FRISCO, Texas – In 18 days, the Cowboys will kick off their season against the New York Giants on Sunday night football, and Christian Parker's starting defense will take the field for the first time.
On Tuesday night, local fans got a glimpse of it with Dallas' first training camp practice at the Star in Frisco. For linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, it felt good to be back on home turf.
"It's always fun to see the blue and white show up for the support," Overshown said. "We know how bad they want it just as much as we do, so when we get to actually be home, we love our people in Oxnard, but our people in Frisco, man, it's a different type of energy. They're ready for the season, and I'm glad they got a chance to see a glimpse of what we're putting together for this season."
Over the course of the last few months, Overshown has seen Dallas' defense grow the most in trusting what they see. In his eyes, Parker, who was heralded by the Cowboys front office and Brian Schottenheimer as a great teacher when he was hired as defensive coordinator, has passed along his lessons in a way that all 11 players on the field know their jobs and the jobs of those around them.
"He allows us to play fast just by putting us in the right calls, just by testing us in the meeting rooms, making sure everybody knows who they're tied to, what the other 10 people are doing on the field," Overshown said.
"I think he's allowing us to use our skill set, use that run and hit factor that we need to play that certain play style. We're able to play like that because he allows us to play fast. That's one thing when you get a coach like that, that also teaches you the game so you can play fast."
Speed is the name of Overshown's game, something he's hoping to continue to show after overcoming two major knee surgeries early in his career. Heading into a contract year, Overshown has been able to go through the entire offseason fully healthy, and isn't thinking about his past injury troubles.
"Being healthy is the least of my concern now," Overshown said. "That's just football now. I'm glad I was able to get over that hurdle, but now it's just about winning. I feel confident in what we put together over the offseason, what we're still stacking through this fall camp. Throughout the season, I'm just excited about what we build. This brotherhood is something different. I'm just ready to lay it all out on the line for the other 10 on the field with me."
For most of training camp, fellow Texas native and linebacker Dee Winters has taken snaps alongside Overshown with the first-team defense. The two have built a strong relationship, bonding over playing the same position and being from small towns in the state, Arp for Overshown and Burton for Winters.
Overshown has seen that chemistry translate even before the two have played a regular season down together.
"We help each other out a lot, able to feed off each other's energy," Overhsown said. "That's another thing: We're not just friends on the field, we're friends off the field. We're able to talk to each other, make sure we're both clear on what we're doing so we're able to play fast. That's what's going to make us so dangerous between me, him, everybody else in the linebacker room, how connected we are. We can play off each other, know where we're going to be at, and it allows us to play fast."
During the red zone period of Tuesday's practice, Cowboys rookie Caleb Downs recorded his first interception off Dak Prescott in the back of the end zone. A huge celebration for the defense followed, and Overshown, who has always celebrated with his teammates, is glad that Downs captured the moment.
"He's a baller," Overshown said. "I'm glad people got to see it that haven't been paying attention to the media or whatever. His teammates have been talking about him. He's a student of the game, he wants to do great his rookie year, so we pushed him to that and he's accepted that. He wants to be great. Seeing him make a play like that, that's going to be common."
The Cowboys will return to the practice field at the Ford Center on Wednesday night with a padded practice, their final one before the last preseason game of the year against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium on Friday.
