IRVING, Texas -- Disappointing cornerback Morris Claiborne's season is over. But owner and general manager Jerry Jones still clings to hope that the former sixth overall draft pick can be an impact player for the Dallas Cowboys in years to come.

“The thing is that I see his future, and I see a good one here with the Cowboys,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan.

Claiborne will go on injured reserve after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee during the first quarter of Sunday night’s win. That happened days after Claiborne temporarily went AWOL, skipping a walk-through practice and meetings after being informed that Orlando Scandrick would start over him for the second consecutive season.

Jones admitted the obvious during a radio appearance last week when he stated that Claiborne, who cost the Cowboys their top two picks in the 2012 draft, hasn’t been worth the price the Cowboys paid to get him.

Jones claimed Tuesday that four or five coaches and general managers around the league called him after those comments and warned him not to be too negative about Claiborne.

“He is an outstanding player,” Jones said he was told in those conversations. “He has outstanding skills. He is in the top elite group, but he’s got to get his confidence and he’s got to continue to see the relationship between work and repetition.’”

Claiborne will get no repetitions the rest of the season. He has missed 11 of 13 preseason games, as well as the majority of offseason and training camp practices, due to a variety of injuries in his three years in the NFL. He’ll have missed 19 of 48 regular-season games by the end of this season.

Claiborne’s $2.607 million salary for next season, the final year of his rookie contract, is fully guaranteed. The Cowboys can pick up his fifth-year option for the cost of the transition tag, which is $10.081 million this year and will increase, but that’d be a foolish move for a player who has contributed so little.

It’s one thing for Jones to say that he sees a bright future for Claiborne in Dallas. It’s another thing to bet his money on it.