Brooking on Ryan: “He Challenges You Mentally”

Cowboys’ linebacker Keith Brooking is about to enter his 14th season in the NFL, which makes what he said concerning this year’s training camp resound more than if, instead of Brooking, it had come from a player with, say, two, or even four or six, seasons under his belt.

Brooking told reporters recently that he’s learned more during this camp than in any of the previous 13 he’s been part of, a sentiment that speaks volumes about the respect new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has drawn in his short time with the players. And for what it’s worth, Brooking has spent most of camp sidelined with a hamstring injury, suffered on the second day of camp.

“To be dead honest with you, I’ve probably learned more the past three weeks with Rob Ryan than I’ve learned in my 14-year career, as crazy as that sounds,” said Brooking, per ESPN Dallas. “He challenges you mentally.

“Every defense I’ve played in pretty much, you get a formation and a coverage and pre-snap, you’re like, ‘Oh, dang, here we go.’ You let the offense kind of dictate to you. Your hands are tied. You’re handcuffed and can’t do anything about it. This defense allows you to dictate to everybody what we’re going to do. We’re going to put ourselves in the best situation, depending on the formation. We have multiple checks, multiple possibilities that we can get in and be in the best call for us to play winning defense.

“This is totally different than anything I’ve played in before.”

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