IRVING, Texas - Running back Joseph Randle said he enjoyed the bye weekend but he didn't exactly get away from football.
In fact, watching a Pop Warner game over the weekend actually seemed to rejuvenate the Cowboys' running back. While it appears the team could be making changes to the depth chart, which would mean less carries for Randle, he didn't seem fazed by the potential moves on Tuesday.
"I'm just blessed to be around so many great men," Randle said. "I got to sit back and count my blessings a little bit and realize I'm in a great opportunity as a young man trying to be the best I can be. I'm going to try to make sure I'm the best I can be in every opportunity I get."
Randle said watching his fifth-grade nephew, John Randle Jr., helped put things in better perspective for him.
"Yeah, because you look around and you're like all these kids want to do exactly what I'm doing right now," Randle said. "That gives you a new perspective getting to go back to where it all started. It makes you really know that you… I love this game. I've been doing this since I was his age, and this is exactly what I wanted to do when I was in the fifth grade. It's really a blessing to be where I am right now. It reminded me to take advantage of this."
Randle said his nephew scored every time he touched the ball and was happy to see him sporting No. 35, the first jersey number he received with the Cowboys before he switched to No. 21 before the start of the 2013 season.
"It was cool to watch him play," Randle said. "Really, I just sat back and realized how blessed I am."
Randle has likely heard all of the chatter about Christine Michael expected to get more snaps this week and perhaps even starting against the Giants. But like he answered most of the questions on Tuesday, Randle turned the focus back on himself.[embeddedad0]
"I just have to make sure I'm doing my job," Randle said. "I'm sure the coaches are doing the things necessary to get the running game going and everything. We're going to keep working hard. That's all coaching decisions and the organization. It doesn't really have much to do with me. I'm just going to make sure that I'm being the best I can be."
Through five games as the starter, Randle has rushed for 289 yards (3.9 average) but has scored a team-high four touchdowns.
Nick Eatman is the author of the recently published ****If These Walls Could Talk: Dallas Cowboys****, a collection of stories from the Cowboys' locker room, sideline and press box, with a foreword written by Darren Woodson.
