FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys ended the 2024 season a shell of what they believed they might have been.
The blemishes showed often in a campaign that ended with a 7-10 record, with some of the blame of the football disaster being attributed to the Cowboys having been ravaged by injury throughout the season.
At one time or another, they ended up losing almost all their Pro Bowl level talent.
The headline-grabbers there, of course, included Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, all of whom missed time at some point in the season.
One of the additional losses came in the secondary with Trevon Diggs, who could not escape the injury bug for the second straight season. Diggs missed all but two games in 2023 after tearing his ACL and would have further knee complications in 2024.
He played in the Cowboys' first 10 games before missing his first of the year in Week 12. Diggs would play one more game the following week and then went on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
He recently underwent chondral tissue graft surgery on his left knee, and it is believed the procedure and recovery timeline could keep him until parts of training camp if not longer.
But teammate Parsons has a positive update.
"He had a successful surgery. I talked to him, and he's doing real well. He's in Dallas and he's doing exactly what he's supposed to do," Parsons said, via DallasCowboys.com. "He's the ultimate competitor. He knows when he comes back, and he'll be back real soon, he'll be great.''
The truth is that Diggs may miss most of the offseason, adding some uncertainty to his path to starting the 2024 season fully healthy. He will enter the third year of a five-year $97 million extension signed ahead of the 2023 season. ... with question marks.
The Cowboys certainly want Diggs back on the field in 2025, but want him healthy and able to endure the rigors of an 18-week season.
As Parsons said, "It's just all about regaining stability and resting."
Frankly, it's about much more than that, as with time, Dallas needs Diggs - a cornerstone of the team's secondary since his breakout season in 2021 known for his ball-hawking skills - to return to the form that allowed him to earn two Pro Bowl selections.
Having Diggs return to the field will be key for the Cowboys secondary for the 2025 season, and hopefully he can return to his top form and avoid another injury setback. ... with "stability'' and "rest'' part of the process.
