Cowboys brass keeps faith in Randle despite off field issues
Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle was one of the most effective running backs on a per touch basis in 2014. He averaged 6.7 yards per carry on 51 carries and compiled 343 rushing yards and three touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, he forced a missed tackle ever 5.5 total touches and racked up a league-leading 4.20 yards after contact per attempt.
If any other running back put up these numbers, everyone would be predicting a breakout season in 2014. But Randle isn't any other running back, and his off-field baggage has thus far trumped what he has been able to accomplish on the football field. Randle was arrested last during the season for shoplifting, and he was again arrested in February on a drug charge after police responded to a domestic violence call.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones has heard the speculation that Randle could be suspended by the league, but he saw no reason to join in and make a prediction of his own.
“Obviously if the players put themselves, whether it’s our player or other players, in a situation that needs to be looked at by the league, then that will happen,” Jones said during the team’s annual sponsor appreciation golf outing. “We certainly support anything that our commissioner and the league decide to do. They’ve got a tall order. I think any owner in the NFL wants accountability. They want the integrity of the game intact, and we certainly support the commissioner and his staff.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was more concerned with talking about what Randle is capable of on the football field.
“First of all, let’s talk on the field, and I have a lot of trust in his abilities,” Jones said Wednesday. “I think he’s very capable and I know that it’s been my experience, I’ve experienced first hand, the incidences off the field are learning experiences.
Jones is hoping that Randle's experiences have shaped him to become a more mature man.
“He’s done things that weren’t smart, but he is smart, so you at least begin with the fact that he is understood, he is contrite, that he does recognize for the organization and everybody that he’s made some missteps, so all of that leads me to a perspective of a good player for us.”
Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown is the closest to the situation, and he believes that Randle is showing all the signs of someone who has put his troubled past behind him.
“I think Joe really has to make sure he takes care of everything on and off the field,” Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown said last week. “We want to trust Joe, we like Joe, but we want to make sure he’s going to be with us at all times.
“I think he’s maturing up and he’s getting better and he understands the opportunity he has in front of him and I think he’ll take full advantage. I think those days are behind him and we’re looking forward to working with Joe. … Just being around him these last few weeks, he seems to be more mature to me. He and I have sat down and had one-on-one conversations about his future and I think he wants to go in the right direction.”
Brown is right. Randle has an amazing opportunity ahead of him after the Cowboys let DeMarco Murray walk in free agency. Randle is competing with three other backs for the lead role in the backfield. Two of the three, Darren McFadden and Ryan Williams, have a checkered injury history. The other, Lance Dunbar, is seen as more of a change of pace option due to his size. If Randle can focus on staying out of trouble, it shouldn't surprise anyone to see him earn a role as the Cowboys' lead back.
(h/t Dallas Morning News)
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