Ball's extra year of NFL experience on the rookies is misleading.

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IRVING, Texas - Apparently the "C" in Plan C is for "Contingency."

The Cowboys envisioned Mike Jenkins as a good Plan C from the start. They selected the 5-10, 190-pound South Florida product with the 25th overall pick back in April.

They had lost two cornerbacks to free agency earlier in the off-season, and their starting corners hadn't been completely healthy for any of the three prior seasons. They traded for Adam "Pacman" Jones knowing they couldn't trust him to be reinstated by the league, much less stay out of trouble if he was let back in.

Starter Terence Newman will be rehabbing from sports hernia surgery for at least another month, and his primary backup, Jones, is gone for four games if not life because of his most recent NFL suspension.

Jenkins will slide into the starting spot at left cornerback and fifth-round pick Orlando Scandrick will cover the slot receiver when offenses go three-wide against the Cowboys. Last year's seventh-round pick Alan Ball becomes the fourth cornerback, and is expected to play right cornerback when the Cowboys use their dime defense, taking the place of Anthony Henry, who will cover the tight end or another slot receiver. Ball's extra year of NFL experience on the rookies is misleading. He played in just his fourth career game Sunday against the Cardinals.

With just four cornerbacks on the roster, and three of them so green, it wouldn't have been surprising to see the Cowboys move to acquire cornerback help at the trade deadline, or at least scour the unemployment lines for a veteran. For now, they are content to stand pat.

"With Jenkins, and Scandrick and Ball as well as Henry, I think we'll see this through until Newman gets back," owner and GM Jerry Jones said Monday. "We've got help on the way with Newman. I'm glad we've got that surgery behind us. And so all of this, with a healthy Henry out there right now, gives us a chance to be more than solid back there, but be real good.

"Jenkins has played up to expectations. Scandrick has played above expectations. If we had to have a bump in our positions on the team, this was probably as strong an area as we had to have it."

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