Sunday night may well have represented the first definitive step back in the battle for the starting cornerback spot opposite Terence Newman since, really, the battle began this offseason.
Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins dueled competitively enough, through OTAs mini-camps, and training camp proper, to force the coaching staff to call a draw of sorts, saying the the two league-sophomores would rotate starts. Jenkins looked good, if a bit adventurous in his turn in the opener in Tampa Bay.
Scandrick, in his first start against New York on Sunday night looked, well, not good.
It was a game that saw poor play across the board for Dallas' secondary, but nothing was worse than the heinous beatdown put on Scandrick by the generally unimpressive Mario Manningham and, in instances, Steve Smith. Each had well over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown, though Smith did the lion's share of his work against Newman.
Scandrick, who joined Tony Romo in accepting blame for the loss, attributed his lackluster performance to over-thinking.
"When you make mistakes on plays that you've made so many times over and over, for the first time in my life I felt like I second-guessed myself, I thought too much and I didn't play with much confidence," Scandrick said.
When asked how the performance on Sunday night, Scandrick continued, "I don't care who is out there. I just want to win and be a great defense."
