3 early surprise standouts from Cowboys mandatory minicamp

1. Jabril Cox, LB

Talk about a surprise and sight for sore eyes, right? Cox undoubtedly was the start of Day 1 of minicamp. He took centerstage at the end of practice when the Cowboys ran a two-minute end-of-game simulation.

On third and goal, Cox got his hands on an end-zone pass and was swarmed by teammates in celebration. On the next play, it was Cox who recorded another pass breakup in the end zone to seal the game for the defense. You can imagine how much more animated the celebrations were after the clincher.

While Dallas' D clearly felt good for the young linebacker, the plays were that impressive and deserved a proper celebration.

Cox has the athleticism to be an excellent coverage linebacker. Unfortunately, fans haven't seen much of him over his first two years in the league after he suffered a torn ACL in Week 8 of his promising rookie season.

Cox was activated midway through last season, but was restricted to a special teams role upon returning and made six tackles.

There are snaps to go around at linebacker behind Leighton Vander Esch and Damone Clark, and a fully healthy offseason should go a long way towards Cox carving out a role in the rotation, especially if he maintains this level of play during training camp.

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