Darren Woodson Confident In S Barry Church

Church will enter the 2012 season as a full-time starter for the first time in his career

The Dallas Cowboys seem to be pretty confident in safety Barry Church. This is evidenced by the team’s willingness to get rid of veteran Brodney Pool, who failed the pre-camp conditioning test, and was cut just around a week later. Fast forward a couple more weeks, and Church is the apparent owner of the starting job opposite Gerald Sensabaugh in the defensive backfield.

Darren Woodson, one of the best safeties in franchise history, believes the 24-year-old Toledo product has earned the shot.

He’s been pigeonholed as that box safety,” Woodson said, per ESPN Dallas. “Now, it seems like he’s slimmed down a little bit. He looks a lot more athletic and he knows where he’s supposed to be on the football field. If you know where you’re supposed to be on the football field, you can make a lot of plays even without the athleticism. That’s what I’m seeing from him now.

“I think he’s a different player than what we’re used to from last year. That’s building from knowing where he’s supposed to be and that confidence that he has.”

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