Jeff Heath is on a mission, and Byron Jones is impressed.

With the exodus of both starting safety Barry Church and backup J.J. Wilcox this offseason, the Dallas Cowboys made it clear their belief in Heath had a lot to do with ultimately opting to not ink the two free agents. While the team won't formally proclaim him as the starter just yet, the job will most certainly be his if he continues to perform the way he did in minicamp when he reeled in two interceptions.

And Jones if absolutely loving it.

"I've seen a lot [from Heath]," Jones said, via The Dallas Morning News. "All of this stuff we saw last year. He wasn't getting a lot of playing time earlier in the season but he was coming in at critical situations and making good plays. That's what Jeff Heath's main thing is.

"Even on special teams, he's a core guy. He's a guy who is calling the plays, he's a personal protector on punt [coverage]. That's a big job. If there's one guy we can trust with that, it's Jeff Heath.

"Having him back there with me is awesome. He's helping me out there and we're making plays, as you could see [during minicamp]."

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That's quite the nod from a player with as much upside as Jones, whom will be looked upon to also take the next step in his career progression at the free safety position in 2017 -- his second consecutive season at the post.

Heath is rapidly proving he's more than just a special teams ace, and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli could not agree more.

"He's been that way since we've had him here," he said. "He's either punching it out, or he's picking it. He doesn't say anything, but he keeps saying [with his play] this is my resume, keep looking."

And keep looking they will, particularly as Heath battles second-year safety Kavon Frazier and rookie sixth-rounder Xavier Woods for the starting role this Fall. Even rookie second-rounder Chidobe Awuzie will challenge him for snaps alongside free safety Byron Jones, so Heath knows he has his work cut out for him.

Hauling in two interceptions to be begin minicamp certainly helps to make his case.

"I just try to have the mentality that when the ball is in the air, it's a free ball," said Heath during minicamp. "Coach Marinelli, he puts it like that. When you think about it, it's pretty simple, the ball is in the air and either the offensive guy is going to catch it or you're going to catch it.

"I just try to be aggressive and see my opportunities to make the play and just go for it.

"It felt good. We preach [turnovers]. That's what wins games, creating turnovers like that. I just try to have the mentality that when the ball is in the air, it's a free ball. ...ou have to have such a short memory, good or bad plays, just because you got to be on your stuff so much to succeed in this league. You might make a good play and they're coming at you again. It's not like they're scared. They're coming at you again on the next play. You got to be on your stuff or else you'll get exposed.

"Those are the things that when an opportunity presents itself, you got to capitalize, but after that you got to put it behind you and try to do it again."

The support for Heath is also picking up rapidly when it comes to the Cowboys' faithful. There's already a faction who support him through thick-and-thing -- aptly monikered the "Heath hive". Now others are beginning to hop on the train to Heathville, a town with exponential population growth.

Takeaways aren't new to Heath, and he's been known to do it when it matters as well. He has three interceptions in the past two seasons, while only registering one start. That's more than Church, Wilcox, Jones and former Cowboys' cornerbacks Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr -- none of them producing more than two since 2014.

He takes it seriously, admitting he studies film on All-Pros Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Eric Berry among others.

"They're making plays and it's not like the ball is just being thrown [to them]," said the four-year veteran. "They're seeing something and they're making great plays, so I try to kind of see what they see and put myself in that situation so when I'm in that situation in a practice or a game I can try to do the same thing."

The competition for the starting role will be stiff come training camp in July, but it's looking more and more like it's Heath's job to lose.

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