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FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Kris Richard likes what he has seen from Byron Jones as the fourth-year player makes the move from safety to cornerback in 2018.  “He’s long. He’s got strength. He’s got speed. He can jump over this place,” Richard said. “He certainly does fit the profile.” One play in particular from Tuesday’s minicamp practice stood out. In 7-on-7 drills, Jones worked in press coverage at the line on Allen Hurns and was able to reroute him enough. He stayed on Hurns’ inside hip down the field, putting him in perfect position to correctly knock down a Dak Prescott deep ball with his right arm. “You’ve got five yards, we want to be physical,” Richard said. “We want to keep our hands clean after that and then again we can’t disappear once we get past five. So we do have the right to our position on the field so long as we maintain our leverage, maintain our position on the field so we’re not fouling. We can’t disappear.” On to more observations:
There’s just a difference when Sean Lee is on the field. He took part in individual drills for the first time this offseason and he just doesn’t let things slide. When things got a little sloppy, he yelled, “details, details.” With Lee leading the drills, it was as if the linebackers knew their dad was watching. Terrance Williams, who is recovering from offseason foot surgery, ran off to the side under the watchful eye of director of rehabilitation Britt Brown. The expectation is that Williams will be ready to go for training camp but the Cowboys will likely work him into drills over time after not practicing all spring. Zack Martin was on the field during individual drills but did not take any team snaps. Kadeem Edwards, who spent last year on the practice squad, served as the first-team right guard. He is the third starter the Cowboys have used with Martin not taking part in OTAs, behind Chaz Green and Marcus Martin. The Cowboys’ punt returners Tuesday were Tavon Austin, Cole Beasley and Trey Williams. Speaking of Austin and Beasley, the Cowboys ran multiple plays with them on the field together, both lining up out wide with Hurns in the slot and Geoff Swaim tight to the line at tight end. Orlando Scandrick was an effective blitzer off the slot in his time with the Cowboys. Anthony Brown has been working as Scandrick’s replacement in the nickel and had a sack of Prescott in team drills. The defense was able to stop the offense in the situational work in part because of Brown’s sack but both Ezekiel Elliott and Hurns had drops on the drive too. One thing Prescott has done a nice job of this offseason has been changing his cadence in drawing the defense offside. He was able to get Jihad Ward to jump, allowing him to take a deep shot to Austin. The pass fell incomplete, but Prescott knew he had a free play to take a chance. Charles Tapper, who missed the final few OTAs with a concussion, was able to pressure Cooper Rush after bowling over Green with a power move.
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