NFC Notes: Brandin Cooks, Tommy DeVito, Commanders, Cowboys, Giants

Commanders

Commanders DC Jack Del Rio believes his defense played a solid game overall but got hurt on two big plays.

“I thought we did a good job defensively last week,” Del Rio said, via Commanders Wire. “We had two plays that got away from us. One in the pass, one in the run. And other than that, we played real, real well.”

Del Rio added that the explosive plays given up has prevented his unit from being rated as highly as they were in 2022.

“Yeah, explosive plays allowed. That’s been the big problem,” Del Rio explained. “We’re playing solid in a lot of areas, but the explosive plays allowed. Many of them kind of gift-type situations are the ones that keep us from ranking well and being able to beat our chest and say, look at our rank right here, which doesn’t mean a whole lot. I think what really means the most is give your football team a chance to win, play complementary football, and make sure we’re getting the ball back for our offense as often as possible.”

Del Rio was also pleased with the performance of rookie CB Emmanuel Forbes last week.

“I think he’s just working at it,” Del Rio said. “You know, he’s a good young player. We believe in him. He’s just gotta grind and work. That’s what he has done, and that allowed him to get himself back in the game, and then he played well.”

Cowboys

Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks said he isn’t getting frustrated by the lack of targets.

“Getting frustrated, all that’s going to do is affect your mentals,” Cooks said, via PFT. “(And) go down a route that you don’t want to go down.”

Cooks believes his time will come and is trusting what the team is doing offensively.

“I truly am just going to keep trusting it,” Cooks said. “That’s who I am. In my mind, it’s get back to work and work harder and when it comes, it’s going to come. I mean that. I really do.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones refuted the idea that Cooks was a bad fit in the offense.

“No…He’s indispensable because he gives us that speed receiver but he gives an outstanding receiver as well as the speed,” Jones said. “We need that.”

• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said they still have “a lot of confidence” in RT Terence Steele after struggling in Week 9 against the Eagles and feels they can help his side more effectively: “We got a lot of confidence in Steele. That was a pretty impactful situation we had there with the pressures. But we can do better there. We can do better with help there as well,” via Jon Machota. 
• Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks is confident he’ll start showing more production: “I truly am just going to keep trusting it. That’s who I am. In my mind, it’s like get back to work and work harder. When it comes it’s gonna come. I mean that. I really do.” (Machota)

Giants

Giants QB Tommy DeVito is up for the challenge of starting for New York and is not approaching the game differently than he normally would.

“I think it’s a shock to everybody. Not to have one quarterback but two quarterbacks go down, I mean it’s tough,” DeVito said, via Giants Wire. “The quarterback position runs the team, and to have one and two go down like that, you would’ve never guessed that to happen. But again, it’s a physical game, injuries happen, it’s part of it, it’s the worst part about the game, but it’s the next man up mentality and like I said before, I’m going to rely on everyone else around me.”

DeVito said he’ll be more prepared this week to take on the role of leading the offense.

“I’ll be able to run the plays that were going to be running on Sunday and I won’t be doing all the scout team things that I would be doing,” DeVito explained. “I’ll be more prepared and comfortable in that aspect. But as far the mental, the meetings, everything else that goes into it is going to stay the same.”

• Giants QB Tyrod Taylor doesn’t believe his rib injury is season-ending: “Not season-ending in my mind,” Taylor said, via PFT.