The Cowboys’ first joint practice with the Rams was supposed to be a chance for players on the roster bubble to make noise. For Jaydon Blue, it became a reminder of the one flaw he can’t afford to drag with him any longer.
With Saturday’s preseason opener looming, Blue is still in a fight with Phil Mafah for the backup running back job. But Tuesday didn’t help his case.
Early in team drills, Blue put the ball on the ground, and his opportunities thinned out after that. In a camp where he’d done a decent job of keeping that problem quiet, the old issue showed up at exactly the wrong moment.
That’s what makes the moment sting. Blue was one of the more dangerous backs in college football during his final season at Texas, piling up 1,098 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per touch in 2024.
But even then, ball security kept hanging over him. Over his last two seasons in Austin, he fumbled seven times, including five times in 2024 alone.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic found that he coughed it up once every 25 touches that season, a rate that’s hard to live with in the NFL and part of the reason he slid to the fifth round.
The Cowboys have seen enough this summer to believe there’s something here. Brian Schottenheimer has spoken positively about Blue’s offseason work, even saying there’s been a "night and day" difference in his professionalism after a rocky rookie year that was marked by immaturity. One fumble doesn’t erase all of that progress.
Still, the timing matters. Blue had a golden chance against the Rams to strengthen his grip on the RB2 battle, and instead he let it slip away. That kind of mistake sticks when you’re trying to win over coaches, especially when live reps are getting harder to come by.
And that’s the bigger picture here: Blue’s runway is short. Joint practices are often the best window to see real competition before the games start, and with only next week’s session against the New Orleans Saints left on the schedule, he won’t have many more chances to prove himself in meaningful work.
Nobody is ready to say the backup job is gone. Phil Mafah, Malik Davis, and Israel Abanikanda didn’t exactly light it up against Los Angeles, either.
Outside of Javonte Williams, it was a rough day for the Cowboys’ backs across the board. Blue’s mistake was the loudest one, but it didn’t shut the door.
The opportunity is still there. But if the ball keeps hitting the turf over the next three weeks, that door could close in a hurry.
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