Morris Claiborne was limited all offseason as he recovered from a ruptured patellar tendon, but a week away from training camp, the team feels good about the former No. 6 overall pick.
Claiborne tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in a Week 4 victory over the Saints last year--he did manage to record an interception the week before, giving him exactly one in each of his first three seasons in the league--and had surgery to repair it shortly thereafter. Then in December, he had surgery to safeguard against a similar injury in his right knee.
To date, he’s missed 19 regular season games and two playoff games in his short career.
But the Cowboys expect him to be back and healthy when Training Camp opens in Oxnard, CA, and Jerry Jones has made clear that he remains pretty high on No. 24--despite the team declining his fifth year option and drafting a corner in the first round this offseason--saying that he thinks Claiborne has a chance to surprise a lot of folks in 2015. Jerry's son Stephen Jones, the team’s executive vice president, is similarly confident in the LSU product.
“He’s had a really good offseason and I think he feels better than he’s ever felt,” Stephen Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News. “He really has a chance to have a big year for us.”