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Barry Church gained a bigger view of the Cowboys defense in the offseason
OXNARD, Calif. – By trade, Barry Church is a safety.
In the offseason, however, the Dallas Cowboys safety imagined himself as a slot player, an inside linebacker, an outside linebacker, a defensive end and a defensive tackle.
He didn't have to add weight or lose weight. He just spent time learning every spot on the Cowboys defense.
"Last year I felt comfortable in my leadership role but I only felt comfortable telling the secondary what to do," Church said. "I wanted to become comfortable telling the linebackers, 'Hey, you should be here,' or the defensive linemen, 'You have to boss over there.' I made it a responsibility for myself to go in there and learn every position. Not the safety position or corner. I wanted to know every position so I can help the defense out."
By taking an overview of the defense, Church hopes to help himself at safety.
"If you know what the D line's responsibility is even against the run, you know if that guy has to spill and the ball is going to bounce out or if he's going to hammer and the ball can't get outside. You have to know that in case you come down with outside leverage and then the ball squirts up inside so you're not like, 'What the heck just happened?'"
The coaches credited Church with a team-high 110 tackles last year. He had two tackles for loss, one quarterback pressure, two interceptions, six pass deflections and forced and recovered a fumble. While he had more tackles, tackles for loss, forced fumbles and scored a touchdown in 2013, Church thought he was a better player in 2014...
- Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. – By trade, Barry Church is a safety.
In the offseason, however, the Dallas Cowboys safety imagined himself as a slot player, an inside linebacker, an outside linebacker, a defensive end and a defensive tackle.
He didn't have to add weight or lose weight. He just spent time learning every spot on the Cowboys defense.
"Last year I felt comfortable in my leadership role but I only felt comfortable telling the secondary what to do," Church said. "I wanted to become comfortable telling the linebackers, 'Hey, you should be here,' or the defensive linemen, 'You have to boss over there.' I made it a responsibility for myself to go in there and learn every position. Not the safety position or corner. I wanted to know every position so I can help the defense out."
By taking an overview of the defense, Church hopes to help himself at safety.
"If you know what the D line's responsibility is even against the run, you know if that guy has to spill and the ball is going to bounce out or if he's going to hammer and the ball can't get outside. You have to know that in case you come down with outside leverage and then the ball squirts up inside so you're not like, 'What the heck just happened?'"
The coaches credited Church with a team-high 110 tackles last year. He had two tackles for loss, one quarterback pressure, two interceptions, six pass deflections and forced and recovered a fumble. While he had more tackles, tackles for loss, forced fumbles and scored a touchdown in 2013, Church thought he was a better player in 2014...
