FRISCO, Texas — You'd be hard-pressed to get an idea of what Jaishawn Barham is thinking at any given moment, but his aura is often telling of where his mind is: on football, all of the time. The Dallas Cowboys rookie third-round pick doesn't say much but, through his first two NFL starts, he does plenty, continuing to generate shockwaves with his explosive plays.
Two things are true here, and the first is that the Cowboys are 1-2 on the season and, as they enter the Governor's Cup a.k.a. The Battle for Texas in Week 4 against the Houston Texans, they do so on the heels of suffering a gut-wrenching last-second loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Rio.
The other is that Barham, along with fellow rookie Caleb Downs, have been the two brightest spots on a defensive unit that is still searching for its identity under Christian Parker.
As the Cowboys work toward trying to keep the Texans winless on Sunday, Barham stepped in front of a microphone for a rare Q&A session with the media, and it went exactly as you'd think.
Again, his mind is on football, trying to win games. all of the time, and that's it.
On his performance in his first two NFL starts:
"I think it was decent, but we didn't get wins in both of those games, so it could be better."
On how quickly he's developing in Year 1:
"I think it's week by week. I'm getting better every week, learning from the older guys, and learning from the coaches. Just trying to find a way to get better."
On his conditioning heading into Week 4:
"For me, last year, I was playing more edge, and some different kinds of roles. [I'm] getting back used to playing MIKE more. That's probably it."
On if the Cowboys can use the loss in Rio as a launchpad:
"I mean, I feel like it shouldn't have to be like that, even though it is. We've got to get better. We've got to win. It's got to make everybody mad. Everybody looks at themselves in the mirror and, ultimately, we don't want to be in this situation. We want to win."
On having some of Christian Parker's green dot responsibilities:
"I mean, I feel like it's just football. It's no different. It's football."
On growing into the MIKE/green dot role for the Cowboys:
"I mean, of course, that's a big responsibility, trying to make sure everybody is on the same page and that everybody is communicating. So, of course, that's a big responsibility, but, I mean, like I said, this is football. It's something that you get ready for as you play MIKE, and it's not just me. I feel like every linebacker did it during camp, so we'll all be paying for it when the moment comes."
On Brian Schottenheimer saying he's earning the permanent MIKE role:
"I'm here. That's what I came in here to do: play football, to find a role on this team, and to help this team. So now that I'm doing that, I feel like I've got to keep doing that."
On his impressions as an NFL rookie:
"I feel like I don't really look at myself like, 'Oh, he's a rookie, so he's doing this.' I think Caleb [Downs] might feel the same way, but I'm thinking we're just coming in to play football. It's what we were doing forever."
