Archer: Morris Claiborne has a new demeanor

Cotton

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Morris Claiborne has a new demeanor
July, 28, 2014

By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

OXNARD, Calif. -- Throughout the offseason, Dallas Cowboys teammates, coaches and staff noticed a difference in Morris Claiborne.

On the first day of full-padded practices on Saturday, Claiborne showed part of that difference for everybody else to see.

On his first snap of one-on-one drills against wide receiver Terrance Williams, he fought, clawed and talked back. On the second he pushed Williams to the ground, yelling, "Get Dez over here," which prompted some more talking with a perturbed Williams.

Later Claiborne was beat by Bryant on one deep ball, but he broke up a comeback to Bryant and a deep ball to Devin Street before cramps knocked him out of the final team session.

“I’ve got a different approach just from football, from life period,” Claiborne said. “A lot of things happened in my life that you had to face and had to make changes. For that, I feel like I’m a better person from it even though it might’ve hurt at the time. I feel like I’m a better man after it and it’s carried over to football.”

In a span of only a few days last December he experienced the birth of his daughter, Madison, and the death of his father, Robert Owens. He alternated from joy with the birth of his second child to sorrow to the death of his father, who was 64.

He could not go to his escape on the football field because he was dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of six games last season. He used the word “funk” to describe what was happening.

“Life,” he said. “Not being able to play football because you’re injured. You got people saying this and people saying that, so now you’ve got so much pressure and you can feel it from coaches and players. You can feel that pressure and all of a sudden to go back and have somebody close to you taken away from you and you’ve got to deal with that too. It’s hard. You’re family has changed so now you’re the head man in charge and everybody is looking at you now because the head man pretty much died. Then you have a baby. I couldn’t hide from it.”

Time has helped, and, in his mind, he speaks regularly to his father.

"Anybody can feel different, but that’s my belief,” Claiborne said of his conversations. “That’s my feelings.”

He also keeps a tangible part of his father with him -- a rubber Cowboys bracelet. Owens got the bracelet when his son was picked in the first round of the 2012 draft. The Cowboys moved up to the sixth pick to get Claiborne, whom they called their highest-rated defensive back since Deion Sanders.

Claiborne’s first two seasons have not gone the way he wanted, the way the Cowboys wanted or the way the fans wanted. It's not what any of them expected. He intercepted just two passes in his first two seasons. He battled through wrist, shoulder, knee and hamstring injuries. He missed a game with a concussion and busted lip as a rookie.

The confident player that roamed the LSU secondary was replaced by someone unsure of himself.

“I don’t need to really remind him or anyone the commitment we made and the commitment he made,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “He’s got a lot of pride. He’s certainly got some things you can point to the last couple of years. But if he can get out here and be the player, he has the skill level ... (He has to ) work through just this kind of thing (in practice), have good things happen, get tired, have things go against him a couple of plays, if he can work through that, he’ll be an improved player and be the guy we want to have out there.”

At the first team meeting of camp, coach Jason Garrett highlighted Claiborne’s work in individual drills to the rest of the team.

“His approach mentally has been outstanding and I think it’s going to reflect in his play,” Garrett said.

One practice does not reflect a complete change, and Claiborne knows it. It’s about doing his job every day, which is something he learned from his father.

“I feel like I have something to prove to myself,” Claiborne said. “It starts with myself. I have to prove it to myself. I’m very comfortable where I’m at now.”
 

Simpleton

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He had a slow start at LSU too I believe, it's possible it just takes him a little bit to get fully comfortable. I'm not holding my breath, but we'll see.
 

boozeman

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He had a slow start at LSU too I believe, it's possible it just takes him a little bit to get fully comfortable. I'm not holding my breath, but we'll see.
Given his Wonderlic score, slow is the operative word.
 

ravidubey

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Each person matures at their own pace. Unfortunately the Cowboys have had to mostly eat that time. Claiborne needs to get right physically to fully acclimate to the speed of the NFL game.

Carlos Rogers did jack shat for Washington and then had his best games in San Francisco. The front seven improved in SF relative to Washington, but not nearly as much as Rogers did.
 

L.T. Fan

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Each person matures at their own pace. Unfortunately the Cowboys have had to mostly eat that time. Claiborne needs to get right physically to fully acclimate to the speed of the NFL game.

Carlos Rogers did jack shat for Washington and then had his best games in San Francisco. The front seven improved in SF relative to Washington, but not nearly as much as Rogers did.
Even first round picks need a while to adjust. This is his year to show whether he is headed for being good or being a bust.
 

Cotton

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Even first round picks need a while to adjust. This is his year to show whether he is headed for being good or being a bust.
Yep. It's make or break for him this year. But, knowing Jerry, he will give him a couple of extra years just to be sure.
 

p1_

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Given his Wonderlic score, slow is the operative word.
I'm sorry, but that test's name is just wrong. It sounds like a porn star's name, like ...Ivana Wonderlic
 

GForce78NJ

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If Claiborne doesn't work out this year, you can bet your bottom dollar we are going Defensive back next year in the draft. Brandon Carr is all but gone next season and Claiborne either steps into a #1 role or we find that person in the draft/free agency
 

NoDak

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I'm sorry, but that test's name is just wrong. It sounds like a porn star's name, like ...Ivana Wonderlic
Are you truly sorry, or are you just saying that?
 

mcnuttz

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Are you truly sorry, or are you just saying that?
No offense, but I'm about to totally offend you. And for that, I am not sorry.
 

1bigfan13

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He'll never live up to the draft picks that we used to acquire him. I'm still scratching my head as to what the Cowboys saw in him to label him the best CB since Deion Sanders.

I saw him play plenty of times at LSU and although he was a good player he didn't "wow" you like Deion and Charles Woodson.
 

Jiggyfly

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He'll never live up to the draft picks that we used to acquire him. I'm still scratching my head as to what the Cowboys saw in him to label him the best CB since Deion Sanders.

I saw him play plenty of times at LSU and although he was a good player he didn't "wow" you like Deion and Charles Woodson.
It was the best ball skills since Deion still hyperbole buy lets get the quote right.
 

jsmith6919

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He'll never live up to the draft picks that we used to acquire him. I'm still scratching my head as to what the Cowboys saw in him to label him the best CB since Deion Sanders.

I saw him play plenty of times at LSU and although he was a good player he didn't "wow" you like Deion and Charles Woodson.
I'm convinced they didn't fully scout him because they figured they wouldn't have a shot at him and then bought into the hype when they were on the clock
 

ravidubey

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It was the best ball skills since Deion still hyperbole buy lets get the quote right.
The team was so scarred by Terence Newman's lack of ball skills that they overvalued Claiborne's. That damned private workout where Claiborne clocked 4.37 probably cemented their impression when his normal times were 4.5.

What they forgot in their frustration was Newman's relative maturity, talent, and elite speed allowed him to be a solid corner for a decade+.

Claiborne is not bright, physically immature, slower, and his confidence has been shaken. Much of the above is required before ball skills come into play.

I think Claiborne plays very well when he's healthy and calls don't go against him. The moment he gets dinged or a bad call goes against him things start to fall apart. Good corners have to remain tenacious through pain and ignore bad calls or big plays against them.
 

NoDak

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It was the best ball skills since Deion still hyperbole buy lets get the quote right.
That's not right, either.

They said he was the highest rated CB coming out since Deion.
 

Jiggyfly

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That's not right, either.

They said he was the highest rated CB coming out since Deion.
Could be true I remember him talking more about ball skills than anything else and the way Jerry rambles he probably said both.

With that said let's not act like Claiborne was not a very highly rated prospect, he was rated highly by the majority of experts, he was rated as a better CB than Peterson.
 

BipolarFuk

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Only the Dallas Cowboys could come out and draft some schlub and say he's the best they've seen since Deion.
 

Smitty

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Kinda amazing that all these highly rated CBs we keep drafting and signing always underperform when they get here. Aw shucks, I guess we are just not good at evaluating them. If I didn't know better I'd almost say there was some other factor preventing them from reaching their maximum effectiveness here in Dallas.
 

NoDak

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Kinda amazing that all these highly rated CBs we keep drafting and signing always underperform when they get here. Aw shucks, I guess we are just not good at evaluating them. If I didn't know better I'd almost say there was some other factor preventing them from reaching their maximum effectiveness here in Dallas.
Oh, damn. That was a close one. You haven't been around much lately, and we were getting worried you wouldn't be around to push this played out, tired story line of yours before the season started.

Dodged a bullet there...
 
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