The cloudy nature of any injury that happens on the practice field leads to a lot of speculation about the nature of the incident. Fans may wonder how such a serious injury could happen in a presumably controlled environment at practice where the safety of the players is paramount. A day after Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs tore his ACL at practice, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy spoke to reporters about what exactly happened Thursday when Diggs hurt himself at The Star in Frisco.

According to McCarthy, the Cowboys were running an ordinary drill when the incident occurred.

“Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Trevon Diggs' ACL injury is one ‘that could happen anywhere,'” Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reported in an X post after hearing from McCarthy at a Friday afternoon press conference. “Not an indictment of the type of drill team ran. Diggs stepped on receiver's foot in process of competing for football in air, McCarthy added.”

The circumstances of Diggs' disappointing injury are also of interest due to an ongoing debate within the NFL about whether turf fields represent an undue risk to players. Jon Machota of The Athletic reported from the same Friday press conference that Diggs' injury had occurred on the Cowboys' grass practice field. At least in this instance, a turf field is not to blame for Diggs' injury.

It is expected that the injury sustained on Thursday by Trevon Diggs will sideline the All-Pro cornerback at least for the rest of the 2023-24 season, so the Cowboys will likely search for a replacement.