Brian Schottenheimer reveals plan for Cowboys secondary without DaRon Bland

The Dallas Cowboys are once again faced with the prospect of playing without star cornerback DaRon Bland on Sunday. Bland popped up on the official injury report on Wednesday with a foot injury, which also kept him off the practice field on Thursday. The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year candidate missed more than half of the 2024 season with a different foot injury.

On Friday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer addressed the Cowboys' plan to play the New York Giants without Bland and expressed confidence in coordinator Matt Eberflus' ability to adjust for the loss.

"The thing about DaRon, he's such a great weapon, he can play the corner position and the nickel position," Schottenheimer said on 105.3 The Fan. "One thing I'll say about Matt Eberflus, one thing I loved about him in the interview process and talking to people about him is his ability to adjust and move things. We saw that with Matt and his staff last week in the second half against Philadelphia."

MORE: Cowboys' Matt Eberflus discusses uncertain DaRon Bland recovery timeline

"DaRon's a great player and I know he's itching to get back," he continued. "It limits your ability to move some things around. What we'll do is we'll have some safeties playing in the nickel spot. We'll do some things like that. Again, DaRon's a great player, hopefully we get him back sooner rather than later but the biggest thing is he's such a cool piece because he's versatile. He can play in the slot and out and there's not many guys like that in the NFL."

Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) during training camp in California. — Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) during training camp at the River Ridge Fields. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The starting nickelback made his presence felt in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, recording three tackles in the 24-20 loss. Now, the team must move pieces around to cover for his absence against the Giants receiving unit led by former first-rounder Malik Nabers.

The Cowboys had another member of the secondary miss practice on Thursday, but not due to an injury. Safety Juanyeh Thomas hit the practice report as a non-participant due to a personal reason, which the team has yet to address. Another defender, safety Malik Hooker, is also dealing with a foot injury and parcipated in Wednesday and Thursday's practice in limited fashion.

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