After being made to look bad on one touchdown by Miami's Brandon Marshall on Thanksgiving, then having some problems with Arizona's Andre Roberts last week, the confidence of a lot of fans in cornerback Terence Newman is down.
It wasn't that long ago that Newman was red hot, however. He collected three interceptions in two weeks, returning one for a touchdown against Buffalo, and seemed to be playing as well as ever.
While some may be down on Newman, Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is most certainly not.
"I think corner, it's such a hard life out there," Ryan said. "If you give up a completion people think you're terrible. So it's just one of those things. Terence is going to make a hell of a lot more plays than he gives up, and we're looking forward to that this week. I know he's been doing extra work in the film room and he's looking for a big game."
Asked later about the boost it was for the secondary to get back starting cornerback Mike Jenkins in Arizona, Ryan said it's nice to have the cornerback position again set as it was intended from the start of training camp.
"It does do that, which is good, to get those guys in the roles they're most comfortable with," Ryan said. "But Jenkins is a super-talented kid. So, obviously you want your best players out of the field most of the time, most of the game, and when the defense gets out there, I feel good about it."
About that time, Newman had approached to listen in on Ryan's chat with the media.
"And I already talked about Newman, threw him enough bouquets," the coach said. "Those corners are exceptional. There's no question."
