NFL PLAYER NEWS

Cowboys like Sam’s progress

The Sports Xchange

September 12, 2014 at 11:19 am.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Michael Sam is making progress in the short time he has been on the team's practice squad. Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Michael Sam is making progress in the short time he has been on the team’s practice squad.

The Cowboys signed Sam to the practice squad on Sept. 3 after the seventh-round pick was released by the St. Louis Rams.

Sam, who thrust himself into the spotlight after becoming the first NFL player to openly say he’s gay, has mostly kept to himself in the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch locker room when members of the media have been around, according to the Dallas Morning News. The 24-year-old will occasionally make small talk with reporters but he hasn’t taken questions since a five-minute introductory interview outside the locker room when he arrived.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli likes what he’s seen in practice from Sam.

“He’s done some good things,” Marinelli said. “The only thing he really gets is some of our individual periods and then he gets some one-on-one rushes on Wednesday, and I think he’s gotten a little bit better.

“But it’s tougher for a practice squad guy because these other guys here, they’re pounding with all week long in terms of fundamentals and game-planning and those things. So it’s a little tougher, but he’s got movement. I like his quickness and his instincts. He’s got really good work habits, so just keep working to develop him.”

Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey came up through the practice squad route and knows that experience can help. Mincey, a sixth-round pick by New England in 2006, was on the Patriots’ practice squad.

“He’s doing a good job,” Mincey told the newspaper of Sam. “He works hard. He does what you ask of him and that’s all you can do in this league.

“He’s won a lot of rushes. He’s doing a good job. He’s got a lot to learn and that comes with experience. I was just like him, a young guy on the practice squad, so it’s a good developmental phase for him to get better.”