Amani Oruwariye: Play on blocked punt was reactionary, it’s a learning lesson

Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye is trying to take what happened in Monday night’s loss to the Bengals as a “learning lesson.”

After teammate Nick Vigil blocked a punt late in the fourth quarter, Oruwariye tried to field it down the field and mishandled the ball. The Bengals recovered and scored the game-winning touchdown a few plays later.

On Wednesday, Oruwariye spoke to reporters about what was going through his mind during the play and said it was an instantaneous decision based on seeing the ball in front of him without knowing exactly how it got there.

“It was in the moment,” Oruwariye said, via the team’s website. “I was taking my guy and I heard a thump. I didn’t know what it was — could’ve been a punt, could’ve been a block — all I know is I turned around to react as any athlete would. I saw the ball there and, in a split decision, I made the decision to go try and secure the ball. That’s just part of the game. It’s something that I felt, in that moment, was a reactionary thing to do, and so I’m standing by it.”

Oruwariye said it was an “emotional moment” when he realized what happened and that Monday night was “tough” because he “didn’t want to feel like I was letting anybody down.” He said it meant a lot that his teammates “wanted to rally around me, console me and support me” in the wake of the miscue and that he plans to build off of that as he and the rest of the Cowboys move into the future.