Cowboys Deuce Vaughn 'Pro-Ready!' Says Coach McCarthy

Training camp is a time for players to impress the coaching staff in the hope of making the 53-man roster, and for Dallas Cowboys rookie Deuce Vaughn, he's hitting all the right notes in Oxnard.

Much has been made of the emotion surrounding Vaughn and his selection on draft day, but more importantly, on the practice field, Deuce has been showing out with coach Mike McCarthy impressed with his output thus far.

“I think Deuce has had a really good camp,” McCarthy said. “His work yesterday was off the charts, just the amount of work he had in special teams, so what I’m going to is the versatility. He’s really shown excellent versatility from special teams to offense.”

Added Vaughn himself, looking forward to Saturday's preseason opener: "The biggest thing for me is I can go and cut it loose," he said. "Now, football is football. You go out there, 11 guys on the football field on your side against another 11 guys. It's football."

Even though Vaughn will be the smallest player on the field on Saturday, and even though it's still "just football" to him, he is ready for the opportunity to take on whatever challenge lays ahead.

"As much as the coaches put on my plate, I'm willing to take it."

With Ezekiel Elliott no longer on the roster, one thing that Zeke was good at was pass protection, so the slack needs to be picked up by the current crop of backs.

Vaughn's size, for some, means that this area of his game might need the most work, but if you had any concerns about Deuce's ability to protect his quarterback in passing situations, McCarthy squashed them.

"I think we all smile when he does pass protect because you talk about instincts, awareness, and most importantly, the footwork, he has that," McCarthy said.

“I’ve been very impressed, he understands protections [he's a] very smart player. Right now, we’re just rolling him in there, he’s doing all the other things that the running backs are asked to do. I’ve been very pleased with his pass protection.”

Deuce has had his detractors since being drafted, and in particular, it has been his 5-5 frame that has drawn the most concern as he tries to scale the Dallas depth chart.

With the Cowboys in the full flow of padded practices in Oxnard as the training camp grind continues, McCarthy was asked if he has any doubts over Deuce's ability to adapt to the physicality of the NFL and was very assured in his answer.

“He’s pro-ready, I have no concerns about Deuce," he said.

Dallas plays host to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in the first preseason outing as we will get our first look at Vaughn in an NFL game environment and if McCarthy has no concerns over Deuce, then maybe we shouldn't, either.

And how much will Deuce play? "As much as the coaches put on my plate, I'm willing to take it,'' he said.

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