‘It’s really chess with him’: Stephon Gilmore is a Yoda to younger Cowboys

FRISCO, Texas — Michael Gallup takes a jab step to his right. Stephon Gilmore does not move. He makes a head-and-shoulder fake while going to his left. Gilmore does not move.

As Gallup sprints up field, Gilmore jams his left hand into the receiver’s chest. By now, they are stride for stride and there is no space for Dak Prescott to throw a pass.

“Gilmore, shoot, every route we have, literally, he’ll be talking during the route sometimes,” Gallup said. “He knows exactly where you got to cut, where you got to go. And I’m just like, ‘Hold on, bro, let me get to the route.’”

Cornerbacks have difficult jobs. They have to cover receivers, big and fast, short and swift, and somewhere in between, while backpedaling and not knowing exactly where they are going. They need to have speed, the ability to play the ball, size to handle bigger players, a willingness to tackle, and a short memory because they all get beat.

What Gilmore, whom the Cowboys acquired from the Indianapolis Colts in an offseason trade, has is what the best corners have: patience. He will let the receiver tell the story from before the snap, reading the formation and how wide the receiver is split and the distance from another receiver on the same side of the field, while knowing the down and distance.

“I think I’ve always been that way — being patient, being the technician, always knowing where the receiver’s going and not panicking really,” Gilmore said. “That’s my thing. And I think that comes to our advantage, being patient and not panicking throughout the route.”

Imagine trying to cross a highway with cars zooming by in every lane but having the focus to not see or hear any of it. That’s Gilmore.

“I just think if you prepare — you study formations, you know angles and stuff like that — you don’t really have to panic,” he said. “You just really dig into your technique and you rely on that — and for the most part, it’s going to be right.”

Gilmore has the benefit of 11 years of experience with the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Colts. He has been selected to five Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowls with the Patriots. In 2019, he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

“It’s a little bit of what you saw from [Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis],” passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. said. “He’s just so smooth.”

Gilmore turns 33 on Sept. 19. He is the second-oldest starting cornerback in the NFL, roughly two months younger than Patrick Peterson of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will be the Cowboys’ first cornerback to be a regular starter at age 33 since Terence Newman in 2011.

“I wouldn’t say he lost a step, but it’s more mental for him than it is physical, especially at his position,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “He knows no one is going to get deeper than him, but the ability for him to make the play is — you got to understand our alignment, assignment, and then his coverage, of course. But to play fast, man, to be as smart he is, I mean he won Defensive Player of the Year for a reason.”

Since being acquired for a fifth-round pick in March, he has become something of a Yoda for his fellow cornerbacks and receivers. They all want to pick his brain, to gain the knowledge that he has gained in 148 games.

“He’s waking up at 6 o’clock every day. So now I want to wake up at 6 o’clock every day and go get a workout with him and do all the little stuff like that,” two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs said. “He eats perfect. He doesn’t eat foolishness. He has seen me eating gummy snacks and he’ll be like, ‘Why are you eating that?’

“Little things like that, him just taking me under his wing and just showing me how to last in the league that long. I’m just taking notes and soaking everything up. And I’m very appreciative for it.”

Gilmore laughed when the gummy story was relayed his way.

“[Diggs] is young. He can do that still,” Gilmore said. “I can’t do that. But I try to do everything it takes to be the best player I can be.”

He has cut out cheese from his diet. No steak. He eats mostly fish, chicken and vegetables. He may have been Tom Brady’s teammate for three seasons, but he does not stick to the TB12 method.

“I can’t go that light,” he said.

Another Hall of Fame cornerback, Charles Woodson, was 30 when he signed with coach Mike McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers as a free agent. He was named to the Pro Bowl four times, All-Pro twice, led the league in interceptions twice and won a Super Bowl in Green Bay.

McCarthy sees similarities between Woodson and Gilmore.

“To me, corners are very similar to quarterbacks,” McCarthy said. “A lot of their play, their instincts and awareness is off the charts. Charles Woodson was off the charts. Stephon reminds me of him in a lot of ways.

“[His] ability to diagnose [route] stems, and that’s why you really got to change — your splits if you’re competing against him and your stem tree — you have to make a lot of things look the same because he sniffs it out really quick. Yeah, he’s not fun to compete against in an install practice, I’ll just say that.”

Gallup and Lamb found that out during training camp practices in Oxnard, Calif.

“He’s the smartest defensive back I’ve ever lined up against,” Lamb said. “If I line up, he knows certain routes off of my alignment and it sucks. It’s really chess with him. You’re not really just running a route. I feel like that’s making me better. Understanding that if I come across a patient DB or a smart one, it’s not going to be my first — and, yeah, it’s like he’s done this before.”