OXNARD, Calif. — Despite a start to training camp that showed why the Cowboys traded up in the sixth round to select him, rookie Eric Scott Jr. came back to Earth a little bit in his preseason debut on Saturday in his first NFL action.
While bright moments definitely persisted for the young cornerback out of Southern Miss, Scott had a couple of lapses in his performance including not sealing the sideline on a run play that resulted in a big gain for Jacksonville.
For Scott, the moment was big, but it's now an experience he has in his toolbox moving forward to lay down what to expect in order to come back stronger in week two.
"I didn't like how anxious I was," Scott said. "I think in the second half, things slowed down. I think for the second game, things should look a lot slower. In that first game, it was a little fast."
Despite not living up to his standard, the second half was big for him to regain his confidence. That confidence will almost certainly carry into the game on Saturday against Seattle where he feels like things will be a lot slower.
"I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of being myself," he said. "Things are starting to slow down for me which is good. I'm excited for round number-two. The anxiety was really coming from it being the first time I'm playing in an NFL game. Now that I've got that out of the way, I know what to expect now. I've seen what that type of stage looks like before."
Overall, Scott liked what he saw from the defensive unit as he was able to play alongside most of who rotated in for the preseason opener.
"I liked the intensity that we played with," he said. "Overall as a defense, we came out there and had a little bit of energy. It could always be better, but I like the energy from the first game."
The preseason exists for a reason, to make mistakes and learn. But even if it was a regular season game on Saturday, the confidence would still be there for Scott moving forward knowing that the expectation for himself remains the same.
"To make as many plays as I possibly can and minimize mistakes."
