ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys believe that cornerback Morris Claiborne tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Sunday night's 38-17 win over the New Orleans Saints, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said.
Claiborne, who was hurt in the first quarter, will undergo an MRI on Monday to confirm the initial diagnosis of a season-ending injury.
"We'll get more on it, but it doesn't look good right now," Jones said. "I hope we've got a big surprise for us in the morning."
It was a painful ending to a tumultuous week for Claiborne, the sixth overall pick in the 2012 draft. He hastily left the team's training facility on Tuesday, skipping a walk-through practice and meetings, when informed that Orlando Scandrick would start instead of him. Claiborne returned to meet with coach Jason Garrett later that night and apologized to his teammates before the Wednesday morning meetings.
Starting outside linebacker Bruce Carter will also undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of his strained right quadriceps. Carter went down suddenly while pursuing running back Khiry Robinson on a 62-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys hope that the injury will not force Carter, the team's leading tackler, to miss any games.
"It just depends on how sore I am tomorrow, to be quite honest," Carter said. "For right now, they said I had great strength in it. I was able to do all the tests and pass all of those. It's swelling up. They said I've got a little bit of fluid, just blood from a little tear, but I should be fine."