FRISCO — Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker Shemar James has developed a pregame routine in his short NFL career. He’ll head to the field before he puts his pads on and look up at the stadium in front of him. He’ll remind himself of how surreal it still is for him to actually be in the NFL.
In addition to perspective on Sunday, he also prepared: to be the best special teams player and third down rotational linebacker that he could be. His plans changed in a hurry.
It wasn’t long in Sunday’s 37-22 win over the New York Jets before James was pressed into a larger role. Starting linebacker Jack Sanborn suffered a concussion early, opening the door for James — in just his second game as an active NFL player — to play more.
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The game itself, James said in reflection, was a little bit of a blur. So much so that he didn’t even realize that he had a team-high 15 tackles against the Jets.
“I would say it was a surreal feeling for me. It was kind of like cloud nine,” said James, a fifth round pick out of Florida. “Just running out there, just hitting the ball — like see ball, get ball, was kind of going on in my head. That was kind of the outcome of that. Fifteen tackles, I guess?”
James is hoping it’s a performance he can build off. He already recognized one area of potential improvement. While he was a productive and efficient tackler, James acknowledged that he needs to work on some of his zone coverage drops. The Cowboys have made it an emphasis over the past couple of games to limit big plays. They don’t want receivers getting behind them. The next step for James: getting closer to his defenders.
The Cowboys play mostly zone coverage, which means it’s hard to attribute receptions to one person in particular on every case, but James was targeted 11 times against the Jets, according to Pro Football Focus. That resulted in 11 receptions for 95 yards, per PFF.
James believes that change is fixable.
“Just kind of getting closer to my man,” James said. “Instead of eight-yard gains, I could make them four-yard gains.”
James also noted that communication can always be improved. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer noted that too, saying that the alignment could’ve been better.
Overall, the Cowboys are optimistic about their rookie linebacker.
“Shemar James is going to be an incredible player in this league,” Schottenheimer said. “I really do believe that. And [Kenneth Murray] got forced into a spot he hadn’t been playing because of Sanborn, but I’m proud of those guys because of the adjustments they were able to make.”
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