NFC Notes: Cowboys, Falcons, Redskins

Cowboys

Cowboys OC Scott Linehan said Thursday that he owns the fact that the offense hasn’t been good enough this year.

“Everything we’re about is ownership and accountability this week,” Linehan said, per Brandon George. “I fully own that we haven’t been good enough offensively. It starts with me.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he doesn’t anticipate making any changes during the season.

“Jerry’s message is obviously very, very appropriate,” Linehan said, per George. “I think everybody has to look inward and not outward. We have got to be better at our jobs. We feel like if that’s our approach as individuals, we’ll be better as a team.”

• Based on the people he’s spoken to in Dallas, Albert Breer gets the sense that this is the first year that Cowboys HC Jason Garrett is coaching for his job.
• Breer adds that Jerry Jones firing Garrett could be viewed as his own failure, which is why it could be a hard decision for Jones to make.

Falcons

New Falcons DE Bruce Irvin says he’s hoping to help Takk McKinley and Grady Jarrett reach their full potential and be “the icing on the top.”

“I’m the icing on the top,” Irvin said, via Atlanta Falcons. “I’ve been around, I’ve had success and I know what it takes to be successful.”

• Irvin said of joining the Falcons: “Yesterday it hit me a little bit… I really was crying yesterday. This was a childhood dream for me… watching Michael Vick… Terance Mathis, this was always my dream so for me to be able to come and live it out it was a surreal moment.” (Tiffany Blackmon)

Redskins

Redskins HC Jay Gruden said he expects S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix‘s role to expand “quite a bit” moving forward.

“[H]e looks a lot more comfortable,” Gruden said, via Pro Football Talk. “He’s a very bright guy like I said last week. I think his role will expand quite a bit.”

• Redskins RB Chris Thompson has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
• John Keim says that this isn’t a big surprise, considering the rib issues he’s dealt with and the fact that he’s missed three of the last four games.
• In Thompson’s place, the Redskins will continue to deploy Kapri Bibbs in the third-down role.