Cowboys’ Schottenheimer: Jalen Tolbert’s ‘incredible camp’ thanks in part to new WR

One of the biggest surprises of Cowboys OTAs and minicamp this year happens to have been one of last year’s biggest disappointments.

Jalen Tolbert caught just two balls for 12 yards in 2022. That’s a far cry from what fans and coaches alike were hoping for when the team used a third-round draft pick on the wide receiver out of South Alabama.

It’s not that Tolbert didn’t have an opportunity; the absence of Amari Cooper plus injures to Michael Gallup and James Washington left the door wide open for a pass-catcher to step up early in the season. But the Mobile, Ala. native was asked to do too much, and now he admits that he found himself overthinking things in his rookie year and losing confidence. That led to, more or less, a lost season- considered by observers to be irrelevant at best, or worse, a bust.

Tolbert, however, has already started to flip the script. And for his second season, he’s got a co-author.

“Jalen Tolbert’s had an incredible camp,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer told reporters Thursday. “And if you talk to Jalen, what Jalen’s going to tell you is he’s spent a ton of time with Brandin.”

That would be Brandin Cooks, the veteran entering his tenth season and his fifth NFL locker room. The Cowboys traded for Cooks in March, and while early reports are that he’ll open up the deep-ball passing attack for Dak Prescott & Co., it’s quickly becoming clear that he’s also wasted no time establishing himself as a mentor for the younger members of the Dallas wide receiving corps.

“Here’s a guy that’s been here, done that, and what Brandin wants to do- although come in and learn the system- is he wants to encourage and invest in the younger guys,” Schottenheimer explained.

“He doesn’t have to do that, but he wants to do that. And he goes out of his way to do it.”

Tolbert says the first lesson he got from Cooks was how to put a lackluster 2022 behind him.

“Flush it. Flush it,” Tolbert says Cooks told him, per the team website. “He’s obviously been in the league for a long time, and I was disappointed about last year. I went through what I went through last year, and he asked me about it. We talked about it, and then he told me to flush it. He said he sees a lot in me, so flush [last year], have fun, continue to grow and take the [Year 2] jump.”

Tolbert says the self-scouting actually started last season, while he was still in the middle of feeling overwhelmed by his head-spinning introduction to the pro game.

“Last year, I realized it and obviously tried to fix it, started talking with some older guys,” Tolbert explained earlier this month. “Even T.Y. Hilton, last year, helped me out a lot. We talked about his situation and how he became who he was. Just having those older guys be able to give me guidance and talk with me was big.”

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Now Cooks is playing the big-brother role, and Tolbert is spending as much time as possible soaking up the lessons from another longtime veteran who’s made a career out of doing everything the right way.

“We go eat, we talk ball, we work out together, all the little things,” the 24-year-old said of Cooks. “He’s been in the league for a while and he’s had six 1,000-yard seasons. He’s a great receiver and a great vet to have under my belt. We talk, and he sees in me what I see as well, and he told me, ‘I’m gonna look out for you.’ I’m so excited to go with him and learn more about the stuff that he sees.”