When Mike McCarthy took over the Cowboys back in 2020, there were plenty of new faces and names to learn, from the guys who were perennial Pro Bowlers to the rookie free agents barely hoping to make the team.
Among the latter was a guy named Terence Steele, an undrafted rookie from Texas Tech, who climbed the unlikeliest of hurdles that year, earning a starting job in Week 1, despite not even playing a preseason game due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
Fast forward four years and here is Steele, a new contract earned last year along with 57 career starts under his belt, getting ready for his fifth year and one of the staples on the offensive line at right tackle.
But he's not just having a good camp, it's his best camp according to McCarthy, who made such a claim in his daily press conference on Wednesday.
"I think he's had his best camp as a Dallas Cowboy," McCarthy said. "You can just see the things he continues to work on."
With that comment, the media got the chance to speak with Steele a few hours later and asked him the same question. Steele agreed with his coach.
"Yeah, definitely. It's my fifth year now and every year is supposed to get better and better and better," Steele said. "It just feels like I'm growing under this process. I definitely feel like it's my best camp for sure."
And he certainly wouldn't have said that last year, especially after he was coming off a torn ACL injury he suffered the previous December.
But Steele admits he didn't have his best season, but that's also understandable considering how quick he returned from the injury.
"I was six months removed from surgery," Steele said of last year. "I had some ups and downs but who doesn't coming back from injury as fast as I did. People my size usually don't come back that fast. I'm proud of myself for what I did. I didn't miss a snap, and didn't miss a practice."
But this year, Steele is expecting an even better season.
"I feel awesome … 100 percent healthy," he said. "I'm moving great … knee doesn't bother me at all. I'm just happy to be healthy and continue to stay that way."
