The reason Cedric Thornton chose to sign with the Cowboys in March is pretty simple. He thought they gave him the best opportunity to win a Super Bowl ring.

Thornton, who was largely signed to play the one-technique defensive tackle position, is a student of the game with a major in evaluating offensive lines. Needless to say, he thinks very highly of the Cowboys' starting five.

But since signing his four-year deal, Thornton has been somewhat surprised by his new defensive line teammates.

"I didn't know they were this athletic," Thornton said. "Tyrone Crawford, Jack Crawford, DeMarcus Lawrence, David Irving, Randy Gregory, Terrell McClain, Ryan Russell, like everybody is athletic.

"It's similar to what we had in Philadelphia. I study offensive linemen and I never studied the [defensive line] group before I came here. Just to come here and see how athletic these guys are, very nimble guys to be able to move at a bigger weight. I'm just glad to be a part of the group."

Thornton (6-4, 295) spent the previous five seasons in Philadelphia where he was a starter the last three. In 61 career games, he has 171 tackles and four sacks.

Although he played defensive end in Philly's 3-4 scheme, Thornton was added for his versatility to play multiple positions in Rod Marinelli's 4-3 front.

"I'm adapting pretty well and the teammates have made it better for me," Thornton said. "They understand that I haven't been in this format, in this situation in the 4-3 defense and they're being very patient with me. And we eat out once a week to get that correlation together off the field. It's pretty smooth so far."

Here are a few other highlights from a recent interview with Thornton.

On the difference between an offseason with the Eagles and one with the Cowboys:

"A lot more aggressive, a lot more impact in our walkthroughs, and [they] expect us to be in better condition than we were in Philadelphia. Coach Garrett, Coach Marinelli, all the coaches around here, have very high expectations for us right now going into the OTAs and into the minicamp. So are the training camp expectations. It's definitely different in that aspect as far as Philadelphia. But I like it. I love it."

On if the pace at OTAs and minicamp surprised him:

"I wouldn't say the pace surprised me, just as far as being in top conditioning. I'm usually not coming in conditioning in OTAs and minicamps. And you got to be in condition here in order to run to the ball. They expect you to do that every down."

On something that has stood out so far about Marinelli:

"Self-talk. Whisper to yourself. He just encourages us to whisper to ourselves day in and day out. Just try to be funny. Have self-talk. Even when it's hot out there, just try to talk ourselves into practicing the same way every day. He's a very amusing guy. He turns situations that are not so hilarious into hilarious situations. Just the words he says as far as technical and game-planning, he can put those words in very descriptive detail for you. He's been around a long time and you can tell."