Cowboys CB whose gaffe lost game signs with Titans to add on to $6 million in earnings
The key figure in one of the Cowboys' most painful losses of 2024 has found a new home. And he'll be reunited there with the coach who stood by him in his darkest moment.
Cornerback Amani Oruwariye, who appeared in seven games for the Cowboys last season and made four starts, will sign with the Tennessee Titans, per NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. The former fifth-round draft pick had been with the Lions, Giants, and Jaguars prior to joining Dallas's practice squad ahead of the 2024 season.
In Tennessee, Oruwariye will provide veteran experience in the secondary, but he will also likely be a regular contributor on special teams. Longtime special teams coordinator John Fassel will be in his first year with the Titans after serving in that role for five seasons with the Cowboys.
Fassel was vocal in defending Oruwariye after a blocked punt turned disastrous late in the team's Week 14 primetime game last season against Cincinnati.
With the score tied and two minutes to play, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil blocked a Bengals punt. When the ball managed to travel beyond the line of scrimmage, it became live. Left alone, it would have been whistled dead, and Dallas would have taken possession, already within kicker Brandon Aubrey's range.
But Oruwariye, who had just re-joined the active roster a few hours earlier, tried to grab the bouncing ball, unaware of what had happened. He mishandled the ball, and the Bengals recovered. They would go on to score moments later and seal the 27-20 win, sending Dallas to 5-8.
"He just reacted like I would: 'see ball, get ball,'" Fassel told reporters afterward. "I think I attribute it to sometimes, special teams is the Wild, Wild West."
Fassel and his Cowboys teammates were adamant that the fluke play shouldn't define Oruwariye as a player.
"[I] asked him how he was doing, word for word, and he said, 'I'm doing good,'" Fassel said. "And I said 'Good, because you should be doing good, you have no reason to think that you cost us the game, or that you made a mistake, or that you let the team down.'"
Oruwariye had been the hero in Week 4, when his interception of a pass intended for Jalin Hyatt with five seconds to play put the final nail in the coffin of the Cowboys' 20-15 win over the Giants.
The 29-year-old, who played is college ball at Penn State, has earned $6.8 million with four teams over six seasons in the NFL.
Now Oruwariye he'll begin his seventh year looking to start over once again.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Tennessee Titans sign Matt Landers, waive Colton Dowell
It may be a quiet Friday on the practice field, but the Tennessee Titans are still at work fine-tuning their roster. Titans Insider Jim Wyatt reports that the Titans are making a change to the receiver room by signing wide receiver Matt Landers to the training camp roster. At 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Landers is a size/speed prospect that looks the part of an NFL receiver. Unfortunately, he has not been able to put it all together and has bounced around the league on practice squads with four different teams since being signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 2023. Landers will have an uphill battle coming into an already crowded receiver room, but will have a chance to compete for one or two open spots at the bottom of the depth chart. To add Landers to the roster, the Titans waived Colton Dowell, a former seventh-round pick who missed all of the 2024 season with an ACL injury.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Dak Prescott Still Seeking Playoff Success Going Into 10th Season With Cowboys
Dak Prescott might be the physical embodiment of where the Dallas Cowboys stand as an organization in 2025. Both are rich, famous and desperately seeking postseason success. Going into his 10th season as the Cowboys' quarterback, Prescott has been with the team for nearly one-third of its NFC-worst 29-season drought without a conference title game appearance. He is driven to end it this year, preferably culminating in a Super Bowl ring. "If you don't want to win a Super Bowl, or don't think we can win a Super Bowl, then don't come to Oxnard," Prescott said Thursday. "You're in the wrong place. We know the standard when you wear the star. We know the expectations." Prescott is looking to bounce back from a chaotic 2024, which included becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history following protracted and public contract negotiations before sustaining a season-ending hamstring tear in early November. Back at full health and approaching his 32nd birthday on Tuesday, Prescott finds himself overseeing a much different offense under new coach Brian Schottenheimer than what Mike McCarthy ran the previous five seasons. Prescott is lining up under center more after primarily working out of the shotgun under McCarthy. There is more pre-snap motion and an increased variety of personnel groupings. Prescott likes the changes he has seen so far during the first week of training camp. "You don't know really when we're going to motion, when we're not, when we're doing to hit you with something fast, so it's just another great weapon," Prescott said. Even Prescott's trademark "Here we go" cadence is set aside at times, though Schottenheimer joked it is too ingrained in the public consciousness to be fully abandoned. "I mean, why would we take it away when it's got TikTok memes and stuff like that," Schottenheimer said. "It's one of the best things that he does, man, and so we're going to let him do that. But like everything that we do, we're going to be multiple." Another key asset is the return of Prescott's mobility, which he has displayed by extending plays or scrambling. "It's been a long road to it," Prescott said of his recovery after partially tearing his hamstring off the bone against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 3, requiring surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation process. "It's something that I think about every time I step on that field, being thankful for this moment. Not taking anything for granted, and understanding that I've got to continue to push. It's one thing to be healthy, but how much better can I get now that I'm healthy, and that's on the forefront of my mind, so feels good." That injury and Prescott's veteran status led Schottenheimer to say the quarterback's workload in camp will be carefully managed to ensure he will be healthy for the regular season. However, Schottenheimer conceded it might be difficult to get Prescott to dial things back. "He wants to do as much as possible," Schottenheimer said. "Luckily, we have the trump card with him on that. But in all seriousness, there's a smart way to train." Even with the decrease in preseason snaps, Prescott's desire to compete has not diminished, physically or mentally. "It's what I want from this game, and I know it's what everyone wants in this locker room," Prescott said. "Winning. Winning, winning, winning. And, obviously, if we give everything we can, and you go at it, there's a lot of good things and patches and pats on the back, I guess you could say, on the way. "But that's what's on my mind, 10 (years) in and ready to play another 10. But I want that first and foremost now, and that is the urgency that I carry with just the love and the passion of this game is not only wanting to win for myself, but wanting to win for this organization. It's been, well, damn long enough." Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jane Slater speaks with Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs from Cowboys' training camp
NFL Network's Jane Slater speaks with linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs from the Dallas Cowboys' training camp.
