2014 was a rough one for Brandon Carr.
The Cowboys cornerback lost his mother around this time last year, and missed 18 days of training camp as he tended to family business back home in Michigan. When he returned, he struggled, and he never really felt like himself again until the final few games of the regular season and the playoffs. Even after those solid, late-year performances, it was widely speculated that Carr would be asked to take a pay cut or risk being cut after the season.
“There are moments in your career, seasons in your career, you got to kind of find a way to get out of a slump,” Carr said, per the Dallas Morning News. “Last year, there were a lot of trials and tribulations for me and I just had to find a way to make it through and keep myself above water. And by the end of the season, I finally got back to form and feeling like I was Brandon Carr again. It was refreshing to be able to look in the mirror and see yourself as how you used to be.”
Of course, Carr was well aware of all the talk surrounding him this offseason.
“I read it all,” Carr said. “But some things you can’t control. I control just the way I go out there and work and grind and what I can bring to the table when it’s time to lock in…All the off-the-field chatter is just that. I am out here giving my all.”