DaRon Bland’s season is hanging by a thread, and it may already be over. The Cowboys’ cornerback is dealing with an issue in his left foot that could require surgery. Whether it comes to that or not, one thing is clear: he won’t be on the field this week against the Chargers. And that finally opens the door for Trevon Diggs to suit up.

“Daron Bland is getting a second opinion on his foot before he opts for surgery. He is out for the Chargers game it looks like Trevon Diggs will play this week,” Cowboys reporter Clarence Hill Jr. reported.

It’s taken a potential season-ending injury for Bland to get Diggs back into the lineup, which says a lot about how strange this situation has been. The confusion really picked up after last week’s loss to the Vikings. According to beat reporter Joseph Hoyt, Diggs said he was healthy and ready to go, but wasn’t activated. It happens. But then, it got weird.

Jerry Jones later said Diggs wasn’t healthy enough to play, which directly contradicted what Diggs himself was saying. Maybe Diggs wasn’t showing what the staff needed to see in practice. Maybe the evaluation was more cautious than public comments suggested. Either way, the mixed messaging stood out.

Diggs was placed on injured reserve earlier in the season with a lingering knee issue, along with a concussion that was never fully explained publicly. When the Cowboys opened their 21-day practice window, it looked like a return was coming. It just never arrived. Until now, maybe.

Dallas has until December 20 to activate Diggs. If they don’t, his season is done, and he stays on IR. That deadline alone makes this week feel important. If he’s still not on the field, it raises more questions than answers.

While all of that plays out, the focus also shifts to Bland. What happens with his foot and whether surgery becomes unavoidable will matter just as much for how the Cowboys line up moving forward.

DaRon Bland to get a second opinion

DaRon Bland is staring at the possibility of surgery on his left foot. He’s getting a second opinion to determine whether it’s necessary, as Clarence Hill Jr. reported. No matter which way that goes, Bland hasn’t practiced this week, and the expectation is that he could land on injured reserve. If that happens, he’d likely miss the final three games of the season.

The timing is rough. It comes just days before the Cowboys brought cornerback Josh Butler back to practice, opening his 21-day window. At the same time, the team still has to make a call on Trevon Diggs.

This would be the second straight year Bland’s season has been derailed by a foot injury. During training camp in 2024, he suffered a stress fracture, started the season on injured reserve, and missed 10 games. It lingered longer than anyone hoped.

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He did return late that year and entered the 2025 season aiming to regain the form that had made him a centerpiece of the defense. That version of Bland, the one who earned the “Pick-Six King” label during his record-setting 2023 season, led to a four-year, $92 million extension in the offseason that followed.

This season hasn’t cooperated. Bland missed Weeks 2 and 3 with another foot issue. In 12 games, he’s posted 45 tackles, six pass breakups, and one pick-six, which came in the Week 7 win over Washington.

Whether he opts for surgery or not, it’s hard to see him back on the field this year. For the Cowboys, the hope now is that Diggs can step in and stabilize things on his end.