FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick suffered two transverse process fractures in his back during Thursday's win against the Washington Redskins and could miss at least one game, according to a source.
Scandrick suffered the injury after getting kicked in the back on the third play from scrimmage but remained in the game until the fourth quarter. He had an MRI Friday morning to confirm the diagnosis.
Transverse processes are small projections on the vertebrae where soft tissue attaches, but they have no real role in load-bearing. In 2014, quarterback Tony Romo missed one game after suffering two transverse process fractures in his back.
Scandrick missed the 2015 season because of torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his knee. He missed four games last season with hamstring strains and is looking at missing multiple games in 2017. Scandrick missed the Week 2 loss to the Denver Broncos after undergoing surgery to repair a broken hand suffered in the season opener. He has started every game he has played this season. If he can't play Dec. 10 against the New York Giants, then the Cowboys would look to either rookie Jourdan Lewis or Anthony Brown to start.
Second-round pick Chidobe Awuzie started his first game Thursday against Washington, replacing Brown. When Awuzie went out of the game for a spell, he was initially replaced by Lewis. Brown recorded his second interception of the season in the fourth quarter off a David Irving deflection of a Kirk Cousins pass.