FRISCO, Texas – When Caleb Downs arrived in Dallas last Friday, he received the Cowboys' defensive playbook and began his work studying it.
A week later, Downs took to the practice field for the first time as the Cowboys began rookie minicamp, finally getting back to playing football.
"I felt like it went well," Downs said of the first day. "Just learning the system, being able to be fully immersed in it, I feel like it was a good first day and I'm looking forward to doing more."
While the Cowboys were going through positional drills, Downs spent a good bit of the latter half of practice working one-on-one with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
"I feel like that's when you learn fully what the coach means," Downs said of what he took from Parker on Friday. "To be able to get hands on and do the drill with you, I feel like that's a real positive."
Downs and Parker, who both have received praise for their high-level understanding of the game and the defensive back position, have hit it off well early on in their time working together.
"Premium instincts. You can tell his football intellect, the way he directs traffic out there, the way he reads and reacts, his brain is connected with his feet, it was constant," Parker said of Downs. "You're watching three years of film and there's not a difference in the tape. He's constantly making the right decision, constantly down on the football, constantly making contact with it, constantly just in the right spot. Just a smooth transition, smooth player."
"He's a natural football player. He's one of those first picks in the school yard, so he's going to have natural versatility and it's just a matter of what he can handle mentally and how we fit everything together."
In the pre-draft process, Downs said that he watched and learned the defensive schemes of five to six NFL teams that were picking early in the first round of the draft, where he was projected to go.
One of those studies included the Eagles' secondary from a season ago, where Parker served as the defensive pass game coordinator and had an influence on that portion of the defense.
"Very multiple, able to play a lot of different front and coverages and then making it marry together, which is the most important thing." Downs said of what he liked about Parker's scheme.
That background information long with playing in three different defensive schemes in college is proving helpful as Downs continues to learn his responsibilities in Parker's unit.
"The biggest thing is just learning the defense, making everything as even as possible," Downs said. "There are some people that have been here for years before and they know the defense, not necessarily this team but in my teams prior too, but this team has a new d-coordinator, so really just learning the defense and giving yourself the best shot to play fast."
As for what's ahead. Downs is hoping to get the personal aspects of his life, like moving down to the Dallas area, figured out as quickly as possible so he can solely focus on football and the task at hand.
"The goal wasn't just to get drafted," Downs said. "There's nothing to be settled on."
