OXNARD, Calif. — Camden Brown caught both Dallas Cowboys touchdowns in Saturday’s preseason opener at Seattle, and coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday that the undrafted rookie has been doing it in practice long enough that the game was not the part that mattered.
Schottenheimer said what Brown does against Dallas defensive backs carries more weight with him than the two touchdowns did.
“Cam’s done a really, really good job. I’m very, very pleased with him. He’s done it every day,” Schottenheimer said. “But again, I think it’s a little bit cart before the horse. Jonathan Mingo‘s having a hell of a training camp. It’s a very competitive room. Anthony Smith‘s a guy that hasn’t played a lot of football, but he’s extremely talented, very, very fast.”
“Cam doing it in practice against our guys is more important to me than I don’t even know who he was going up against in Seattle,” Schottenheimer continued. “I really don’t. It doesn’t matter. But me watching him compete and go up against DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel Jr. and guys like that to me is more important.”
Brown finished the Seattle game with 3 receptions for a team-high 62 yards and 2 touchdowns. One was a 39-yard catch from Sam Howell. The other was a one-handed grab in the end zone.
Dallas signed Brown after the 2026 draft. He spent three seasons at Auburn and totaled 26 receptions for 289 yards there before transferring to Georgia Southern, where he caught 65 passes for 1,079 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games in 2025. He set the school record for touchdown catches.
The Room Ahead Of Camden Brown
CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, and KaVontae Turpin occupy the top four spots. Pickens is playing the season on the franchise tag at $27.1 million after a 2025 season of 93 receptions, 1,429 yards, and 9 touchdowns.
Mingo caught 2 passes for 20 yards against Seattle and made a chase-down tackle on special teams. Carolina drafted him 39th overall in 2023 and traded him to Dallas for a fourth-round pick in 2024. He has 61 career receptions for 610 yards and has not scored an NFL touchdown.
Smith, a seventh-round pick this year, played 39 offensive snaps in Seattle and caught 2 passes for 28 yards on 5 targets.
Traeshon Holden was released this week when Dallas signed Von Miller. Holden stood out in camp a year ago and was quieter this summer.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling Went Somewhere Brian Schottenheimer Did Not Expect
Schottenheimer brought up Marquez Valdes-Scantling without being asked about him.
“I got to say this about MVS,” Schottenheimer explained. “What this guy’s done going into year 10 or 11 on special teams is incredible. He understands the importance of how you make this football team in a very talented receiver room. It’s not just being a receiver. I got to play special teams, and he’s truly jumped into that role with both feet. Couldn’t be more pleased and proud of him for doing that.”
Valdes-Scantling is 31 and in his ninth NFL season. Green Bay drafted him in the fifth round, 174th overall, in 2018, and he has played for the Packers, Chiefs, Bills, Saints, 49ers, and Steelers. He has 219 career receptions for 3,686 yards and 21 touchdowns, and he won Super Bowls LVII and LVIII with Kansas City.
Dallas plays at the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday and closes the preseason against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. CT. The Cowboys cut from 91 players to 53 before the regular season opens Sept. 13 at the New York Giants.
