NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Redskins

Cowboys

A Cowboys staffer tells Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com that WR Dez Bryant “does very few things really well.”

“Based on last year, he does very few things really well,” the staffer said of Bryant.

Breer writes that Bryant is lucky to have two very powerful sponsors in the Cowboys’ facility in owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett, considering that others are questioning his value to the team.

In fact, Breer says that members of the Cowboys’ coaching staff began seeing Bryant’s ability start to slip all the way back in 2015 and not much has changed since then.

“Three years later, at the point in his career when some players reinvent themselves by becoming craftier, Bryant’s struggle to adjust to playing at a different speed has disappointed the team,” Breer writes. “He can’t run by anyone anymore. He lacks explosion, evident in the loss of inches off his vertical. He’s still inconsistent as a route-runner. He’s hard to count on for Dak Prescott. And as some there see it, he’s not doing enough to counteract all of that.”

According to Breer, it’s not crazy to think Bryant’s roster spot could still be in jeopardy.

Giants

New Giants DC James Bettcher said he was a fan of CB Eli Apple coming out of college.

“(He’s a) very talented player,” said Bettcher, via SNY.tv. “I (scouted) him when he was coming out in the draft, really liked his skill set. He’s a guy who can play man, who can press, who can play zone defense in space, who can break on the ball.”

While Apple has had his issues since arriving in New York, Bettcher stressed that everyone will have a clean slate starting Monday.

“Day 1 is Monday,” Bettcher said. “That’s how I will answer that. Day 1 is Monday and every guy that walks in that room, Day 1is Monday. So whatever happened before, whether it was here or whether it was with a different team … Day 1 is the first day those guys walk in the building and we’re going to build from there.”

• Jason La Canfora still expects the Giants to trade WR Odell Beckham Jr before the first day of the draft, given that keeping him and enduring a holdout would be a “mess” for them.
• Mike Garafolo believes the Giants are an interesting team for Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph, considering that a lot of what he ran in college is similar to Mike Shula‘s offense.
• Garafolo says that it’s looking like the Giants will not take a quarterback at No. 2 overall, but it’s possible they could try to jump back into round one to get Rudolph if he’s available.

Redskins

• John Keim reports that USC RB Ronald Jones will visit the Redskins on Monday. Redskins president Bruce Allen attended a makeup pro day for Jones Thursday.
• According to Keim, Allen had dinner with LSU RB Derrius Guice the night before his pro day.
• Keim says that the Redskins clearly have interest in upgrading at running back, but they may have a tough time landing either player, given that they could both come off the board between Washington’s No. 13 and No. 44 overall picks.