NFC Notes: Brian Daboll, Sam Howell, Bears, Commanders, Giants

Bears

Bears LG Teven Jenkins said focusing on one position this offseason is allowing him to fine-tune his technique. He’s expected to compete for a role at left guard after switching from the right side, where he played in college and so far in the NFL. 

“It lets me actually get good at my craft. It feels good because I can actually work on one thing instead of trying to flip flop sides and make sure I have equal work on both sides,” Jenkins said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. 

Commanders

Commanders HC Ron Rivera said QB Sam Howell still has “a lot of room for growth” but praised his mobility, decision-making, and arm strength. 

“He’s young, we know he is young,” Rivera said, via John Keim of ESPN. “There was a lot of room for growth, and we know that, but he’s got a good skillset. He’s mobile, he’s got good foot movement, he’s got quick twitch to him, good decision maker. He is still learning to make those decisions, but he’s also got the arm talent and that’s the thing that that excites us.”

Rivera wants Howell to continue improving his footwork

“You always want these young guys to understand how important it is,” Rivera said. “It’s a little bit different; the speed is different.”

Howell already feels “a lot better” under new OC Eric Bieniemy and began studying film of the Chiefs shortly after they signed him. 

“I feel like I’m a lot better,” Howell said. “Once I knew we had E.B. [Bieniemy] I was watching Kansas City film and seeing what they were doing. I was able to match up my footwork.”

Giants

When asked about constant roster development around the league, Giants HC Brian Daboll said it’s important to continue improving and sign players who can contribute. 

“It’s all about improvement as you know,” Daboll said, via GiantsWire. “You’re never the same team as you are from the year before and that’s the way the National Football League works.”

Daboll estimated about 30 percent of the roster is new and feels they showed good progress in OTAs. 

“So it’s not a full reset, but there’s, you know, call it 30% new roster people on your team,” said Daboll. “And I think we made some progress in the OTAs but, you know, certainly a long way to go, looking forward to getting the training camp.”

Daboll thinks it’s highly important to build strong offensive and defensive lines. 

“We believe everything starts up front with your offense and defensive lines and we think we’ve either added some pieces, retained some pieces. These guys are good players,” said Daboll.