Cowboys Encouraged by Mo Claiborne's Progress

Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne is on the road back from one of the hardest injuries to return from, a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee.

Claiborne suffered the injury on September 21 and had surgery shortly thereafter. Now, he’s back on the field on a very limited basis, but even just participating in walkthroughs and some individual drills in OTAs is a huge stride. Head coach Jason Garrett, for one, is more than happy with Claiborne’s progress.

“He’s done an excellent job in his rehab,” Garrett said, per the Dallas Morning News. “He’s done a lot of work on the field, and he’s moving around better. He’s getting stronger, physically stronger, up top, but also in his lower body. I think he’s responding well with that. He’s a little bit in that category where we start him slowly in the football part of it, keep him out of some of the competitive situations until he gets his feet underneath him.”

The Cowboys passed on the 2016 option on Claiborne’s rookie contract this offseason, but have been adamant in declaring that the former first round pick is a part of their plans.

“Just know that he’s made some really good progress and he’s worked very hard at that,” Garrett said. “When you’re a coach and you’re a player and you see a guy work as hard as someone does to come back from adversity, that can be inspirational to you. And he’s certainly in that category.

“The ability to look at adversity, accept the challenge, embrace the challenge. That’s important. That’s a big part of mental toughness, and certainly Mo’s demonstrated that in his work up to this point. He got some good work in [Tuesday] in the walk-through format and we anticipate using him the same way over the next few weeks.”