Cowboys OC Brian Schottenheimer credits Brandin Cooks for mentorship of Jalen Tolbert

By all accounts, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert is having a great offseason. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer revealed this week what he believes is behind the former third-rounder’s resurgence.

“Jalen Tolbert has had an incredible camp,” Schottenheimer said, via Dallas Cowboys.com. “And if you talk to Jalen, what he’ll tell you is that he’s spent a ton of time with Brandin.”

On his path back to playing like the guy the Cowboys drafted, Tolbert’s leaned on the advice of veteran newcomer Brandin Cooks. The young receiver shared that Cooks’ best advice to him so far has been to “flush” his rookie year and have fun in Year Two.

Schottenheimer has seen Cooks integrate and ingratiate himself into the Cowboys offense without stepping on toes. He got a heads-up from Drew Brees about Cooks as a teammate and his work with Tolbert has only reinforced that reputation.

“What Brandin wants to do, although coming to learn a system, is he wants to encourage and invest in the younger guys,” Schottenheimer said. “Those guys spend a lot of time together. I see them before practice in the weight room working together.”

In 2022, Tolbert played in only eight games and caught two passes for 12 yards. His rookie season bore no resemblance to his final season at South Alabama. He came into the league after catching 82 passes for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021.

Despite the lack of production on the stat sheet so far in Dallas, Tolbert believes he’ll show the much-talked-about “big jump” this season.

Tolbert preparing himself for increased role this season

Tolbert hopes that by expanding his knowledge and comfortability with multiple positions on the field. If he can do that, he can return to just being himself – not overthinking.

“Speed and everything is a strong point of mine, so being able to go out there and threaten [defensive backs] vertically with my speed and selling routes,” Tolbert said. “Sometimes I was timid running routes and wasn’t really myself in a way.”

According to Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, Tolbert is already showing signs of that step forward in year two.

“You can see his comfort and his ability to do what we’re asking him to do,” McCarthy said at OTAs. “Jalen’s made some nice plays, particularly in 7-on-7.”