FRISCO, Texas – On Monday, Cowboys rookie CB Shavon Revel Jr. will play in a football game for the first time in 429 days.
This time it won't be against Appalachian State, it'll be against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night football for his NFL debut after recovering from a torn ACL that ended his final collegiate season at East Carolina.
"I'm very excited," Revel said. "Not playing football for a whole year, you know what I mean? I'm very excited. I just got to focus on the details, a little rusty, but at the end of the day, I know what I've got to do. I know I've got to put that work in, I know I've got to take it step by step every day."
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that Dallas will be smart with how they utilize Revel on Monday, as he'll likely be on a snap count of sorts to allow him to get his feet back under him. They do want him to play though, and Revel is happy to do so.
"It's definitely kind of nerve-wracking, but once I touch that field – leading into it it's kind of nerve-wracking - but once I touch that field, I know what I can do," Revel said. "And I feel like everybody knows what they can do, but I know my body. I know I can go out there and play the game and be confident."
Revel will still wear the knee brace that he's been wearing during Cowboys practices the last few weeks in the game on Monday night, and will take things "day by day" physically to ramp back up. For the reps he does get, he know the mental portion of the game is just as important.
"I can't get too excited," Revel said. "Take it one at a time, you don't want to overthink anything because I know myself, and I know I can go out there and do what I can do and do it at my best, 110%."
Speaking of the mental side of things, rehabbing for such a long time while teammates get to go on the field and play can be difficult from some players. Revel took the view of putting things into perspective, appreciating where he is at this point in his life.
"I speak about this every day, a lot of people, they have it worse than I do," Revel said. "A lot of people can't talk to other people about it. I take it in, like my mom and dad too, they work hard too in every situation they had to go through in their life."
"This wasn't the worst thing to happen. I know what I can do, I know what I couldn't do, so I took it day by day, kept my head above water and just approached every day with an attention to getting better and better every day."
As for how long it took to get to being healthy again, Revel didn't think much beyond the present moment he was in.
"I didn't really think into it that much forward," Revel said. "I played today, not tomorrow because I can't control what happens the next day."
Now, Revel is back among a flurry of both new additions and now-healthy Cowboys defenders that are looking to bolster a defense that struggled in the front half of the season. What does he bring to the table?
"I provide effort," Revel said. "And I feel like effort carries a lot of things like getting to the ball because you never know when the ball's going to pop out. My press technique, it's not perfect, but that's why I say I've got to work it every day."
Up until this point in practice, Revel has been working with the scout team defense to learn the ins-and-outs of playing in the NFL before stepping into a game environment. That means he's gone against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens every practice, and there may be no better education into the league than working against those two receivers.
"Going against them, it's going to make me better every single day," Revel said. "I mean, who can get better than them guys? In my opinion, because we got two of the top receivers in my opinion in the league, especially George Pickens."
"I step in front of them and I'll be like 'Let's get this work.' I talk to them every day, they know what I want that work. When I get that work, it's just hey, if I feel I have a bad day, it's going to make me better on game day because I'm learning."
Revel was especially fond of the reps that he got against Pickens, but also believes he gave both Pickens and Lamb something in return.
"Definitely competition," Revel said. "I feel like they brought me back to myself. Approach it every day like these the same guys you've been going against. That's it, I can't say too much about it because every day I feel like I'm getting better. Every day, I feel like I go out there in front of them guys, I'm making them better too."
When Monday night comes around, Revel says it'll only take two or three reps to get the butterflies and nerves out of his stomach and head. Leading into the game, he'll remind himself of how he got here, the people that helped him achieve his goals and those who have it more difficult than he does, and then it's time for business.
"I talk to myself," Revel said of his pregame routine. "I like to backtrack, because my purpose is to help the people. I know the job I've got is not the hardest thing in the world. I'm looking at my mom and dad, and I think about them all the time before I step out on that field. Take a deep breath, inhale, exhale, let's get it."
