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Cowboys believe they have a fighter in Tyler Patmon
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- At 5-foot-10, 188 pounds, Tyler Patmon isn’t the biggest corner. He’s not the fastest. He doesn’t have the highly rated pedigree.
In some ways Patmon is like the cornerback he will be replacing this season, Orlando Scandrick.
Scandrick isn’t the biggest. He’s not the fastest. He doesn’t have the highly-rated pedigree. He carried an attitude since the Dallas Cowboys took him in the fifth round of the 2008 draft, which will serve him well as he starts the rehab process from a torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
“He has a lot of the same kind of traits that Orlando has,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “His strengths are the instinctive way he plays, his ability to make plays, just has a good feel for the game. He’s a great competitor, he’s feisty, he fights, he battles and scratches and claws, so we’re going to give him an opportunity in there first.”
While Scandrick was drafted, albeit much lower than he anticipated, Patmon wasn’t picked. He did not even earn an undrafted free agent contract. He only received a mini-camp tryout in 2014.
But he did enough in those short practices to catch the eyes of the Cowboys coaches and scouts to earn a contract and trip to training camp. With an interception return for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in the preseason, Patmon solidified a spot on the 53-man roster.
He played in 11 games as a rookie and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals, but he suffered a knee injury the following week that kept him out for three games. He was just starting to work into a role in the Cowboys’ dime defense when he got hurt.
“Coming on this team, it was me and Orlando had the most similarities out of anybody else, any corners on the team,” Patmon said. “I definitely watched him a lot last year, watched him a lot this year and learned a lot from him of how to play in there.”
Patmon will have to cover all different kinds of players in the slot. In Wednesday’s practice he lined up against 5-8 slot receiver Cole Beasley and 6-6 tight end Gavin Escobar. In one-on-one drills he was able to break up a high fade to Escobar from Tony Romo.
Later he intercepted a Jameill Showers throw to Phil Bates on a deep ball, tipping the pass with one hand before bringing it down for the turnover.
“I feel like my awareness is one of my strongest qualities as a football player,” Patmon said. “Being inside in the nickel you have to have some awareness and be able to play around all of those guys in the box.”
He might be best remembered for his scrape with Dez Bryant earlier in camp. He didn’t back down from the Pro Bowl receiver, and after practice Bryant talked of his respect for Patmon because of his willingness to compete. In practices against the St. Louis Rams he got into a scrape with Tavon Austin.
There will be bigger and more important tests as the season goes on, but the Cowboys believe in Patmon, and not just because they have to.
“He came in here (in 2014) and about halfway through the first practice we looked at each other and we said, ‘We like that guy,’” Garrett said. “You start figuring out ways, 'OK, he’s better than that one who we signed so let’s get rid of him and let’s give this guy a chance.' So he’s had that feistiness, he’s had those playmaking traits really from Day One since he’s been with us and I think he’s just getting better and better.”
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- At 5-foot-10, 188 pounds, Tyler Patmon isn’t the biggest corner. He’s not the fastest. He doesn’t have the highly rated pedigree.
In some ways Patmon is like the cornerback he will be replacing this season, Orlando Scandrick.
Scandrick isn’t the biggest. He’s not the fastest. He doesn’t have the highly-rated pedigree. He carried an attitude since the Dallas Cowboys took him in the fifth round of the 2008 draft, which will serve him well as he starts the rehab process from a torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
“He has a lot of the same kind of traits that Orlando has,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “His strengths are the instinctive way he plays, his ability to make plays, just has a good feel for the game. He’s a great competitor, he’s feisty, he fights, he battles and scratches and claws, so we’re going to give him an opportunity in there first.”
While Scandrick was drafted, albeit much lower than he anticipated, Patmon wasn’t picked. He did not even earn an undrafted free agent contract. He only received a mini-camp tryout in 2014.
But he did enough in those short practices to catch the eyes of the Cowboys coaches and scouts to earn a contract and trip to training camp. With an interception return for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in the preseason, Patmon solidified a spot on the 53-man roster.
He played in 11 games as a rookie and returned an interception for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals, but he suffered a knee injury the following week that kept him out for three games. He was just starting to work into a role in the Cowboys’ dime defense when he got hurt.
“Coming on this team, it was me and Orlando had the most similarities out of anybody else, any corners on the team,” Patmon said. “I definitely watched him a lot last year, watched him a lot this year and learned a lot from him of how to play in there.”
Patmon will have to cover all different kinds of players in the slot. In Wednesday’s practice he lined up against 5-8 slot receiver Cole Beasley and 6-6 tight end Gavin Escobar. In one-on-one drills he was able to break up a high fade to Escobar from Tony Romo.
Later he intercepted a Jameill Showers throw to Phil Bates on a deep ball, tipping the pass with one hand before bringing it down for the turnover.
“I feel like my awareness is one of my strongest qualities as a football player,” Patmon said. “Being inside in the nickel you have to have some awareness and be able to play around all of those guys in the box.”
He might be best remembered for his scrape with Dez Bryant earlier in camp. He didn’t back down from the Pro Bowl receiver, and after practice Bryant talked of his respect for Patmon because of his willingness to compete. In practices against the St. Louis Rams he got into a scrape with Tavon Austin.
There will be bigger and more important tests as the season goes on, but the Cowboys believe in Patmon, and not just because they have to.
“He came in here (in 2014) and about halfway through the first practice we looked at each other and we said, ‘We like that guy,’” Garrett said. “You start figuring out ways, 'OK, he’s better than that one who we signed so let’s get rid of him and let’s give this guy a chance.' So he’s had that feistiness, he’s had those playmaking traits really from Day One since he’s been with us and I think he’s just getting better and better.”