Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys knew Morris Claiborne would require time to heal after pre-draft surgery on his left wrist. The expectation all along was that the sixth overall pick would be ready for training camp in late July.
Claiborne, mostly a bystander at the team's rookie minicamp, has targeted the Cowboys' June 12-14 mandatory minicamp for his debut.
"I hope to be fully recovered and ready for that," Claiborne told Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. "I'm so eager and ready. It's hard just sitting there, watching, knowing you can do it but you've just got one small thing wrong with you holding you back. But I'm looking forward to it and trying to push that up."
The former LSU star tore ligaments in his wrist last season in a game against Alabama in November. He didn't miss a start, but was instructed by NFL teams at the combine to pursue surgery. He had pins removed from the wrist last week and currently sports a cast. He's taken part in team OTAs on a limited basis.
Claiborne told our very own Ian Rapoport that all of this will soon be a distant memory: "I'll be ready," he said earlier this month. "I don't want to be left behind. When it's really time for camp, I don't want to feel like I've lost a step."
The Cowboys -- especially Rob Ryan's secondary, which relinquished a disappointing 244.1 yards per game last season -- share Claiborne's hopes.