IRVING, Texas – As the rookies piled onto the field for Friday's rookie minicamp, seventh-round pick Ahmad Dixon stood to the side without a helmet.
The former Baylor safety, who signed his deal with the Cowboys on Friday, is dealing with an injured hip that first bothered him at the Senior Bowl and flared back up Thursday.
"Trainers wanted to keep me out just so I wouldn't do anything worse to it," Dixon said. "I had tweaked it a little bit at the Senior Bowl and I've been resting it. Yesterday it started hurting again. It's just a little sore, nothing serious, just want to be very cautious of it."
There's no word if that injury caused teams to pass on Dixon until the seventh round, when the Cowboys seemed to get a steal on the All-American safety, who started three seasons for Baylor. But the injury is a slight setback for Dixon, who was extremely emotional when he got the call that he'd be going to Dallas and wanted to prove himself immediately.
Dixon said right now he's considered day-to-day. Head coach Jason Garrett first referred to the injury as a groin issue, but Dixon clarified and said it's his hip.
"It's very frustrating, but I mean, what's my life without adversity?" Dixon said. "I'm always dealing with something, it's nothing new to me. I just have to learn from it, keep growing, and move forward."
On the bright side, Dixon did get his contract signed, joining fellow seventh-round picks Ben Gardner, Will Smith and Terrance Mitchell.
Dixon was on the field throughout the day listening to coaches, despite not being able to actually perform. Off the field, he's been talking to the current Cowboys defensive backs.
"I've been here since Monday," Dixon said. "It's been good being around some great veterans, those guys like J.J. Wilcox, (Barry) Church, Brandon Carr, Scandrick, all those guys are great leaders, great mentors. I don't have a problem with just sitting around and learning from those guys. It's something that I wouldn't mind doing."
