FRISCO — Cowboys cornerback Caelen Carson, sitting at his locker on Wednesday, paused for a moment when asked about the process that led him to this point — from not playing at all, to barely playing, to being the only person on the Cowboys to play every defensive snap in Monday’s 33-16 road win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Carson leaned closer, like he had something to get off his chest; better yet, something out of his head.
“To be honest, I’m going to be 100% honest,” he said, reaffirming a moment of truthful vulnerability, “it was stressful. This whole year was stressful. Coming back from injury took a toll on me mentally, and then coming back and getting injured again, then going on IR, it’s a lot of thoughts in your head. A lot of stuff going through your head.”
All centered on one idea: getting back on the field and restoring confidence lost. For a while this year, he had the ambition, but not the direction. That all changed about a month ago.
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Carson confirmed something Schottenheimer proudly disclosed on Tuesday: Schottenheimer said he and the coaches had a tough conversation with Carson recently. They talked with him about urgency and his practice habits.
“We’ve been tough on Caelen in a good way,” Schottenheimer said, “because we’ve seen the talent, we’ve seen the upside.”
They just needed to see more from him outside of games. Now, after Carson successfully did that in the lead-up to Monday’s performance, the Cowboys want to see even more from him in games.
“He earned the right [to play]. And then like everyone, I tell my kids all the time, when you’re given an opportunity, you have to maximize your opportunity, and he did that on Monday night,” Schottenheimer said of Carson, who had two pass breakups, “so therefore he’s earned more playing time. And that’s real.”
So were the struggles that Carson had mentally since he made the NFL.
It didn’t begin that way. Carson was confident at the start of his rookie season. He started in the season debut against Cleveland last year. He had two pass breakups, allowing him to do his signature seatbelt celebration. His performance sparked optimism for the rest of his rookie season. That optimism was hampered when he suffered a shoulder injury on a tackle against Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry.
Carson learned a lesson in the weeks that followed. He had played through injuries in college at Wake Forest, so he believed he could play through last year’s injury, too. Eventually, the injury proved to be too much. He finished his rookie season playing in a total of six games before he was shut down. He had shoulder surgery in the offseason.
“My shoulder injury held me back a lot,” Carson said. “Took a lot of confidence out of me. Took a toll on me mentally.”
That toll weighed on him this offseason. How could he rebuild that confidence, he wondered, if he couldn’t play? The answer to that question grew more elusive when he hyperextended his knee in training camp, forcing him to injured reserve until the middle of October — almost 11 months from the last time he played in an NFL game.
“It’s a lot of thoughts in your head and a lot of stuff going through your head,” Carson said about not playing. “I’m young, 23 years old, so you don’t have stuff figured out and your mind is all over the place and you just really want to play football.”
Carson just didn’t know how. That’s when the conversation with his coaches happened. Schottenheimer called it tough; Carson thought it was illuminating. Instead of wandering thoughts in his mind, he now had a clear direction for how to get back on the field. Schottenheimer proudly disclosed the moment on Tuesday because of how well Carson responded to it. He was asked to list some of the best young practice players on the team Tuesday. Carson was among them.
“Once I had that talk and I got clarification on things, I just decided what I was going to do,” Carson said. “And this is the result.
“To be real, you could sit around and mope, you could sit around and feel sorry for yourself, but in this business, things are going to keep going, you can get lost in the sauce or you can keep going.”
Carson said he’s always known he has the physical tools to be a starting NFL corner. Now, he feels like he’s refined the mental side, too. He believes he’s stronger for the time away and the tough conversation his coaches gave him. He said he prayed often during Monday night’s performance, thanking him for having a plan that he couldn’t see beforehand.
“I think a lot of us take a lot of this for granted and don’t realize we’re taking it for granted,” he said. “So learning that mentally has helped me grow as a player and as a person.”
Schottenheimer gave Carson clear direction for what his next step should be, too.
“When you’re talking about young players like that, when they go out and play well, they have to stack it, right? They have to go and do it again,” he said. “But don’t forget — which he won’t — what got you to play well. It was the urgency, it was the things we were challenging him on, and he’s taken ownership of. I think that’s really cool.”
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