Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Day 4 Notes: First padded practice completely alters all defensive expectations
If you were looking for a reason to buy into the Dallas Cowboys defense, it made sure you got it after Monday’s practice. A look into how the Cowboys defense showed out in first padded practice.
The Dallas Cowboys defense gave fans a reason to believe on Monday. In the team’s first padded practice of its 2026 training camp, Dallas showed flashes at cornerback, linebacker, and safety that suggest this unit could look completely different from the group that struggled throughout 2025.
First-round rookie Caleb Downs, second-year cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., newcomer Cobie Durant, and third-round pick Jaishawn Barham all stood out in a practice loaded with encouraging moments for the Cowboys defense.
Let’s break it all down.
Note: Yes, it’s just one padded practice. So don’t overreact. But also, objectively… this defense cooked on Monday. And you should be encouraged by it if you root for the Cowboys.
The Caleb Downs hype is real
Everyone wants to talk about Caleb Downs, and he showed you why on Monday.
Two plays stood out, but the run stuff was the headliner. On an inside run with Jaydon Blue, Downs walked down from deep in the secondary to the box before the snap. The Cowboys had Ryan Flournoy attempting a crack block on Downs, but Flournoy simply could not get to him in time. The reason had nothing to do with pure athleticism. It was the speed of processing.
Since Dallas drafted Downs back in April, the conversation has centered on football IQ. People like to talk about instincts in football, but I personally love Ed Reed’s explanation of instincts: it’s just watching film. It’s understanding and identifying what the opponent is doing.
That’s exactly what Downs did on this play. He reached his spot well before Flournoy arrived, swatted his hand down with minimal effort, and wrapped up Blue with both arms. It looked easy because he identified where the play was going before anyone else.
There was another moment where Downs wasn’t making the tackle but communicated a push call in coverage, alerting inside defenders to a tight end breaking their way before sliding to the flat to cover Hunter Luepke. For a first-round rookie, the level of communication he’s already displaying is impressive. He was also around the football in coverage throughout practice, nearly hauling in an interception off a pass breakup from Cobie Durant.
Shavon Revel Jr. is making his case at cornerback
At first, someone else was going to get this second spot in my impromptu rankings. But one guy kept showing up over and over again, and that was second-year cornerback Shavon Revel Jr..
When practice ended, Revel had three pass breakups. We’re talking pass breakups starting Cowboys wide receivers, too. The one against Pickens was special. Pickens went to the corner of the end zone, where he thrives, and Junior did an excellent job staying on top of him without drawing a flag. He back-pedaled with his eyes on the football and played the ball at the catch point. We know Pickens is adept at drawing defensive pass interference, and Revel Jr. avoided it entirely on this play.
Cobie Durant and Devin Moore round out an encouraging secondary
Before leaving the cornerback position, two more guys deserve a shout. Durant had one of the best plays of the day. In a red zone rep, Dak Prescott went for the end zone with Flournoy breaking inside. Durant was on top of Flournoy when he cut into traffic, then out of the corner of his eye spotted CeeDee Lamb running from the inside out on what looked like a dig concept. Durant flipped around immediately and picked off Prescott. His reaction time was immediate, and he wasn’t even matched up on Lamb for the majority of the play.
We wondered why Christian Parker brought in Durant for $5 million. I thought it was because of his instincts, his smarts. Processing that situation so quickly in the end zone is evidence of exactly that.
Fourth-round pick Devin Moore also earned a mention. I listed him as part of my pre-training camp darlings prediction, and on Monday he had a pass breakup against Lamb in the end zone during a one-on-one rep. Lamb could not shake him at the release point. Moore has a long way to go, but that was clinic tape.
Suddenly, you like what you see from Revel Jr. and Durant, and even the depth is looking good. That’s a positive note for the entire Cowboys secondary.
Jaishawn Barham is the surprise of camp
The main event heading into the first padded practice was third-round rookie Jaishawn Barham. He had been having such a strong start to camp without pads, and pads are where he does his best work. He’s a violent, physical player.
One play in particular stood out. The Cowboys ran a three-man stunt out of a five-man defensive front. Barham lined up over left guard Tyler Smith with Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark to his left. Williams and Clark ran across the faces of their opposing offensive linemen, allowing Barham to loop around from his two-point stance. Barham pulled a rip move on Smith and beat him cleanly. If Williams hadn’t already been disrupting the play on his own, Barham had the sack.
And this wasn’t an isolated moment. Over the weekend, Barham took three steps as a pass rusher against Terrance Steele, dropped back into the low hole, and swatted away a slant to Lamb. That’s what Parker wants. He wants to be unpredictable. If Barham can rush the passer and drop into coverage effectively, he might be made for Parker’s scheme.
That’s the Zack Baun backer-type role where he can play linebacker, walk down to the edge, or even slide to the three-technique spot from a two-point stance. Jaishawn Barham is starting to sound like a dude who will play much more than you’d expect from a third-round rookie.
One bonus note: the hardest hit of training camp so far belongs to Marvin Overshown, who absolutely destroyed Luepke on a crack toss play. The rest of the Cowboys defense swarmed the ball carrier after that. If you miss football, check out the clip at full volume. It’s perfect if you miss football.
There’s a lot of training camp and preseason left. But if you wanted a reason to start buying into the Cowboys defense, Monday gave you one. This is different from what we saw last year, and I don’t think it’s crazy to say it.
