DALLAS — Kelvin Joseph was getting his first start of the season against the Houston Texans.
The Dallas Cowboys lost their starting cornerback opposite of All-Pro Trevon Diggs during the 54-19 beating of the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13. Anthony Brown tore his Achilles, which elevated Joseph into the starting role.
The 2021 second-round pick from Kentucky provided Dallas with four combined tackles and a pass breakup in the Cowboys' 27-23 win over the Texans on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
"I'm proud of what he did today," Diggs said. "You know, he had that big third-down stop that we very much needed."
On a third-and-7 from the Houston 28-yard line with 13:37 to go in the fourth quarter and Houston leading 23-20, Joseph batted away a pass intended for receiver Chris Moore to turn the Texans three-and-out.
Diggs, a former 2020 second-round pick from Alabama, compared Joseph's on-field growing pains with his own. In Diggs' rookie season, he led the Cowboys with three interceptions and 14 pass breakups. The reality is the interception-to-pass breakup ratio was too lopsided as some hands on passes should have been interceptions.
Said Diggs: "He's young, and you’re going to have to go through things just like I did when I was little, I was going through stuff, little stuff like I am being close right there, close to making a play. The more that he plays, the more that he's in the game, he's going to be just fine."
Coach Mike McCarthy echoed Diggs' sentiments in that the 22-year-old "played well."
"I thought Kelvin did a good job," said McCarthy. "He felt good about it in the locker room afterwards. After we look at the tape I’ll have better answers for you."
The Cowboys limited the Texans to 213 passing yards among their 327 yards of total offense. Houston was able to average 7.9 yards per attempt against Dallas' defense.
Diggs is confident in Joseph and the other young cornerbacks, including Nahshon Wright and rookie Daron Bland.
"I'm not worried," Diggs said. "The other young guys, I'm not worried. I just got to do a good job of leading. I'm like the old guy."
Diggs recorded five combined tackles for the Cowboys in the victory that brought them to 10-3 on the season. The reigning NFL interceptions leader collected a key fumble in the third quarter with 13:19 to go on the Texans' opening drive of the second half. Diggs returned the takeaway 17 yards to the Houston 28-yard line.
Are you happy with the way the secondary held up in the Week 14 win? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
