FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs couldn’t help himself. Emotions were running high before the season opener against the Cleveland Browns on September 8th.

Diggs was embraced by assistant head coach Al Harris, who is more mentor than coach. His helmet and face mask covered his eyes, but his head was buried on Harris’ shoulder as they swayed back and forth.

Exactly 353 days earlier, Diggs had hobbled off the practice field knowing his left knee was badly injured. The humid September air was sucked out of the Cowboys’ practice because everyone knew what was coming a few hours after his MRI scan.

He was diagnosed with a torn left ACL, which would end his season.

Now, on a perfect September day at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, just a stone’s throw from Lake Erie, it hit Diggs, who doesn’t express his feelings.

“I didn’t feel it until I was actually out there,” Diggs said. “It was, ‘Wow, I’m actually back.’ Yes, it was emotional for me.

After such a long absence – a lonely journey to prove that he was still one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks and worthy of the Pro Bowl status he held before the injury – Diggs showed that not only was he back, It was like he was back and never left.

With 9:06 left in the fourth quarter and the Cowboys leading by 23 points, Diggs intercepted a pass from Deshaun Watson that went through the hands of Elijah Moore.

Take it away, Tre 🚫@TrevonDiggs | @AlabamaFTBL

Next ➡️ #NOvsDAL 09/15 on FOX pic.twitter.com/1XOosxUmbC

– Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) September 9, 2024

It was Diggs’ 19th interception in 48 career games. He is one of 13 players to have at least that many picks in their first 48 games. Since 2021, his 16 interceptions are the most in the NFL – despite missing 15 games last season due to injury.

As good as it felt to get the ball back in his hands, Diggs later experienced the opposite feeling.

In last week’s 28-25 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cowboys needed a stop to pull off an improbable 22-point comeback, but he couldn’t stop a 9-yard completion to Zay Flowers on third-and-six .

“That was shitty on my part,” Diggs said. “I still have to make this play. That’s up to me.”

But being on the field and preparing to play at the New York Giants on Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) is better than it was a year ago when he was awaiting surgery.

THE JOURNEY BACK An injury can be lonely. The players go to what some of Diggs’ teammates call “dark places.” Less than two months before his injury, he signed a five-year, $97 million extension that made him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL.

The games continued and Diggs became something of a forgotten man.

Before this season began, ESPN asked coaches, front office executives and scouts for their top ten cornerbacks in the NFL. Diggs was not listed, likely due to his injury, and was only listed as an honorable mention. He was ranked eighth in the 2023 ESPN poll. In 2022, a year after 11 interceptions, he was 10th.

When asked in training camp if he drew motivation from that, Diggs jokingly asked what was on the list, but he already knew.

“I feel like I’m in a league of my own,” Diggs said when he was removed from the physically unable to perform list in late July. “No one can do what I do.”

He mentioned DaRon Bland, who led the NFL with nine interceptions last season and set a league record with five pick-sixes. Bland didn’t play this season due to a stress fracture in his left foot and wasn’t ranked among the top 10 cornerbacks, although he received some votes.

“We don’t care about any list,” Diggs said. “Our work will show on the field. (If) you can put another DB on that list who has done everything we’ve done, show me.”

This is as animated as Diggs will be publicly. Despite Diggs’ superstar status with the Cowboys, Micah Parsons describes him as shy. They are somewhat of an odd couple in their approaches. Parsons will talk to anyone about anything and everything. Diggs is happier staying in the background.

While Diggs was going through the rehab process, Parsons often visited his house. He tried to keep Diggs’ spirits up during his longest absence from the game. They participated in video games and Connect 4. They played table tennis in the training camp.

Often they just talked about football.

There Parsons found the ghost of Diggs.

“Film room, alone. Brings in the extra. He doesn’t look for recognition from others. He doesn’t have to be here to show it,” Parsons said. “I can call Tre at 7:30 p.m. and say, ‘Why aren’t you at the (video) game?’ He says, “Brother, I’m at (SandersFit Rehab and Therapy) getting some extra treatment for my knee.” I say, “Oh, grab me when you get home.”

“So he goes away from here and will get some extra work on his knee to make sure he’s prepared. So they are the things that no one else has to see. That’s kind of who he is and who he’s become.”

Diggs puts in a lot of work to understand how opposing quarterbacks and receivers will attack him.

“He’s definitely an expert on the game,” fellow cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “He understands this game and I really think he’s a genius at it, honestly. When he’s at his best, I feel like he’s one of the best defensive players in the game. That’s amazing to see.”

HARRIS PLAYED 14 Years in the NFL for four teams, including seven years with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he won a Super Bowl. He has been an assistant coach in all but one NFL season since 2013 and was named an assistant coach for the Cowboys in the offseason.

When talking about Diggs, Harris mentions his Hall of Fame teammate Charles Woodson and the ability to mirror a receiver’s route.

“Tre has an uncanny ability to capture the flash of the ball. So as far as my job is concerned, it’s to get him to get the right readings and just let him go from there,” Harris said. “And I think the genius of it is that. … He runs routes. And it’s been a long time since you’ve seen a defensive player running routes as a defensive player.”

To get there, Diggs studies a quarterback’s three-, five- and seven-step drops to figure out what paths await him. He studies the distributions receivers make on certain downs and distances and knows he can eliminate some routes. He understands route combinations. From a simple stance, he can tell what a receiver wants to do.

“I’ve been in the league for, what, five years now?” he said. “So I’m kind of used to the game and I know the speed of the game.”

The interceptions are no coincidence.

“A lot of people think he’s just puzzling and figuring things out, but that’s the method of madness,” Lewis said. “I respect it. I can see it from a mile away – he prepares like no one else.”

Diggs bombarded Dak Prescott with questions during the week and harassed the quarterback on the practice field. Prescott said Diggs’ background as a receiver (two-time All-Washington DC Metro selection, played early WR at Alabama) helps him at cornerback.

“He understands logs, breaking points and things like that,” Prescott said. “And then he trusts himself. I think at the end of the day, when you play this position and have the talent that he has, you have to trust yourself.”

After a torn cruciate ligament and months of rehabilitation, this trust must be rebuilt. Can he plant and take off like before? Does the knee hold up? Can it change direction immediately or does it require an additional pull to get into the right position?

After three games it’s here. Just like it was before the injury.

“All the work I’ve put in gives me confidence,” Diggs said. “I feel good.

“And I feel better than before.”