The Cowboys went young on defense during the NFL Draft, especially in the secondary. They really had no other choice after losing Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne to free agency. The future of the secondary may now be in the hands of a crop of rookie cornerbacks in Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Marquez White.
They faced their first test of what it’s like being a corner in the NFL during Cowboys minicamp last week and it was a big test in the form of Dez Bryant. After the smoke cleared, the All-Pro wide receiver seemed impressed with what he saw.
“They’ve been competing strong and that’s what I love about them,” said Bryant. “Win, lose or draw, the rest of these guys, not just me, will tell you we’ll take that.”
The work will continue once training camp starts with the first practice scheduled for July 24th in Oxnard, California, where the interest of watching Bryant face off against the young cornerbacks will pick back up. But it’s not just about the competing angle. Bryant enjoys the challenge of helping the young guys learn how to play a productive role on the defensive side of the ball.
“It’s an absolute must,” said Bryant. “Their minds have to be right. It’s a mindset of even though you are a rookie; act like you’ve been there before and I feel like they’ve been doing an outstanding job of that. We’ve been going at it back and forth, not only me but all the DB’s and wide-outs. I think this is the best we’ve ever competed against one another.”
Even with the emergence of the young guys during minicamp, Bryant still sent out a Twitter request to cornerback Darrelle Revis to see if he would be interested in joining the Cowboys. Bryant said he hasn’t heard anything back from Revis Island. The Cowboys have only two cornerbacks on the roster that are age 30 or older, Orlando Scandrick and Nolan Carroll.
Despite the tweet to Revis, Bryant still believes in the rookie cornerbacks.
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” “Before it’s all said and done, you all are going to know those guys names in this league.”