Brandon Carr added a little spice to the Cowboys-Giants rivalry in March, declaring on ESPN’s NFL Live that he didn’t plan on seeing any salsa dancing from New York’s Victor Cruz.

As Cruz noted to New York reporters this week, it would have really been news if Carr said he expected to see the Giants’ star receiver celebrating touchdowns.

But every comment that can be considered a little bit of trash talk between these two teams gets blown up. That’s fine with the mild-mannered Carr, the Cowboys’ new $50 million cornerback.

“It’s a goal of mine,” Carr said. “You’ve got to set your goals high and go get them. So I set the bar high. Now it’s up to me to go out there and back up my words.”

Carr meant no disrespect to Cruz, who he calls one of the league’s elite playmakers. In fact, Carr said it’s “kind of cool” after learning this week that Cruz does the salsa dance as a tribute to his grandmother.

But Carr considers it a personal challenge to keep the NFC’s third-leading receiver from last season from continuing to kill the Cowboys, hinting that he’ll be shadowing Cruz all over the field in Wednesday night’s season opener.

“That’s my mentality,” Carr said. “I know his mentality is he’s going to try to get the best of me. It’s going to be a dogfight. That’s what we play for. This is the type of game you dream about as a kid, facing one of the best receivers in the NFL at this current time. You get the first crack at him to see what you’ve got and see what he has. It’s going to be a dogfight.

“I’m excited about the opportunity just to lace up with the Cowboys and represent. Those words, what I said in March, I kind of figured the media would take it however and run with it, which is fine. But there’s no added pressure with those remarks. I’m going to go out there and play my game.”