NFC Notes: A.J. Brown, Jalen Hurts, DeMarvion Overshown, Cowboys, Eagles

Cowboys

• Cowboys former QB Troy Aikman vouched for HC Mike McCarthy to return next season: “Short of Bill Belichick, I don’t know who you’re going to bring in that has a better resume. … I just feel that for a team that I really do not think is that far away … I like the way this team is playing right now, even without their franchise quarterback.” (Jon Machota)
• Aikman continued: “I sense that it’s a team that really believes in Mike McCarthy. I feel the locker room wants him back. I think he’s a really good football coach. I believe Jerry Jones thinks he’s a really good football coach, too. … As we stand and talk right now, I expect Mike McCarthy to be back in 2025.” (Machota)
• Dallas owner Jerry Jones shut down the idea of turning to QB Trey Lance as the starter: “I don’t think so. I thought we did some good things out there. I still believe (Cooper Rush) gives us our best chance. … Wins are important for us. This is a young team.” (Machota)
• Jones also commented on former Patriots HC Bill Belichick generating interest to coach at the college level: “I don’t know that I’ve seen a coach available, if you will, with his stature. He’s got a lot of gas left in his tank. A lot. He’s on the game. He’s savvy. He knows the personnel all over the league. There’s no learning curve there.” (Machota)
• Regarding LB DeMarvion Overshown, Jones put his 2025 season in doubt after he suffered a significant knee injury in Week 14. (Ian Rapoport)
• McCarthy thinks the likelihood of Overshown (knee) missing the entire 2025 season is a fair assessment: “I think that’s fair. Time of year, December, surgery, rehab a long process.” (Calvin Watkins)

Eagles

Eagles DE Brandon Graham commented earlier this week suggesting that the relationship between QB Jalen Hurts and WR A.J. Brown has worsened. Graham backtracked on those comments and said he made an assumption on a situation where he didn’t know the whole story. 

Eagles

Eagles WR A.J. Brown made headlines in his interview following Week 14’s win over the Panthers, where he said “passing” is what the offense needs to work on. When appearing on 94WIP, HC Nick Sirianni said he doesn’t think Brown was overtly criticizing Jalen Hurts and understands their passing attack needs to improve. 

“I didn’t take it that way,” Sirianni said. “You can do anything and spin it any way. I took it as we want to get better as a passing attack. A.J. is part of the passing attack. And so, we all want to be better at it. Jalen and A.J. are both really outstanding people and both really outstanding players. I love that our players are wanting to get better and desire to get better, and that’s what we talk about all of the time — is how we get better and be able to do things that are special.”

Eagles DE Brandon Graham commented that Brown needs to be more “accountable” and mentioned how the relationship between Brown and Hurts has appeared to change. 

“The person that’s complaining needs to be accountable,” Graham said. “I don’t know the whole story, but I know that [Hurts] is trying and [Brown] could be a little better with how he responds to things. They were friends before this, but things have changed, and I understand that because life happens. But it’s the business side that we have to make sure the personal doesn’t get in the way of the business.”

Sirianni doesn’t think there is bad blood between Brown and Hurts based on the interactions he sees with them every day. 

“All I can judge things on is what I see on a daily basis,” Sirianni said. “When I see A.J. and Jalen communicating about the game plan, eating lunch together every single day, praying with each other before the game. There’s going to be speculation, and I get it — rightfully so based on what has happened the last couple of days — but all you can do is judge what you see.”