FRISCO, Texas – After having one of, if not the best offseason of all the cornerbacks on the Cowboys roster, Kaiir Elam finally got to suit up and play in Saturday's second preseason game against the Ravens.
Elam, who the Cowboys acquired over the offseason in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, only played 16 snaps against Baltimore. That was more than enough to get the juices flowing, although he really wanted to get an interception.
"It was exciting, I'm not going to lie to you, it was exciting," Elam said. "I was really excited to play. I really believed that I was going to take away the ball early before I got out, but I didn't, it was something to move on from but I was like of still stuck on it. It was nice to finally get that first lick of contact."
He nearly fulfilled his goal in the first quarter on a bobbled incompletion from LaJohntay Wester, diving over the top of him in an attempt to save the ball before it hit the ground.
"I really believe that if I was just another step [closer], I definitely could've got that interception," Elam said. "I wasn't able to put a finger on it, but if I was, definitely get a takeaway."
Later on in that same drive, the Cowboys had seen enough from Elam as he hit the set amount of snaps they wanted him to get to and sent Troy Pride in to take his place.
Elam wasn't a fan of that decision.
"I definitely didn't want to go," Elam said. "I told myself before the game I was going to take the ball away. That was my goal…"
"For me, I always want to prove, not prove myself, but continue to show what I can do. I mean, It is what it is, but obviously my goal was to take the ball away."
While Elam didn't achieve his goal of taking the ball away, his teammates did. Andrew Booth had a 40-yard pick six and Kemon Hall followed it up with an interception off a bobbled catch attempt.
Taking the ball away has been one of the main points of emphasis for new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus since he made his return to Dallas. They've forced three interceptions through two preseason games, and Elam thinks he and his teammates are just getting started.
"I believe it's only going to get better," Elam said. "Right now obviously it's a limited menu, don't want to show too much, so all you really can critique us on is our physicality and effort. I believe it's going to get better because there's going to be more hits on the quarterback, more tighter coverage."
While it's difficult to judge what the Cowboys' defense will look like in the preseason, what Elam says can be judged is the unit's playstyle, which translates whether it's starters or players deep on the depth chart in the game.
"I think you can only really critique the physicality and the effort right now because you only have a limited menu and you don't want to show too much," Elam said. "But I think the physicality and the effort, I feel like we can always continue to keep improving that."
Their next chance to improve that effort comes on Friday when they close the preseason by hosting the Atlanta Falcons at AT&T Stadium.
