OXNARD, Calif. — This offseason was wrought with poaching within the NFC East, though most of it was at the hands of Dan Quinn, former defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys who departed to become head coach of the Washington Commanders before reaching back and signing away several free agents from Dallas to the nation's capital; but he failed with Jourdan Lewis.
The veteran cornerback opted to buck that trend and re-sign with the Cowboys for the 2024 season, and when asked what drove his decision, Lewis was open and honest.
"I knew that there would be a change in scenery, and that schematically it would help me," he said as the Cowboys funneled off of the buses on Day 1 in Oxnard. "Just trying to be a focal point of the defense, and understanding that I can make some plays in the defense. And I'm home, Dallas is home for my family, my kids, so it was kind of like a no-brainer, honestly."
Speaking on a change in schematics, Lewis will remain under defensive backs coach and newly-promoted assistant head coach Al Harris, but work to learn the ways of Mike Zimmer — the former Cowboys' defensive coordinator returning in 2024 to take over the role vacated by Quinn.
As stated, Lewis believes this defense will give him many more opportunities to do damage in what will be a full season removed from his devastating foot injury.
"It's some wrinkles [in the defense]," said Lewis. "But we really don't know [everything yet], because we only had a few weeks with him [this offseason]. I really enjoyed the scheme … and I'm really excited to see it in training camp and to see what he has in store for us."
This will also be a season that features the return of Trevon Diggs, a First-Team All-Pro and record-setting cornerback who lost nearly the entirety of his 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in early September — Lewis using his recent experience with overcoming injury to help Diggs mentally get back to form as the young cornerback works to physically do so.
That creates the tandem of Diggs, Lewis and Bland (another record-setting cornerback) to make for arguably the most potent CB trio in the entire NFL.
Lewis is amped to see Diggs back on the field in Oxnard, once he's medically cleared.
"I'm excited," said Lewis. "He's going to be his playmaking self, and I know that Zim is going to put him in position to make plays but, you know, Tre is going to put himself in position to make plays. He is definitely a savant of this game. He understands this game, and I really think he's a genius at it, honestly.
"When he's in true form, I feel like he's one of the best defensive players in the game. … It's amazing to see."
There's not much arguing that fact, so that only leaves health and acclimation to Zimmer's scheme for Lewis, Diggs and the entire defense to make sure they hit the ground running in September.
But first they have to hit it running in late July.
