IRVING, Texas - Tuesday for the Cowboys' players, coaches and executives must have felt like temporarily losing their shadow.
The "Hard Knocks" crew has packed up their cameras, cables and mikes after a two-month stakeout chronicling the franchise's every preseason step, from established superstars to camp surprises. The latter was seemingly (and for HBO, probably disappointingly) scarce; after all, this is a team that returned 20 of 21 starters and fielded only eight newcomers on its initial 53-man roster.
Rookie cornerback Orlando Scandrick has yet to receive his own segment on the eve of Wednesday's series finale. Maybe he should, because there arguably hasn't been a more pleasant surprise than the 21-year-old would-be college senior whose fifth-round draft status looks like a steal after four preseason games.
"I had a lot to prove," Scandrick said. "I wasn't drafted in the first round or the second round. I had a lot to prove and I still have a lot to prove regardless because I've got to show these guys and get these guys to trust me if I have to go in the game.
"I just want to get better, and it's competitive. There's just something about playing the game; if you aren't going to be competitive there's no point in playing."
Scandrick embraced the extra reps provided by Terence Newman's absence (slight groin tear) in preseason and comfortably earned a roster spot on the team's most crowded position, which condensed to six corners on Tuesday with Evan Oglesby's release.
With Newman out the entire preseason, Scandrick proved to the coaching staff he could handle moving into the slot on passing downs - a role he didn't fill much as a college starter. He also broke up a pass while starting at right corner opposite first-round choice Mike Jenkins in last week's preseason finale.
"One, he's very bright. Two, he's probably one of the quickest corners we have on our roster, and he's got some toughness," assistant secondary coach Brett Maxie said. "He's one of those guys that you tell him once and you don't have to tell him anymore. He takes excellent notes, he's a good student and he cares. He's a football guy, because he's got some innate ability in terms of knowledge of the game. Sometimes if a guy can pick things up from an innate standpoint, then he's an easier guy to make a transition from being out on the edge and then moving inside.
"He's got so much talent, and we're going to try to use him as much as we can."
Simple math makes that a difficult task. Scandrick might have played extensively last season for a depleted Cowboys corner corps, but he'll have trouble finding time behind starters Anthony Henry and Newman, who is expected to play in Sunday's season opener at Cleveland.
Adam Jones has been the extra corner in substitution packages, and Jenkins presumably will continue manning Newman's left spot in the dime defense when Newman slides into the slot. Second-year backup Alan Ball has more experience.
But Scandrick's preparation habits and performance has caught the staff's attention as well.
"He's doing a lot of good things," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "He's easy to coach and technique conscious. He's very smart, (studying) on the sidelines during the game - things you don't know about guys, I guess. In the game, he's really heads-up as far as what's going on, what they're trying to do. I've been very impressed with him."
Just as NFL Films chose a different direction in their storyline list (i.e. since-released Todd Lowber), Scandrick didn't expect much attention when he arrived as a fifth-round selection out of Boise State. He hasn't publicly expressed frustration over his draft stock, but admits he expected to be taken much higher.
The Cowboys thought so, too. That's why they traded up a few spots to nab Scandrick at No. 143 when he fell into the fifth.
"If one of my knocks was level of competition, I just kind of felt like, going back for another year, I don't make the schedule," he said. "So those were still going to be question marks at the end of my senior year.
"Definitely I used it as motivation. Everyone wants to be drafted in the first round and obviously only 32 people get drafted in the first round."
Scandrick has tried to make plays wherever he's asked, be it on special teams coverage (he blocked a Boise State-record seven kicks), kickoff returns (he averaged 25.8 yards in preseason) or in-your-face defensive play (he actually suffered-and-aggravated a shoulder stinger with jarring hits in consecutive weeks).
Phillips also seems to like Scandrick's moxie. He's not afraid to make a play, or accept the chance of failure.
"He's one of those guys that has no memory," Phillips said. "That's what you need in a corner: The last play's over and compete on the next one. And he has that."
What about the steal of the draft? Or at least the second day of selections?
Phillips shrugged.
"We'll find out, but he was a very good pick at that (spot)," he said. "I think he's a very good pick at anywhere he's picked. He's a pretty good football player."
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