The season-ending injury for Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs has given birth to an underlying controversy that's had some people criticizing head coach Mike McCarthy's practices. I reached out to a former NFL scout for some insight. 

Diggs was injured during a 1-on-1 drill as the team prepared for their Week 3 showdown versus the Arizona Cardinals. Many NFL teams don't run such drills during the season, instead saving them for training camp only. In a now-deleted tweet, former Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci wrote: "Never understood why we did 1v1s during the season. 

"It was a red zone 1-on-1 drill, very safe drill," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said via Clarence Hill from the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. "And when you see the video, just something that can happen anywhere. Two guys going for the football and looks like he came down on the foot or stepped on the foot of the receiver. This was not a drill issue at all. By no means"

Many insiders familiar with their teams claim they don't run such drills during the season. The Indianapolis Colts, for example, will occasionally have practice squad players run 1-on-1 drills against tryout players.

For a point of view from somebody who's been in the league, I reached out to The Honest NFL, a former scout who does a fantastic job pushing football knowledge through his anonymous Twitter/X account. 

"1-on-1 sessions between WRs & CBs or LTs and Edges, my experience has been no," the former NFL scout told A to Z Sports when asked if in his experience his teams ran such drills during the season,

However, it should be noted, that he didn't mention injuries as the reason why. Instead, it was a matter of efficiency and time management. 

"Since the new CBA in 2011 put such a restriction on field time, it’s just not a productive way to invest your time relative to what you’ll be doing on the field," he added. "The reality is you’re rarely going to be truly 1-on-1 like that in a game anyway. If you are, it’s likely because that player is damn good and doesn’t need reps of it, or you’re a bad coach."

Maximizing what teams do with what he calls "precious hours" of practice is a big key to coaching in the NFL. As such, teams have to focus on what will matter the most on gameday, like "mate blocking on inside zone, sorting out a route concept among the defenders in coverage, or sorting out a protection."

My experience is that those types of reps just haven’t been a productive way to invest the precious few hours you get on a field each week," the former NFL scout concluded. If you focus on technique, fundamentals, and understanding concepts, those matchups will take care of themselves during the game."

Ultimately, it's hard to criticize what McCarthy has been doing in his career. He's a Super Bowl-winning head coach who has won 12 games in back-to-back years with the Cowboys. What he's doing is clearly working. Based on his recent comments, he won't change his process even after Diggs' brutal injury.

Cowboys’ plan to replace Trevon Diggs is crystal clear

No other way around it.

Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports