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Jason Garrett: Dustin Vaughan ‘a lot better’ in Year 2; ‘He wants to be a great player’
Jon Machota Email jmachota@dallasnews.com
Published: June 4, 2015 5:44 pm
IRVING — During Tuesday’s organized team activities at Valley Ranch, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett gave some important advice to second-year quarterback Dustin Vaughan.
“He encouraged me to go out and have a smile on my face, to have fun, but to be a leader, to be a communicator on the field and to be confident in what I say and what I do on the field, whether it’s wrong or right,” Vaughan recalled Wednesday. “Be confident, get everybody on the same page. He’s really big about that. He’s really helped me kind of develop into that quarterback that I’m still trying to develop into.
“It’s more demonstrative, more getting everybody in the huddle like they’re supposed to be in the huddle, and looking for perfection. Whether you meet it or not, it’s looking for that perfection.”
Vaughan, an undrafted rookie free agent last year out of West Texas A&M, appreciated the guidance from not only his head coach, but a former NFL quarterback.
Buried on the depth chart last season behind Tony Romo and Brandon Weeden, Vaughan was focused on just staying on the team. This year, he says he’s trying to have a role.
“I think he’s gotten a lot better,” Garrett said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. It’s a huge jump for anybody. I told our team the other day, you could be a four-time All-American, a four-time All-SEC and walk in here and it’s a huge jump. It’s a huge transition for a rookie to come into the National Football League. And then you kind of go even further when you’re talking about guys going from smaller-school situations and then particularly at that position. So, a long way to go for him right at the outset but he’s worked very hard. It’s important to him. He wants to be a great player.
“He needs to play. He needs to play at practice and play in preseason games. That’s going to make his biggest growth. But he’s certainly a different player than he was a year ago.”
The 6-5, 235-pound 24-year-old didn’t play in any regular season games in 2014. He appeared in all four preseason contests, completing 22 of 43 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Vaughan said the biggest eye-opening experience of his rookie year came in the first preseason game in San Diego.
“The first play, I’ll never forget it, I was a split second too late on my throw and it almost got intercepted for a touchdown,” he said of the fourth-quarter pass intended for Chris Boyd. “From that moment on, I was like, ‘OK, this game is faster. I need to think quicker, I need to think on my feet and be more confident in my decisions because you don’t have time to second-guess things here.’”
To get better acclimated with his receivers and improve as a passer, Vaughan was throwing to players at Valley Ranch before OTAs started. He intends to do the same between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp.
Romo did the same when he was trying to make the Cowboys roster out of Eastern Illinois early in his career. And considering that Romo is the only undrafted starting quarterback in the NFL, who also came from a small school, Vaughan couldn’t ask for a better example to follow.
“More than anything, he gives hope to guys to come in and be able to take a position like that,” Vaughan said. “It’s intimidating when you come in and you’re like, ‘I played Division II, am I good enough?’ The best thing is you get to see an example every single day of somebody who did it, so that in turn makes me more confident. It’s like, ‘I can do this too.’ I think it adds to the confidence aspect.”
Jon Machota Email jmachota@dallasnews.com
Published: June 4, 2015 5:44 pm
IRVING — During Tuesday’s organized team activities at Valley Ranch, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett gave some important advice to second-year quarterback Dustin Vaughan.
“He encouraged me to go out and have a smile on my face, to have fun, but to be a leader, to be a communicator on the field and to be confident in what I say and what I do on the field, whether it’s wrong or right,” Vaughan recalled Wednesday. “Be confident, get everybody on the same page. He’s really big about that. He’s really helped me kind of develop into that quarterback that I’m still trying to develop into.
“It’s more demonstrative, more getting everybody in the huddle like they’re supposed to be in the huddle, and looking for perfection. Whether you meet it or not, it’s looking for that perfection.”
Vaughan, an undrafted rookie free agent last year out of West Texas A&M, appreciated the guidance from not only his head coach, but a former NFL quarterback.
Buried on the depth chart last season behind Tony Romo and Brandon Weeden, Vaughan was focused on just staying on the team. This year, he says he’s trying to have a role.
“I think he’s gotten a lot better,” Garrett said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that. It’s a huge jump for anybody. I told our team the other day, you could be a four-time All-American, a four-time All-SEC and walk in here and it’s a huge jump. It’s a huge transition for a rookie to come into the National Football League. And then you kind of go even further when you’re talking about guys going from smaller-school situations and then particularly at that position. So, a long way to go for him right at the outset but he’s worked very hard. It’s important to him. He wants to be a great player.
“He needs to play. He needs to play at practice and play in preseason games. That’s going to make his biggest growth. But he’s certainly a different player than he was a year ago.”
The 6-5, 235-pound 24-year-old didn’t play in any regular season games in 2014. He appeared in all four preseason contests, completing 22 of 43 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Vaughan said the biggest eye-opening experience of his rookie year came in the first preseason game in San Diego.
“The first play, I’ll never forget it, I was a split second too late on my throw and it almost got intercepted for a touchdown,” he said of the fourth-quarter pass intended for Chris Boyd. “From that moment on, I was like, ‘OK, this game is faster. I need to think quicker, I need to think on my feet and be more confident in my decisions because you don’t have time to second-guess things here.’”
To get better acclimated with his receivers and improve as a passer, Vaughan was throwing to players at Valley Ranch before OTAs started. He intends to do the same between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp.
Romo did the same when he was trying to make the Cowboys roster out of Eastern Illinois early in his career. And considering that Romo is the only undrafted starting quarterback in the NFL, who also came from a small school, Vaughan couldn’t ask for a better example to follow.
“More than anything, he gives hope to guys to come in and be able to take a position like that,” Vaughan said. “It’s intimidating when you come in and you’re like, ‘I played Division II, am I good enough?’ The best thing is you get to see an example every single day of somebody who did it, so that in turn makes me more confident. It’s like, ‘I can do this too.’ I think it adds to the confidence aspect.”
