Commanders

• Commanders WR Terry McLaurin (hip/quad) was scheduled to practice this week. (JP Finlay)
• However, McLaurin was not spotted at the portion of practice open to reporters on Thursday. (Adam Schefter)

Cowboys

Cowboys WR George Pickens was asked if he would want to remain in Dallas beyond this season. Pickens is scheduled to hit free agency for the first time in his career.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Pickens said, via ESPN. “The guys in the locker room are super cool. The energy is great. But, like I’ve said, I always want to showcase my talents, most definitely.”

Pickens added that he isn’t putting too much thought into his next contract and is focused on the season.

“I probably wouldn’t say all that because I’m definitely in the middle of the season, so I’m not fully, fully thinking about it. I kind of just want to keep going and see how far we can get as far as the playoffs and things like that.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was also non-committal about re-signing Pickens and offering him a big extension when the team is already paying WR CeeDee Lamb.

“In every aspect of it, he’s doing more than we did expect or that we could have expected,” Jones said. “And what’s really special is he’s a real plus to have around the team. He’s a real plus around his teammates. He’s a great plus around those coaches, and the coaches really think highly of him. So he’s not only doing it on the field, he’s doing it as part of the team concept, and that’s very important and, in his particular case, should be noted. You know, we’ll weigh that. We knew full well that if things really went like we want them to go, that certainly we needed to think about having some room available if we were going to pay a second receiver at that level.”

• Lamb returned to practice on Wednesday and has a chance to return from his ankle injury this week. (Jon Machota)

Eagles

Veteran DE Za’Darius Smith announced his retirement from the NFL this week. Philadelphia DC Vic Fangio said he was surprised by Smith’s decision, but they will make things work going forward. 

“We’ll have to absorb those snaps up with the rest of the guys and we’ll make it work,” Fangio said, via ProFootballTalk.

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