Cowboys LB Injury Update: 1 Out for Season; Jabril Cox Reveals Rehab Timetable

A knee injury suffered in OTAs has sidelined a former sixth-round pick for all of 2022 - but Jabril Cox arrives with positive news.

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys linebackers room on Thursday at OTAs represents a mixed bag of news.

Unfortunately, practice-squadder Devante Bond suffered a serious knee injury during this offseason's organized team activities which will require surgery.

But on a highly positive note, Jabril Cox - a standout prospect from the 2021 NFL Draft - was working on the cords with trainers on Thursday and afterward told CowboysSI.com that his timetable for a full return is the late-July start of training camp in Oxnard.

"I feel great in my workouts,'' Cox told us. "I'm happy with where I am. I plan on being ready at camp.''

Cox added that he believes the Dallas linebackers room, topped of course by Micah Parsons, "is one of the most athletic groups in the league.

Cox, a 24-year-old playmaker at LSU (the fourth-rounder had 6.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions in his final season) was to play a big role in Dallas’ linebacker rotation during his rookie year. But he suffered a torn ACL that forced him to miss the bulk of the year.

Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Bond was signed to the Cowboys practice squad late last year and was brought back on a futures deal for 2022. 

A former sixth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bond was waived in 2018 by the Buccaneers after an injury settlement as a result of a plantar fasciitis injury. He was re-signed by the Bucs after he recovered, avoiding free agency.

The former Oklahoma Sooner was released during the 2019 season and signed with the Chicago Bears for the three remaining games that year. Bond was back in Chicago on a one-year deal in 2020 and moved on and off the practice squad before being released by the Bears at the end of the season before being picked up by the Cowboys.

Bond has played in 34 career games for the Buccaneers and Bears and has registered 39 tackles.

In 19 games with the Sooners from 2014 to 2015 Bond registered 46 career tackles and three sacks.

With Bond done for the season, the Cowboys will rely on players like Cox, Luke Gifford, 2022 sixth-round pick Devin Harper and rookie Damone Clark (maybe, as he's rehabbing after a spinal fusion surgery and could miss the season) to compete for a spot behind or alongside Parsons and Leighton Vander Esch.

Cox said his long time on the sideline allowed him a learning experience.

"I got to see the game from a different perspective,'' said Cox, who according to coach Mike McCarthy has spent his offseason at The Star "non-stop.'' "It was humbling.''

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