Cowboys Jerry boosts Taco: 'He's hard on himself, and that's OK'

Cowboys Jerry boosts Taco: 'He's hard on himself, and that's OK'

FRISCO - We were in the postgame locker room in Honolulu, sweaty and tired and completely lacking in awareness as to what time it was, when Jerry Jones interrupted my question to ask one of his own. "Where's Taco?'' the Dallas Cowboys owner asked me.

Taco Charlton, the former first-round pick battling for a place of importance with this football team, had just completed a second straight preseason game in which his effort was notable.

Last weekend, in a loss at the Niners, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli expressed to me his positive feeling about Charlton's push to the QB, and his hustle after plays. This weekend, Jerry wanted to tell him the same to his face.

"He's hard on himself,'' Jones told me. "And that's OK.''

Scouting mind Bryan Broaddus, reviewing Charlton's work in Honolulu, writes at DallasCowboys.com: "Good to once again see Taco Charlton making plays. I can see his confidence continue to grow with each series. He might not have had a great night rushing the quarterback, but his ability to knock those passes down along the line of scrimmage is showing me that he’s doing a better job of freeing himself from blockers -- which is something that he’s struggled with in his career.''

Broaddus touched on the football skill here ... but the "confidence'' thing might be what Taco's chance of success truly hinges on. "Confidence.'' "Moping.'' "Being hard on himself.'' This is the stuff that comes up whenever we discuss Charlton, and he is quite bright enough to recognize all of this.

As Jerry told me, "He's playing hard out there, and he's making some plays.'' 

I bet that is the essence of what Jerry told Charlton when he gave him a locker-room hug. This doesn't have to be about "the pressure of being a first-rounder'' anymore. It needs to be about Charlton continuing to develop as a rotational contributor. And for what it's worth, he's done that now for two straight weeks. And Jones wants to help him do it again.