The Dallas Cowboys briefly resembled Days of Our Lives this week when cornerback Morris Claiborne left the team in a huff, but it appears all is back to normal with the team.
Claiborne hastily left the team’s practice facility on Tuesday after learning that he lost his starting role to Orlando Scandrick, who is returning from a drug suspension. Claiborne skipped a walk-through practice and meetings, but by Wednesday had returned and clarified exactly why he left.
“I didn’t leave from no stretch of the imagination from them telling me that Orlando was back,” said Claiborne, who attended meetings and practiced Wednesday. “That wasn’t the reason why I left. The reason why I left was how something was brought to me and how it was presented to me. I felt myself at a place where I had to just leave the facility at that moment.
“I’m pretty sure everybody has been in that, got in that where they had to just leave. They had to remove themselves from what was going on at that time. I was ready for whatever fines or anything that came with that. I felt like if I stayed, who knows what would happen? I felt like the best thing for me was to leave.”
Morris Claiborne also apologized to his Dallas Cowboys teammates, which coach Jason Garrett said was accepted.
“I think he understood that he made a mistake,” Garrett said. “Guys are competitors. When they hear news that doesn’t go their way, different guys react different ways. He obviously knew that he didn’t react the right way, and he had a chance to kind of collect himself. He came by last night and we addressed it, and we addressed it head on. He’s back in here this morning and ready to go to work.”
Scandrick was eligible to return under the NFL’s new drug policy but Garrett initially said he wasn’t sure how he would be used .
“We’re going to see how he does in practice today,” Garrett said. “We believe in competitive situations. We don’t have any doctrines about if a guy’s a starter when he gets hurt, does he come back as starter? We look at the guys, see who can help and what role they can help us in. He’s certainly been a good player for us. The other guys have played well in his absence. Excited to have him back.”
The Dallas Cowboys said Morris Claiborne will be disciplined for leaving the team, but will still be in the lineup Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
