Listening to the players here in the first week of camp, words like "humbled" and "embarrassed" have been uttered a few times in San Antonio. Obviously the 6-10 season was an experience that has carried over into a motivational tool for this season.
Even Jason Garrett said his team needs to take a "shut up and play" approach to this season.
But new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan obviously wasn't here in 2010. His Cowboys' defense didn't allow the most points in franchise history and it wasn't his defense that played a big role in the 6-10 record.
Therefore, Ryan isn't going to hold back on his comments, something that already occurred this week when referred to the Eagles as the "all-hype" team but said the Cowboys would "beat their (expletive)" when they met this year.
While Ryan's personality seems to clash some with Jason Garrett, the head coach didn't seem overly concerned by the quote. In fact, he said he just wants Ryan to be himself.
"Rob Ryan is a confident guy, and one of the things that we like to instill in our players, our coaches and our football team is confidence," Garrett said. "He has a track record of being able to do that. Beyond that, no real comment from me on that."
As for the defensive players, most of them don't seem to mind.
"I kind of like it," linebacker Bradie James. "But honestly, it's not up to us. "I've got to roll with whoever's in charge. If that's the way he wants to approach it, it's our job to go out there and execute and make sure that he doesn't look a fool."
