Former Faith Academy standout Shemar James played in his second NFL game on Sunday, and he made a mark for the Dallas Cowboys defense – and on the New York Jets offense. The fifth-round rookie recorded 15 tackles.

“It was amazing, you know,” James said. “Kind of just being on this top-of-the-level stage, kind of just being inactive those first three weeks and kind of just getting the opportunity and just being ready when my number was called, going out there executing and, most importantly, getting the win.”

In the past 30 NFL seasons, James is the third player to record a 15-tackle performance within his first two career games. Linebacker James Laurinaitis had 15 tackles in the St. Louis Rams’ 28-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 13, 2009, in his NFL debut, and linebacker Shaquille Leonard had 19 tackles in the Indianapolis Colts’ 21-9 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sept. 16, 2018, in his second game.

James became the first Dallas player with at least 15 tackles in a game since linebacker Sean Lee had 17 in a 17-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 22, 2019.

“Shemar James is going to be an incredible player in this league,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “I really do believe that.”

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James had been designated as a game-day inactive for Dallas’ first three games of the season. But after the Cowboys yielded 92 points and 1,193 yards and came up with one turnover in those three contests, Dallas gave James an opportunity in reserve and special-teams roles by putting four-year veteran Damone Clark on the inactive list for its Sept. 28 game against the Green Bay Packers.

In his NFL debut, James got on the field for 26 defensive snaps and 15 special-teams plays, made five tackles and recorded one quarterback hit as the Packers and Cowboys played to a 40-40 tie.

On Sunday as Dallas evened its record at 2-2-1 with a 37-22 victory, James got an extended stay on the field when middle linebacker Jack Sanborn left to be evaluated for a concussion in the second quarter. James ended up with 60 defensive snaps and 14 special-team plays while piling up his historic tackle total.

“Good, better, how,” James said. “Kind of just focusing on that — how we can get better. How we can do that?”

The Cowboys play the Carolina Panthers at noon CDT Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Panthers defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-24 on Sunday with running back Rico Dowdle gaining 206 yards on 23 rushing attempts. Dowdle spent his previous five NFL seasons with Dallas and ran for 1,079 yards in 2024.

“They got to buckle up,” Dowdle said of the Cowboys after Sunday’s victory. “I think they know, for sure. They didn’t keep me there for five years for no reason.”

Because he’s a rookie, James was not teammates with Dowdle in Dallas.

“It’s just another game for us,” James said. “I mean, just another game to go out there and attack and play the Dallas Cowboys brand of football.”

James is the first alumnus from Faith Academy in Mobile to play in the NFL.

The Alabama Sports Writers Association selected James for the athlete position on its Class 5A All-State team for the 2020 season. Faith tied the school record with 12 victories in that campaign and lost twice – both times to St. Paul’s Episcopal.

Injuries affected James’ senior campaign at Faith in 2021, but he still played in the Under Armour All-American Game before departing for Florida.

The 2025 season is the 12th that Mark Inabinett has covered players with Alabama football roots in the NFL. Inabinett’s byline appeared in a newspaper for the first time in 1976. The intervening years have…