Is Rookie CB Kelvin Joseph Close to Helping Cowboys?

FRISCO - How soon is “Bossman” back?

Rookie Kelvin Joseph is inching toward his 2021 NFL debut with the Dallas Cowboys - and as successful as this defense has been in this 2-1 start, another playmaker would help.

“I don’t want to get into timelines, but they’re all making progress,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said early in the week leading up to Sunday’s Week 4 visit from Carolina. “They (a collection of rehabbing Cowboys) are here every day. They’re all probably a couple weeks away. (Joseph) is a few weeks away, for sure.”

But a few days later, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones upped the optimism regarding the second-round pick’s progress.

Said Jones via 105.3 The Fan: “It’s starting to be any day now. s starting to be any day now. Unfortunately, as he was overcoming his (groin) injury, he also came down with (a non-COVID) illness that he had to work through as well …

“Hopefully, he’s getting to a point now where we can start the clock on him coming off the designated to return list and get him back working into practice …

“We’re excited to get him back.”

That “clock” is about a designation for Joseph (and any other IR player) to be activated within a three-week window.

When Dallas creates that designation, the race to get Joseph (along with his rapper alter ego “Bossman Fat”) into the spotlight, and maybe the lineup, begins.

The Cowboys selected Joseph with the No. 44 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft back in April. The original plan: See if he could beat out vet Anthony Brown for a starting corner job opposite Trevon Diggs.

The Diggs part of the plan has worked brilliantly; he has three interceptions and a touchdown in the three games. And Brown continues to start, having never truly been threatened by Joseph.

Still, the Cowboys draft weekend views resonate.

“I was at his workout in Kentucky, have some people there at Kentucky that were instrumental in giving us insight on his experience there,” McCarthy said during the team’s post-draft press conference. “Tremendous athlete, his physical skills are something that really stood out to us not only on film in his year there playing corner, but in the workout that day.

“Length, speed, tempo, competitiveness, that’s what we’re looking for. He brings that to the table.”

But before Kelvin Joseph can bring anything to the table, he needs to bring himself off IR. And that time, it seems, is coming.

READ MORE: 'Everybody Can Eat,' Says Zeke