Will trust in Joseph be rewarded?
FRISCO — The Dallas Cowboys kept troubled cornerback Kelvin Joseph last spring when they could have released him.
A disappointment on and off the field as a rookie in 2021, Joseph found himself embroiled in a driveby shooting last March.
He was in the car when his friends shot and killed Cameron Ray outside the OT Tavern in East Dallas.
He didn’t come forward until he was compelled to do so by police or face chargers after his photo was identified in a surveillance video more than a month later.
Aries Jones, 28, and Tivione English, 21, were finally arrested and charged with murder, thanks to Joseph’s cooperation.
The Cowboys considered releasing Joseph but decided against it after learning he wouldn’t face charges.
And he’s not facing any NFL discipline.
A league spokesman said the NFL will monitor any developments in the case but that there’s no pending investigation of Joseph under the personal conduct policy.
Just him staying on the team was a reward in itself.
Now, the Cowboys need Joseph.
With Anthony Brown out for the season with a torn Achilles, Joseph has been thrust into a starting role opposite Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs.
Will the Cowboys’ patience and trust be rewarded?
Or has the Brown situation opened the door to the weak link that could derail the team’s Super Bowl dreams, as Joseph represents the most unknown and unproven commodity on the Cowboys?
Joseph has two starts in 21 career games since joining the Cowboys a secondround pick out of Kentucky in 2021. He has three career pass deflections.
Cowboys coach Mike Mccarthy likes how hard Joseph has worked in practice, which has translated into him being an impact performer on special teams.
But that doesn’t deny the obvious for Joseph and the Cowboys, starting Sunday against the Houston Texans. The coach acknowledged that this was “a huge opportunity” for him and that the team is “counting on him to step up.”
“We’ve talked about these things. But you know, it was making sure his opportunity was in place moving forward,” Mccarthy said about the initial discussions regarding Joseph’s future. “He’s doing what he needs to do. So this is a big moment for him.
“You know, this is something that he’s been working at and just kind of (keeping) his nose down. He’s been playing well on special teams. I know that stuff off the field clearly was a challenge. But you know, this is time for him to take a big step.” Will he?
The Cowboys don’t know. All they can go by is what they have seen in practice and on special teams. He’s second on the team in special teams tackles with six.
“I think No. 1 first thing: You talk about it,” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said on what Joseph has done to regain coaches’ trust. “And then you have to watch and evaluate: Are you hitting all the steps? Are you doing all the things we set out to do? Each marker kind of builds more trust as you’re going. As you know it takes a long time to earn trust, and it can be lost in a short time. For him, building that trust over time has been super important for us.
“OK, first year didn’t go like we like all the time, but seeing that change in Year 2 I think has been a big step forward for him. We certainly have a lot of faith in him based on what we see in practice.”
Again, Joseph hasn’t had the opportunity to show much on defense, but Quinn is impressed with what he has done on special teams, especially “his competitive nature, physicality, speed and the confidence that goes along with it.”
He hopes it will carry over to the defensive role.
It’s a must, as opponents almost certainly will target Joseph for big plays. They did the same with Brown in an attempt to avoid Diggs on the other side. The targets will increase even more with the unproven Joseph in the lineup.
He’s second on the team with six penalties on defense and special teams combined.
“The penalties have been a challenge,” Mccarthy said. “But his are from an overaggressive play style. So if we’re going to err on the side of play style, we definitely want to be on that side of it. So I think Kelvin is definitely in that category. He’s going to get tested. So we’re cognizant of it. He’s a young player that has a lot of growth in front of him.”
And, they hope, a lot of disappointment behind him.