For running back Jaydon Blue, head coach Brian Schottenheimer says it’s shaping up as though the fifth-round draft pick will see his first official action after being inactive for the first month of the season.
But it all may come down to how smart the rookie is about his footwear, apparently. No, really.
Blue is likely to make his NFL debut in Week 5, possibly helping to fill gaps left by both RB2 Miles Sanders and kick return specialist KaVontae Turpin, both of whom are nursing injuries after last week’s 40-40 slugfest with Green Bay.
“It’s trending that direction,” Schottenheimer told reporters in his Friday press conference. “But nothing’s final ’til we get through today and the next couple days.”
The coach wouldn’t reveal too much about how the ex-Longhorn might be deployed, but he did suggest that Blue has worked hard to overcome some work-ethic issues that have followed him since joining the team in the spring. And, as he was quick to stress, that’s the reason Blue could be ready for the lineup… not just because others are hurt.
“I’ve been hard on Jaydon in the past,” the coach explained. “Talking about the word consistency: he’s been way more consistent. He’s showing up, he’s really done a great job mastering what we’re trying to do from a scheme standpoint, and we’re really pleased with it.”
But the 21-year-old is very green, and maybe still too quick to get caught up in the trappings of being a professional football player.
Schottenheimer jokingly pointed to an incident that happened in Thursday’s practice where the rookie was trying to make a statement… but maybe not the right kind.
“A little questionable decision. He went out there with some cool new cleats. Louis Vuitton Nikes,” the coach laughed. “But they give you blisters! And so about halfway through practice, I saw him laying on the side. I thought, ‘What the hell happened to Blue?’ ‘Oh, Coach, I’m fine, I have blisters.’ I was like, ‘Oh, shocker. Look at your cool shoes you got.'”
Schottenheimer said Blue changed his cleats for the duration of the day’s work. Chalk it up to a mildly painful lesson learned.
“That’s part of what you deal with with young players.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on his Friday radio call-in it was “more than likely” that Blue would make his Dallas debut, hinting that Blue has done “a lot of evolving” when it comes to “being a professional about the approach to things.”
That may mean leaving the Louis Vuittons at home, though, and letting his breakaway speed do the talking for him once Blue finally gets on the field.
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