CB Prince Amukamara
September 9, 2015
Q: How has Tony Romo changed as a quarterback?
A: Just being smart and not forcing those throws. When you have a receiver like Dez, all your confidence is like in that player and you trust that they’re going to come up with the ball. I remember a couple years ago he would try to force those passes but now he’s just being smart and he has other weapons, too. Anytime he sees a good matchup with either number 11 or 83, he’ll take them.
Q: There’s been a lot of times you’ve been singled out to go one-on-one with the other team’s best receiver. Can we expect it on Sunday?
A: I don’t know. I know last year I was able to follow Dez because DRC didn’t really play that much. Then when they came back here, I was out, so DRC followed him. I don’t know. I think coach might want to give him different looks but it’s a good problem to have. He has two good number one corners and I know if he assigns me or DRC to follow 88, both of us will do it.
Q: You go against Odell here every day in practice, give me the quick rundown of the challenges when you face Odell and maybe some of the challenges whenever you face Dez?
A: If I give you a scouting report for Dallas… But I would say with Odell, he plays the ball like he’s 6-5. I think he’s the best in the league at going up and getting the ball. And Dez, Dez is a very physical guy on the line on press and I like to press, so that kind of plays into his game. He’s very physical and it’s very, very hard to tackle him. You’ll see a lot of his big plays just come from his tackles and he has a strong stiff arm.
Q: Can you talk about opening against a division opponent game one, right off the bat?
A: That’s huge. That’s no time to build up. This game matters. It’s in the division, it’s Sunday Night. So all the hype is there and it just matters. Our number one goal is to win the division, and if we beat Dallas, that’s one step heading towards our goal.
Q: You guys have had to crawl out of holes in the beginning of the season the last couple years, I think it’s four years in a row now you’ve lost the opener. Every year that you’ve been here, come to think of it. How important is this first game?
A: I mean anytime you go 1-0 in the first week, it kind of builds up the team morale and the culture around here. But going 1-0 against a division opponent is just even that more sweeter because you’re 1-0 in the division and you have a 1-0 record. There’s a lot riding on this game and I know everyone else is on it.
Q: Speaking of morale, you guys probably knew it was long shot whether JPP would’ve played this week. When you found out he’s not ready, what’s your reaction?
A: I don’t know if a lot of guys, no disrespect to JPP, but I don’t know if guys put a lot of eggs in that basket, I don’t know if they were expecting him to come back and making room for him in our game plan. I know a lot of guys keep up with the news and just hearing that he might, I think that gave us a little light and we were excited but even though that’s not the case, we just have to keep the ball moving.
Q: Can you put the eggs in his basket at all this season or do you think you just have to go ahead and think maybe he’s not coming back at all?
A: I mean that’s tough. You would hope that one of your biggest forces on defense would come back as soon as possible. I don’t know if guys are thinking he’s coming back because guys don’t know his condition. And even if he comes back, guys don’t know what type of condition he’s going to be in. I think we’re just worried about the guys in this locker room, like there’s Kerry Wynn, Damontre Moore, Selvie and Ayers. We’re just worried about those guys right now.
Q: What’s it feel like to be a leader now on defense and did you ever think when there were those rough days that you’d ever get to this point?
A: I’m definitely not looking over my shoulder anymore. Deon Grant was here and it was great to see him and kind of walk with my chest out a little bit even around him. It’s just a different feeling. A lot more responsibility to bring the guys along and keep that culture going when I was there.
