OXNARD, Calif. — Cowboys cornerback Zion Childress started his NFL career with belief in himself. He also understood the reality of being an undrafted rookie.
Expectations? He expected the Cowboys would have little for him, just like most undrafted players. That changed during a rookie minicamp meeting with head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
“He told me I would have a good opportunity to be in the mix,” Childress recalled. “He told the wrong guy that, because I take advantage of every opportunity.”
So far, Childress has been right.
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Childress has slowly risen up the depth chart this offseason despite starting low. On Thursday, for the first time, Childress earned reps with the starting defense as a nickelback. He had multiple run stops and also had a pass breakup of Dak Prescott on a swing pass intended for Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
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Childress is the latest entrant into the starting nickelback competition. The Cowboys have used multiple players there, including DaRon Bland — who will start either outside or in the slot for them — and former undrafted free agent Kemon Hall, who spent time with the team last year.
The Cowboys have some questions in their secondary. The most pressing of which is finding an answer to their starting nickel.
“We’d like to figure out the nickel,” Schottenheimer said. “What are we going to do? Can it be DaRon? Is it going to be DaRon? What do we want to do with that?”
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Childress is the latest possibility.
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“It’s been great for me,” Childress said of his first NFL training camp. “Just being able to show my ability to play football and play fast and eventually, when game time comes, I can show that I play physical. But it’s been nothing but a confidence booster, coming out here every day, just the encouragement I’m getting from my teammates and coaches daily, and the athletes I’m competing against does nothing but bring out the best in me, so I appreciate the opportunity.”
This isn’t the first time Childress has made an early positive impression on a new team. Childress went from playing quarterback at New Caney High School to starting as a nickel in his true freshman season at Texas State. After two seasons at Texas State he transferred to Kentucky, where he quickly earned starting reps, too. He was a two-time captain at Kentucky.
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“I was always taught you show people with your work ethic who you are,” Childress said. “They’ll love you or they’ll hate you, and they just started loving me, and everybody followed suit.”
So far, the Cowboys have been loving what he’s done, too. That’s been evident with their inclusion of Childress in the nickel competition.
“Zion has done a nice job for a young player,” Schottenheimer said on Saturday. “I think you see some of the skills that we saw coming out of Kentucky that we really liked, but we’ll keep trying different groups and units. The biggest thing from the nickel is the ability to communicate and talk and we’re throwing a lot of things at them in terms of tempo shifts, motions, and things like that, and they’re having to adjust to. I will say, the communication has been very, very good from the nickels.”
Thursday was not only Childress’ first chance with the starters; it was also the first time his family had made it to Oxnard to see him practice in the NFL.
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“A great day to come through,” Childress said.
They’ll be at the first preseason game on Saturday against the Rams, too. For Childress, it’s another chance to impress — another opportunity to seize.
“I’m super excited to line up against somebody else and actually be able to hit them and put them on the ground,” Childress said. “I’m super excited, so I can’t wait to get out there.”
Smith limited
The Cowboys continue to limit the usage of starting left guard Tyler Smith in team drills. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told The Dallas Morning News last week that Smith has been dealing with tendinitis and knee soreness. The Cowboys continue to use Brock Hoffman in a rotation with Smith. Hoffman was hurt momentarily during Thursday’s practice, forcing the Cowboys to use T.J. Bass as the starting left guard next to Nate Thomas for a few plays.
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Dallas has been using more pistol formation in practice. That’s when the running back is behind the quarterback, who’s standing in shotgun. The Cowboys might not show it during the preseason, but it’s something they could use when the regular season kicks off.
Ball-Hunter
Cowboys fullback Hunter Luepke has had a good training camp, but he had a fumble on the first play of team drills. DaRon Bland punched the ball out of Luepke’s hands.
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Twitter: @JoeJHoyt
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