none are close to Diggs.
Dallas has found a true shutdown playmaking corner, a total package they haven’t had at the position in the last decade. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn now has one of the most important pieces a defense can have, a cornerback who can line up against any type of receiver and limit them, if not completely shut them down.
Sanders was the last Cowboys cornerback to be named to an All-Pro team, which he did in his final season in Dallas, 1999. Sanders made the Pro Bowl that same season.
The only Cowboys cornerbacks to make a Pro Bowl since then are Terence Newman (2007 and 2009), Mike Jenkins (2009) and Byron Jones (2018).
With what Diggs has shown over his first 16 NFL games, he might just be the best cornerback the Cowboys have had since Sanders.
“I just feel like I’m reading my keys, and being me, playing how I’m playing,” Diggs said. “This is how I play at a high level.
“I expect it of myself. I actually expect more.”
