FRISCO, Texas -- Now, Orlando Scandrick can say it. He wasn't himself last year. His surgically repaired right knee was sound, but he wasn't.
A year ago, he spoke about how
http://www.billsonlineofficial.com/shop-by-players-marquise-goodwin-jersey-c-1_34.html strong he was feeling in his comeback from torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments that cost him the 2015 season. But in the back of his mind, he knew everything wasn't right.
"Just from a cerebral aspect, it's just different," Scandrick said. "I'm more confident. I'm calm. I'm back to who I was. I ain't sitting here thinking, 'Man, I've got to fight through this,' [or], 'Man, what if this happens?' I'm back to who I was. The mental aspect of it is a part that takes longer just because you've got to trust yourself. And I'm very comfortable with people around my feet. I'm very comfortable making all the movements I need to make."
Who Scandrick was before the injury was the co-MVP of the Dallas Cowboys' defense in 2014. He missed two games because of a suspension but he was credited by the coaches with 54 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups and two interceptions, tying his career high.
Since Scandrick arrived as a fifth-round pick in 2008, he has played with an attitude. As he enters his 10th season with the Cowboys, he has outlasted almost all of the corners drafted ahead of him. And now he has another motivation: The Cowboys drafted three cornerbacks in Chidobe Awuzie (second round), Jourdan Lewis (third) and Marquez White (sixth) this spring.
During the draft, word leaked the
http://www.billsshopofficial.com/shop-by-players-greg-salas-jersey-c-1_23.html Cowboys were attempting to trade Scandrick. However, owner and general manager Jerry Jones quickly said that was not the case. He said he would meet with Scandrick to pledge his faith to him, but that meeting has yet to occur.
When Scandrick met the young corners for the first time, he said he would help, "but I'm not going to give anybody my job."
"Of course when they bring in new people it gives you motivation, but I don't look at it as that," Scandrick said. "I look at it as I'm going to do things the way I do them, which is the right way, and those guys can pick up something from me as I did from Terence Newman or Anthony Henry or Pacman Jones to help their career. But the time is now and my time is now and I ain't looking over my shoulder what's going to happen. I'm just going out every day trying to get better."
Scandrick has not missed a day of the offseason program. He has lined up with the first-team defense at right cornerback and moved into the slot as the nickel corner in the sub packages through organized team activities and the first day of mandatory minicamp.
"You can see he's getting back to his
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"He's an eternally motivated man," Marinelli added. "He's got a lot of pride. He comes out with a chip on his shoulder since I've been here. Every day. And that's who he is."
That's not who he was last year. It wasn't just the knee. He was bothered by a hamstring injury from training camp into the regular season and missed four games. He also had a foot injury that limited him and kept him out of the starting lineup in the base defense.
In his first seven seasons he missed just seven games because of injury. In his last two seasons, he has missed 20 of 32 games.
Scandrick is signed through next season, but he turned 30 in February. He has been around long enough to know how things work.
"This is the only place I know," Scandrick said. "I've never been in another locker room. I don't want to go in another locker room. I want to finish this thing out here and win a championship. But the first goal of mine is to get myself in tip-top shape and do whatever it takes. If that's practice every day and push myself to the limit and go as hard as I can every day, that's what I'm going to do.
"I've been able to do that successfully in
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