GLENDALE, Ariz. — Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham and rookie cornerback Devin Moore will make their preseason debuts against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Saturday in comments to Boys Vox and 105.3 The Fan.
Groin injuries kept both out of the preseason opener at Seattle. Barham left an Aug. 6 practice in Oxnard early and sat out Aug. 8 alongside Moore and Jonathan Bullard. Both returned to full work Monday.
Barham thought he was ready to play against the Seahawks. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan that sitting that game out “killed” him. Jones said some linebackers carry the intuitiveness to “smell” a play and go make it, and that Barham has it.
Jaishawn Barham Returns After Missing the Preseason Opener
Dallas drafted Barham No. 92 overall in April. He was the third of seven picks, and five of the seven were defenders.
Michigan moved Barham to the edge in Week 3 last season. He had started all 13 games off the ball in 2024 and finished second on the team with 66 tackles. Two seasons at Maryland came before that.
Barham played 12 games last season and started 11. He finished with 32 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 3 pass breakups.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule was not sure whether Michigan planned the move or stumbled into it the week before facing his team.
“(He) looks like a top-10 pick, to be honest,” Rhule said of Barham, via 247Sports.
Barham’s first work against another roster since the injury came in Tuesday’s joint practice against the New Orleans Saints. Dallas Sports Journal carried Schottenheimer’s review Thursday.
Devin Moore Enters a Crowded Cowboys Cornerback Room
Dallas used a pick from Philadelphia, No. 114 overall, on Moore, who is 6-3 and 198 pounds.
Florida started Moore 17 times in four seasons. He got into 30 games, intercepted 5 passes, and broke up 14 more. Of his 64 tackles, 35 came in 2025, when he played 11 games and picked off 2 passes for a second straight year.
Moore told Jones on draft night that Dallas had taken the best cornerback in the class. He points to his injury history as the reason he was there in the fourth round at all.
“I feel like that had me very overlooked and slept on,” Moore told DallasCowboys.com at rookie minicamp in May.
DaRon Bland has one outside job. Shavon Revel Jr. and Cobie Durant have split first-team reps at the other. Caelen Carson and Moore sit behind them on the first unofficial depth chart.
Dallas defensive coordinator Christian Parker has said the Cowboys will be multiple, a 3-4 by nature with 4-2-5 in nickel.
Dallas Cowboys Schedule Before the 53-Man Deadline
The Cowboys and Cardinals kick off at 9 p.m. CT at State Farm Stadium on NFL Network, with KTVT CBS 11 carrying it in Dallas-Fort Worth. Counting the Hall of Fame Game, Saturday is Arizona’s third exhibition and the Cowboys’ second.
Dallas won the opener 17-7 at Lumen Field on Aug. 15.
Open practices follow at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco on Aug. 25 and Aug. 26. The preseason ends against the Saints at AT&T Stadium on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. CT. Every roster in the league has to be at 53 players by 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 30, two days earlier than the deadline has fallen in recent years. Waiver claims are due at noon CT the next day.
