Poll the current crop of Cowboys media on which player has been the biggest surprise during 2021 training camp, and one man is likely to run away with the top spot. For cornerback Maurice Canady, though, that designation is a little bit of a sore spot.
“It can be- not hard-,” Canady told reporters this week, “but it can be sometimes frustrating when I hear somebody say they’re surprised. I’m like, ‘I’ve been in the league for an odd number of years. Just look at some film, I guess.'”
The problem is, though, there’s not that much film to look at for a guy who was drafted in 2016. Since going to the Ravens in the sixth round that April, Canady has played in just 32 games. Two full seasons in five years.
Canady’s first three seasons in Baltimore were marred by injury; he missed more games than he appeared in. In 2019, he was demoted to the Ravens practice squad before the opener, called back up for Week 2, got his first career interception in Week 4, and then was waived by the club in early November. The Jets picked him up, and he started twice over New York’s final eight games.
Last year was to be a rebirth of sorts for Canady after signing with Dallas on March 30th. But then the COVID-19 pandemic exploded across the country, and the then-26-year-old opted out of the entire 2020 campaign, citing family health concerns.
So it’s perhaps understandable that to many around the league, the veteran entering his sixth season is still something of an unknown commodity. Even to his head coach.
“I didn’t know his ball skills were this good…” Mike McCarthy said recently. “But my goodness, just the way he tracks the football, I’ve been so impressed with him. He’s having an excellent camp. His ball skills were much better than I was aware of.”
When it was pointed out that even his own head coach was taken aback by his abilities, it was Canady’s turn to act surprised.
“Yeah,” he deadpanned, in a tone that was equal parts “Can you believe that?” and also “I told you so.”
But the former Virginia Cavalier is making the most of his practically-new-guy status in 2021 by turning heads- and picking off balls- in Cowboys camp. Some of those ball skills, Canady believes, come from his early football career playing offense.
“I never played defense until I got to college,” the Richmond native said. “I’ve always been an offensive player, so from my perspective, my ball skills, I think I’m a receiver.”
Second-year standout Trevon Diggs subscribes to the same mindset. Not surprising, since he, too, was a wide receiver even into his college career. Perhaps it’s also not surprising, then, that Canady and Diggs are having a contest to see which corner can come up with the most interceptions in practice.
A friendly competition? Yes. But they’re still keeping score. And Canady didn’t have to think long to come up with the current tally.
“About five,” he said on Wednesday before adding with a laugh, “I think I’m up right now.”
That’s no small feat, considering he’s going every day against the Cowboys’ formidable receiving corps. “Top down,” Canady gushed, “great guys that could start on any team.”
Joe Whitt Jr. on Maurice Canady: “I have to talk about Mo Canady as well. I think he's done an excellent job in there at the nickel position. He's touched more balls than anybody in the secondary, anybody on defense…He's playing fast. He's playing content. He's downhill.”
— Brianna Dix (@DixBrianna) August 11, 2021
Canady’s natural ability has always been there, even if bad luck has kept it largely hidden. Now the Dallas coaching staff is working to help him unveil it in a new way.
Much of that falls to Cowboys defensive backs coach Al Harris, the former cornerback who went to a pair of Pro Bowls over a 15-year NFL tenure.
“His background 100% helps because he knows exactly how it feels to actually be out there,” Canady explained. “Some things a former coach will ask you to do probably sound good on the board, like, to draw it up, but in actuality, on the field, it might not be the best thing. His techniques that he coaches, he drills them in your head.”
Canady recalled with a smile his favorite memory of Harris as a player, his 52-yard walkoff pick-six that ended the 2003 NFC Wild Card showdown between Harris’s Packers and the Matt Hasselbeck-led Seahawks.
The Cowboys corner says he’s looking forward to hearing the full story from his position coach one of these days.
“I actually haven’t had that conversation with him yet,” he admitted. “But I guess we’ll have that after I get a game-winner.”
Judging by his dominant performance in training camp, that moment may be coming sooner rather than later. And when it does, it won’t surprise Canady one bit.
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