Not long ago, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declared that he expects the team’s defense to be better in 2014, because there’s no way they can possibly be as bad as they were a year ago, when they finished dead-last in overall defense. Cornerback Orlando Scandrick agrees with this assessment, but knows that any improvement will come as the result of hard work.
“The facts are the facts,” Scandrick told 103.3-FM ESPN Radio. “We were the last-ranked total defense, so we can’t go anywhere but up from here, but that’s not going to change just by showing up. We’ve to have an attitude about us as a defense, and we’re going to have to play together. Playing together stops a lot of the things that happened that caused us to be the 32nd-ranked defense.”
With defensive stars DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher gone, Scandrick believes what the unit lacks in big names, it makes up for in hunger.
“I just think this year is going to be different,” Scandrick said. “I don’t know if I’m just an optimist, but I really feel that this year is going to be different. We have a different group of guys. We have some younger guys. We have a lot of guys who have a lot to prove. We have some younger guys who want to prove they can play in this league. We have some other younger guys who want to prove they can be starters in this league. I really think from the bottom of my heart that we have a chance to be a solid defense this year.”
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