GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shavon Revel Jr. was on the field for five defensive snaps in the Dallas Cowboys‘ 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals, 8% of the defensive total. He intercepted a pass, broke up another, and drew a penalty in that stretch.
The interception came on third-and-13 from the Arizona 15 with 7:31 left in the first quarter. Gardner Minshew II threw deep middle for Simi Fehoko, who slipped on the route. Revel caught it at the Arizona 34 and ran out of bounds at the 12 for a 22-yard return.
Three plays later, Joe Milton III threw 8 yards to Malik Davis for the game’s first touchdown.
Revel had been flagged for illegal contact on the first snap of that same Arizona possession, a 5-yard penalty that wiped out an incompletion and gave the Cardinals a fresh set of downs at their own 18.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the interception was a sudden-change play and a momentum play, and that the plan Saturday was to keep moving pieces around the secondary.
“Just mixing and moving pieces around. And it was really cool to see Shavon get that interception. That was a big play, a little sudden change for us, a big momentum play,” Schottenheimer said. “Speed’s been doing a really good job, both on defense and special teams. So we wanted to see him get out there and compete early on.”
“And just keep forcing competition. And no one’s going to get complacent because we’re not gonna let them,” Schottenheimer continued. “Because this is a talented roster and it’s gonna be some really tight position battles as we get closer to final cut downs.”
Nine Cornerbacks Played
Dallas rotated nine cornerbacks through 65 defensive snaps.
Reddy Steward led the group with 45, 69% of the total, and made two tackles. Derion Kendrick played 35. Trikweze Bridges played 31 and broke up a fourth-quarter pass intended for Bryson Green. Caelen Carson and Ameer Speed each played 28 and each made a tackle. Devin Moore played 20 and finished with three tackles, two of them solo. Josh Butler played 18 with two tackles. Zion Childress played 14 with one. Revel played five.
Speed added nine special teams snaps, 39% of that total, tied for the most among the cornerbacks with Carson.
Moore was making his preseason debut after sitting out the opener at Seattle. Dallas drafted him in the fourth round in 2026, 114th overall out of Florida.
DaRon Bland and Cobie Durant were among the 29 players Dallas held out in Glendale. Bland intercepted one pass and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown in 12 games last season, with 73 tackles and six passes defensed.
What Arizona Did Through The Air
The Cardinals completed 21 of 30 passes for 207 yards with no touchdowns and the interception. Minshew went 19-of-23 for 177 and played the first half plus the opening series of the second. Kedon Slovis finished 2-of-7 for 30 yards.
Arizona’s longest completion was Minshew’s 37-yarder to Fehoko in the first quarter, which reached the Dallas 7 and produced no points after an offensive holding penalty erased a touchdown run two snaps later.
Dallas allowed 325 total yards and one touchdown, held the Cardinals to 4-of-10 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth, and stopped Arizona on 1-of-3 red zone trips.
Shavon Revel Jr.’s First Year
Revel was a third-round pick in 2025 out of East Carolina and spent that offseason recovering from a torn ACL. He appeared in seven games as a rookie and started five, finishing with 35 tackles and three passes defensed.
Saturday’s interception was his first in a Cowboys uniform.
Dallas cuts to 53 players after Friday’s preseason finale. The Cowboys host the New Orleans Saints at 7 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium, and the game airs on CBS 11 and ESPN.
