Cowboys' Jalen Tolbert 'Loves Special Teams!'

Tolbert has been juggling his receiving duties along with playing special teams in Dallas' first six weeks.

As a receiver, Tolbert, when called upon has been money. He has hauled in seven of his nine targets for 71 yards, which included four catches and 53 yards against the New England Patriots.

But it has been on special teams where Tolbert has shown out as he has laid several tackles after solid coverage that has pinned the opposition deep.

“Oh he’s done a great job, he looks forward to the challenge -  he loves being out there on special teams,” Prince said. “He got out there and got a chance to make a tackle a couple weeks ago and he was fired up. It fires us up, too.”

In the win over the Chargers, Tolbert was involved in a controversial play in which he was - while on special teams - blocked into return man KaVontae Turpin. Tolbert, while tangled up with his "assailant,'' Ja'Sir Taylor, was unaware that Turpin had signaled for a fair catch but due to the collision didn't touch the ball, eventually saw the ball loose on the ground and made a play for it.

He touched but didn't recover it, causing the Cowboys to be credited with a muffed punt and a fumble. Had the refs done their jobs better, they'd have seen that Taylor had a firm grasp on Tolbert's facemask as he was driven into Turpin.

But ... had Tolbert been perfect, he would've avoided getting driven backward.

It's all part of the learning curve, and while it is still early in Tolbert's career, he is slowly making progress each week - maybe as a receiver, as many would have hoped ... but surely making plays on special teams, also valuable.