FRISCO, Texas – With five of the six OTAs practices in the rear-view mirror, the Cowboys are beginning to lay the groundwork and basic installs for their offensive, defensive and special teams units ahead of training camp and the 2026 season.
First-round pick Caleb Downs is among the newcomers in Dallas that's not only getting accustomed to the way the Cowboys do things, but how the NFL does things.
"It's going well," Downs said. "A really good learning experience for me. Get acclimated with everything, how we practice, what the standard is and everything like that. I think it's an awesome time and I'm looking forward to next week in minicamp."
There are learning opportunities all over the field for Downs to take advantage of. There's his position room with veteran safeties like Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson, who have a combined 25 years of experience playing the position at the NFL level.
"Just learning from their experiences. We have a lot of veterans in the safety room… All those guys, just trying to learn from them as much as I can," Downs said. "They all have different experiences, so just pull from different pieces of them and try to create a good understanding of the league."
Then there's going up against the Cowboys' offense in practice. Pro Bowlers and veterans like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb certainly don't make things easy for the rookie.
"I think it's a tremendous blessing for me just to be able to speed up my growth," Downs said of practicing against Dallas' offense. "Playing against high level talent, different types of receivers in terms of [KaVontae Turpin], CeeDee, and then the other guys like [Ryan Flournoy] and Traeshon Holden], just a lot of different talents to go up against. And also the tight ends like [Jake Ferguson], it's a really good talent pool to be able to compete against during practice."
Even on special teams, Downs has been asked to soak up more information. In OTAs, Downs has taken reps as a punt returner and a personal protector and is picking the brain of All-Pro returner KaVontae Turpin.
"I say learn from guys, there's nobody better to learn from in terms of special teams than [Turpin]," Downs said. "It's great to be able to speak to him about punt return and everything. It's something that I've done, and when I've done it, I've done it at a high level, so I think it's a good thing for me to do."
As for where he'll play in Christian Parker's defense, Downs has been getting reps at both safety and at nickel. When he's not playing the nickel spot, Downs said he'll get the safety reps.
"Just learning both as we go. Make plays at either one." Downs said.
"Learning" is the word that Downs used continuously when describing how he's approached his first NFL offseason program. It's also an important part of everything in his life.
"I see myself as a learner," Downs said. "That's the most important thing that you can do in life is just try and learn and understand things. The more you can put on my plate, the more I'm going to be able to succeed in it."
When learning at the NFL level, every once in a while there will be the mistakes or "welcome to the NFL" moments. Downs admitted he's had some of those moments already, but he's ready for the continued challenge.
"The talent is high everywhere; that's the truth of it," Downs said. "I feel like I'm ready for that, so that's what it is."
