Cowboys
The Cowboys elected to keep just Joe Milton as their primary backup quarterback behind Dak Prescott. Dallas HC Brian Schottenheimer feels Milton settled into their offense throughout the preseason, and they are confident in him going into the regular season.
“We’re always looking at situations,” Schottenheimer said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic.. “Dak is our starter and Joe is the backup. I thought Joe settled in a little bit. It wasn’t perfect, but we feel very good about Joe and his direction and where he can go. Nothing says we’re not done looking around the league at all spots, not just quarterback. There’s going to be a lot of names out there in a lot of different positions and that process is already started for Will and his team. It will be a long night tonight and into the morning.”
Regarding the Cowboys’ fifth receiver role, Schottenheimer said Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Brooks were “neck and neck” for the spot, but they ultimately chose Flournoy because of his dominance on special teams.
“It was a tough one,” Schottenheimer said. “Tough conversation with Jalen Brooks. It was one of those things where we were going back and forth a lot. We have point-of-attack tapes, we have target tapes. And literally from the offensive side of it, was literally neck and neck. But over the past two or three weeks, I would say there’s been no one that has played special teams more dominant than Ryan Flournoy. As a gunner, he’s been unstoppable, whether they single him up, they vice him, because of his power and stuff like that. He’s done a really good job playing receiver with contested catches and versus press release and things like that. … And at the end of the day, when you turned on the special teams film, there was a guy that was doing it a very dominant level. That’s what tipped the scales in his direction.”
Schottenheimer said they are always looking for new players, and vice president of player personnel Will McClay is actively searching the market.
“Always be active,” Schottenheimer said. “Will McClay looks exhausted right now, but I don’t feel bad for him at all. I said, ‘Hey, I don’t want to hear it. Get back in there. Turn on some more film.’ He and his staff are working incredibly hard. Why? This is like a second draft. You’re going to have all these players that get released into the free-agency market and the waiver wire, and the way it’s set up, the claiming numbers and things like that where you can grab guys. I think we will definitely be active. What does that mean? I don’t know how many new faces there will be here compared to how many guys we bring back. But we’re open for business, if you will say.”
Eagles
The Eagles are still looking to determine their second outside cornerback opposite of Quinyon Mitchell, leading them to acquire Jakorian Bennett from the Raiders earlier this month. When asked about the cornerback spot, GM Howie Roseman responded that he doesn’t view it as a “weakness” going into the regular season.
“I think that we have a bunch of good players at the cornerback position,” Roseman said, via Zach Berman and Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. “I don’t think that’s necessarily a weakness on this football team.”
Roseman mentioned that Mitchell and Cooper DeJean give them strength atop the position group, and expressed confidence in Kelee Ringo.
“To have two young corners like that, that’s a position of strength,” Roseman said. “And then we have a lot of guys at that position who are young, who have a lot of talent in their body. You know, I’m excited about the corners that we have on this football team. So, you know, I kind of look at it a different way. When you look at those guys, they have different skill sets, they have different strengths. You talk about Kelee. I mean, Kelee is big. He’s fast. He’s strong. Kelee has shown that he’s one of the best special teams players in this league, which I think is a huge thing for our football team. So, I probably take it a little bit differently about that position. I think that that’s a position that we have strength in numbers there and I’m looking forward to seeing those guys play against Dallas.”
Giants
Giants WR Malik Nabers enters the season after being limited throughout their offseason program because of a back injury. Nabers said he is feeling good and is ready for Week 1.
“I feel good,” Nabers said, via ProFootballTalk. “I know it’s been a little ride but right now, I feel good. . . . I feel like I’m always ready. When it’s game time with those lights on, I believe my body is going to turn it on. He’s going to be ready to roll.”
The post NFC Notes: Joe Milton, Malik Nabers, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.