When the Dallas Cowboys unveil their rebuilt defensive backfield against the New York Giants on Sept. 5, cornerback Mike Jenkins might not be part of the show.
Jenkins hasn't been cleared to practice following offseason shoulder surgery and team owner Jerry Jones doesn't expect him to suit up for the opener.
"I don't think so," Jones told KRLD-FM on Friday, via ESPNDallas.com. "He's going to have his situation evaluated by his surgeon and it may be a little late in the preseason for him, but that'd be real interesting. If we had an evaluation on him by this weekend, I'd like to have that problem to mull over. I really would."
Time is running out for Jenkins, who will visit Dr. James Andrews in "the next week or so," Jason Garrett told the site Thursday.
Garrett isn't about to rush Jenkins onto the field. There's no reason to. Brandon Carr and rookie Morris Claiborne are the starting corners, and Orlando Scandrick is penciled in to occupy the slot.
I spoke with in-house Cowboys guru Elliot Harrison, who insisted that all this fervor over Jenkins only takes attention away from the real issue in the back half of this defense: the safeties. If Barry Church and Gerald Sensabaugh can't put it together, Mike Jenkins alone can't save the day.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.