With roster cuts on the horizon, the rookie cornerback from Oklahoma State made a strong case to be among the 53 players the Cowboys start the season with on Sept. 7.
Nobody is overlooking him now, not after he played a role in all three turnovers the defense forced Saturday against the Miami Dolphins.
But, given his road so far, Patmon knows better than to assume he’s made it.
“Man, I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got to keep going. Keep pounding. Keep getting better every single day. That’s my goal and my mission is to make my coaches believe that I can start in this league and play with the best players in this league.”
Patmon convinced several he had the ability to hang with the best and might find his way into the starting lineup with Orlando Scandrick’s season-opening four-game suspension and Morris Claiborne’s endless injury setbacks.
A telling sign for Patmon and something that will surely bode well for him is that he forced two turnovers against the Dolphins’ No. 1 offense and then looked like a savvy veteran in dissecting a play perfectly for a pick-six touchdown.
But Patmon’s play begs a question. In a talent-hungry, borderline talent-starved industry, why were only two teams — the Cowboys and the Dolphins — interested in him for a tryout?
It’s not like Patmon, a Round Rock native who decided to go with his home state team over the Dolphins, flew under the radar in college. At Oklahoma State last year, he tied for the team lead in pass breakups with nine and delivered game-changing plays on big stages, such as a 78-yard fumble return for a score in a 42-10 upset win over then-No. 3 Baylor.
Before his season at Oklahoma State, he started 32 games over three years at Kansas.
“Man, I can’t explain it,” Patmon said. “I just think God wanted my story to be greater than some other stories. What better than an undrafted tryout guy that worked his way up?”
