NFL Notes: Cowboys, Panthers, Ravens

Cowboys

Cowboys DB Byron Jones mentioned during an appearance on “NFL Total Access” Monday that LB Jaylon Smith has been “balling out” during offseason workouts.

“He’s healthy, he’s 100 percent,” Jones said, via NFL.com. “His mind — he doesn’t worry about what happened two years ago. He doesn’t care about that. What he’s trying to do, I think his motto is clear-eyed vision. He’s doing well at that. He’s balling out for us so far. He’s learning the playbook and he looks healthy running around.”

A for first-round DE Taco Charlton, Jones said they’re excited to have him coming off the edge for them.

“We like him. He’s a big dude,” Jones said. “I didn’t realize he’d be that big. He’s a solid guy. We’re excited to have him coming off the edge. We’ve got some good pass rushers so far and we have good young talent as well. So we’re excited about what we’ve got on our d-line and they’ll be a good unit for us this year.”

Panthers

Panthers QB Cam Newton admitted that he needs to better moving forward.

“The more I reflect on who I am or what I have become and what I can still become — I need to be better. I know I need to be better,” Newton said to Bill Voth of the Panthers website. “I want to be better because me being my best me helps everything else around me, including this organization.”

Newton stressed that he plans to commit everything to playing football to maximize his opportunities.

“When you look at quarterbacks and where I’m at right now, I want to commit everything to the game of football,” Newton said. “I want my diet to display that. I want my life to display that. I don’t want to look back when I’m 40 and be like, ‘Dang, when I was 28 and we had this talent around us, I didn’t maximize it.”

Ravens

• The Baltimore Ravens announced that they’ve Brandon Berning to Midwest/Southwest area scout and hired ESPN’s Kevin Weidl as their Southeast/Southwest area scout.