IRVING, Texas -- Morris Claiborne must stop lying to himself.

Right now. Today.

The same goes for the false bravado he spews out on a regular basis.

It's the only way he can ever maximize his immense potential. Yes, Claiborne has unlimited potential, but the NFL is full of talented dudes who couldn't figure out how to unlock their gifts and succeed.

Morris Claiborne said he didn't leave the practice facility because he was demoted. He said he left because of "how something was brought to me and how it was presented to me." AP Photo/James D. Smith

A fuming Claiborne stormed out the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility Tuesday, skipping meetings, a film session and a walk-through practice after the Cowboys demoted him and informed him he'd have to compete with Sterling Moore for playing time in the nickel defense.

He returned later that night to speak to coach Jason Garrett, and he spoke to the coach again Wednesday morning before apologizing to his teammates.

After all that, Claiborne is still talking about how he deserves to start.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'No, I don't deserve to start,' because I know I deserve to start," Claiborne said. "But that's not what the coaches said. At the end of the day, those guys have the last decision on what's going to be done, and it is what it is."

A day after allowing five catches for 108 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' 34-31 come-from-behind win over St. Louis, he honestly thought he should still be starting. Sure, he made the interception that clinched the win, but it's not as if the coaching staff was going to ignore every other area of his performance.

Besides, we all know the only reason he started the first two games is because Orlando Scandrick was serving a suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

Claiborne's attitude proves he has delusions of grandeur.

Perhaps some of the blame can be placed on the Cowboys, who have consistently given the 24-year-old opportunities to start that he never earned through performances in minicamps or training camp. We're talking about a player who has had nagging injuries since he arrived that have prevented him from making significant strides in the offseason.

Claiborne missed all of the preseason because of knee and shoulder injuries.

Though the Cowboys have had success making first-round picks such Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin starters from Day 1, none of them developed a sense of entitlement the way Claiborne has.

"I didn't leave from no stretch of the imagination from them telling me that Orlando was back," Claiborne said. "That wasn't the reason why I left. The reason why I left was how something was brought to me and how it was presented to me. I felt myself at a place where I had to just leave the facility at that moment.

"I'm pretty sure everybody has been in that, got in that situation where they had to just leave. They had to remove themselves from what was going on at that time. I was ready for whatever fines or anything that came with that. I felt like if I stayed, who knows what would happen? I felt like the best thing for me was to leave."

So he was mad because of the way he was informed of his demotion? Get real.

Claiborne, the sixth pick in the 2012 draft, has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament. His play has been shoddy since he arrived.

At his best, he has been average. At his worst, he has been poor.

He plays with no confidence. And no awareness. And no toughness. All you have to do is watch him.