Cowboys' Trevon Diggs doesn't feel like he has 'any limitations' after training on his own, pushing for Week 1

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee) was thought to have a slim chance to pass a physical and be put on the active roster ahead of Week 1. 

Just 10 days prior to Dallas kicking off the 2025 NFL season in Philadelphia at the Super Bowl LIX champion Eagles, Diggs has done just that and participated in the Cowboys' practice for the first time this offseason on Monday. 

"I felt good. Just being out there was a blessing," Diggs said after practice on Monday. "Just being able to be out there with the team and practice with my brothers. That felt really good."

How good did Diggs and his knee, one which has undergone an ACL repair and recovery (2023-2024) and a chondral tissue graft procedure in January, feel Monday afternoon out in the Texas heat? He doesn't feel limited anymore.

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"Physically, I don't have any limitations. It's really just ramping up the conditioning part, getting back to football speed, getting back to in-game speed," Diggs said. That's pretty much it."

He even feels more comfortable at this time of the year coming off his latest injury than he did returning from the ACL tear at the beginning of the 2024 season. Why is that? He's taken a more intense approach to his rehab process prior to the 2025 season getting underway.

"Yeah, it's similar. With my ACL too, I felt comfortable going into the season as well. I just feel like the work I put in this time was a little bit more, and it felt better," Diggs said.

The conditioning part of the equation is why Diggs wasn't quite ready to declare whether or not he is likely to play in Dallas' NFL season-opening game in Philadelphia at the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4 just 10 days from Monday. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is set to give his team a break the next two days before the real ramp up begins for the Eagles, but Diggs won't be leaving the facility on Wednesday or Thursday. 

"I think I need a couple more practices to see where I'm at just going full speed," Diggs said. "I feel really, really good, so far with the repetition and just getting back familiar with the game. I don't know yet. ... We got a break. I'm going to stay here and continue to work and just try to make it to at least the first game."

His focus when it comes to ramping up his conditioning will revolve around putting himself in game-like situations while continuing to sprint and improve his stamina. 

"It's different, just working out with yourself and then having to cover someone, chase someone and run after the ball," Diggs said. "I feel like that's the main thing, so I make sure that I'm always running to the ball. Always running, doing extra gassers and doing everything I can just to be physically conditioned for the game. I feel like you put in the work for it, and you're going to get out what you put in. I think I put in the work for it, and just being able to have the opportunity to even come back, [is] just a blessing from God. I'm truly thankful, just him watching over me and getting me back."

A big point of contention for Diggs this offseason was his decision to train in Miami, Florida on his own instead of at The Star, the team's facility in Frisco, this offseason. His choice to do so during voluntary organized team activities provided owner and general manager Jerry Jones and team EVP and COO Stephen Jones the latitude to dock his 2025 salary by $500,000. However, the 2021 NFL interceptions leader doesn't view his ahead-of-schedule recovery as proving the Jones family wrong -- even if that's what it appears he has done. 

"I think it was more so just proving to myself that I could get back out there," Diggs said. "At the end of the day, I really don't think that it's about anybody else. At the end of the day, I got to go out there and make sure I'm available to perform. Just put in the work, keep my head down. People are going to have their opinion regardless, whether it's good or bad. You can't always listen to the outside noise and just really focus on you. Focus on what you need to do every day to be successful." 

One driving factor for Diggs to choose to rehab in an external location this offseason could be the lack of resources Dallas' players said the Cowboys have in their training room. On the team's 2025 NFL Player's Association report card, just 60% of Dallas players voted that the team has enough full-time physical therapists. That figure ranked as the lowest in the entire NFL among the league's 32 teams this year. 

"Another thing, I have no issues with the training staff or anything. Me and [Dallas director of rehab] Britt [Brown] are cool. Like that's my guy," Diggs said. "We go back and forth, and we have our differences, but he just wants the best for me. He wants me to be out there. That's ultimately my goal as well. ... So it was nothing against the Dallas Cowboys and the program. I just felt I needed to take advantage and take initiative for me and my career."

Only 72% of the Cowboys' players voted that they receive enough one-on-one treatment from Dallas' training staff, which ranked 29th out of the NFL's 32 teams in 2025. That's why he relished the individualized treatment he received from the same doctor his brother Stefon, a four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver who plays for the New England Patriots, used to come back from a torn ACL over the last year. 

"It was more specific and just the rehab of it all -- the strengthening and the conditioning of it," Diggs said. "I just saw him bring my brother back fast. I've seen CeeDee go down there as well, and it's all great reviews. So I decided to go out there and see. It worked out."

Since Diggs' outside rehab process yielded results, it's fair to wonder if Jerry and Stephen Jones would be willing to return Diggs' $500,000. That's not something the 26-year-old plans to push the envelope on with the front office. 

"I don't know, it is what it is at this point," Diggs said. "If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't. I just got to make sure I go out there and put on my best performance. ... I definitely feel like the work I put in should go discredited, but at the end of the day, rules are rules. Contracts are contracts, and I got to live with whatever decision that is." 

So when will he and the team decide it's time for Diggs to return to game action?

"Yeah, basically between the first and third week [of the season] was my timetable for myself," Diggs said. "I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could just to be able to have that opportunity."

The next benchmark for Diggs will be advancing from participating in position drills to 11-on-11 team drills on Friday.  

"I have to practice and see how I feel. I've got to get out there, run around, put my foot in the ground and dig and drive and just conditioning … That's really the main thing."  

If he can get cleared to play in Week 1 in Philadelphia, Diggs will be ready for the Eagles. The film study on them began a while ago for the two-time Pro Bowl corner.

"I've been playing the Eagles twice a year for my whole career, so you know I'm familiar with those guys," Diggs said. "I'm familiar with the receivers. I'm familiar with the quarterback, so it's just refreshing going over things that I know and things that I see. Things that I can introduce to the coaches and just work together that way."