<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaishawn Barham (55) gestures to defensive back Markquese Bell (14) between plays during a training camp practice on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
OXNARD, Calif. \u2014\u00a0Cowboys rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham<\/a> walked off the practice fields on Saturday when a group of young fans called his name. Without hesitation, Barham changed direction and signed autographs for every single one of them. If you didn’t know Barham, you’d think \u2014 after starring in just his third NFL practice \u2014 that he\u00a0might have time for some questions about his quick rise on the Cowboys’ depth chart<\/a>, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, Barham gave a polite fist bump to this\u00a0Dallas Morning News reporter and responded succinctly to a request for an interview: “No.”<\/p>\n The News explained it was working on a story about him, and\u00a0asked if there was a reason he didn’t want to talk. Both attempts to get him to talk were met with silence as he continued his walk off the practice field.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In case it isn’t obvious, Barham has made it quickly known to those around the Cowboys that he’d prefer to let his play do the talking for him.<\/p>\n “That’s what I love about him,” Cowboys linebackers coach Scott Symons<\/a> said of the rookie third-round pick. “He’s serious. He loves ball.”<\/p>\n Barham has become the talk of Oxnard after nearly a week of training camp. Barham went from working exclusively with the second-team defense during the first practice, to mixing in on sub-packages with the starting unit during the second practice. On Saturday, in front of a packed house at the River Ridge playing fields, Barham was given his biggest opportunity yet. Unofficially, he split reps with linebacker Dee Winters and played often next to DeMarvion Overshown. Barham responded with a standout performance that included one likely tackle for loss, if the Cowboys were doing full tackling, and a pass breakup at the goal line in zone coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n All of this has happened before the Cowboys have put on pads. That’s when they expect\u00a0Barham, with his heavy-hands and physicality, to really shine.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ask anyone around the team about who has impressed them and many will quickly point to the linebacker out of Michigan.<\/a> That includes team owner Jerry Jones.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I think we got us a war-daddy in Barham,” Jones said while signing autographs for fans on Saturday. “He looks good.<\/p>\n “He’s really showing some good instincts. It’s early, very early, but that’s what you dream for. You have to watch yourself seeing what you dream, but I like what we see.”<\/p>\n Which is why there really isn’t a need for Barham to speak for himself right now. That’s not to say Barham won’t talk at all, however. Barham could be heard often on Saturday calling plays inside the defensive huddle and shouting checks and changes before and during plays. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that Barham often asks good questions in meeting rooms and on the field.<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaishawn Barham participates in a drill during a training camp practice on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n There is something that many people around the Cowboys haven’t seen from Barham yet, however. His serious disposition is a constant. It’s rarely cracked with a smile or even the slightest grin, if at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When asked if he’s ever seen Barham smile, Cowboys running back Javonte Williams<\/a> paused for a second before he came to a realization.\u00a0<\/p>\n “No, I haven’t,” Williams said. “That’s crazy.<\/p>\n “He’s a cool person. I’ve just never seen him smile.”<\/p>\n The combination of his performance thus far, his inquisitiveness, and his seriousness goes back to a central theme for\u00a0Barham. People will tell you he looks like he’s on a mission, that he didn’t come here to sit on the sidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s a job for him,” Schottenheimer said. “I think some guys come out of college and they learn quickly the NFL is a job and you could get cut, or you could get traded, or different things like that. I think he understands this is something that’s really, really important to him and he wants to be a Cowboy for a long time. He’s made a very strong impression early on.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaishawn Barham greets youth players from NFL Flag Ventura County who served as honorary helmet carriers during opening ceremonies for the team\u2019s training camp on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Barham has spoken with Cowboys reporters before. He spoke on a conference call after he was drafted. Later on, he spoke when the rest of the rookies spoke during rookie minicamp. When part of his job was to speak to reporters, he obliged and did it well. He even cracked the slightest smile when he (jokingly?) challenged this reporter to an Oklahoma drill when asked about it.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps the most telling part of Barham’s rookie interview, however, was about his playing style and who he models his game after.<\/p>\n “I like Ray Lewis,\u00a0Azeez [Al-Shaair] from the Texans, Fred\u00a0Warner, a couple of guys for sure,” Barham said, signaling that he wants to be a hard hitter like them. “I feel like they’re all different types of players. Ray Lewis, straight hitter, he’s a commander of the defense. Azeez, a take-your-head-off kind of guy and Fred is more like a cover, chill guy. He can run sideline-to-sideline. I want to be all three so I can hit, so I can show how smart I am but for right now I’m definitely the hitter.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And definitely someone who would rather let his performance speak for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaishawn Barham (55) gestures to defensive back Markquese Bell (14) between plays during a training…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[732,102,104,103,93042,124547,88229],"class_list":["post-395926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-article","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-tp-dallas-cowboys","tag-tp-training-camp","tag-tp-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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