Commanders
Commanders RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt fumbled four times in 2025 and did so once in Washington’s Week 1 loss to the Eagles, leading to him being benched. When asked about Croskey-Merritt’s ball security, HC Dan Quinn said that taking care of the football is a “premium for us.”
“Yeah, I think the ball security, that’s definitely the premium for us,” Quinn said, via CommandersWire. “You’ve heard me talk about it a lot. I love kind of the twitch that you see with Bill. You know, when we can get him onto the second and the third level, that presents a real problem from a tackling standpoint. I think we saw that almost on the opening play, where there’s a chance to go onto a big one. He’s decisive in his cuts. I think that’s been a stronger part of his game as it’s going. He’s a stronger person right now, just from the offseason and development, so you’re seeing those things. I think the zone game suits him because he’s got the cutback ability. So, I think just the more reps he gets in it, the more [he’s] got time, he’s seeing the blocks, the offensive line knowing where he is. Those are things that just- we need time on task, but I’m pleased with what we’ve seen so far.”
Cowboys
Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer said rookie DB Caleb Downs is a chess piece for the defense, but they prefer having him in the slot or in the box.
“I think Caleb played really, really well,” Schottenheimer said, via Fox Sports. “Jaxson Dart never saw him on the blitz. He gets a free run and the ball goes spiraling through the air, and the 320-pound guard [Runyan] catches it and rumbles for five yards. That’s kind of how the night went for us. But I think that’s one of the positives of what we did on defense: We attacked the ball. We had four forced fumbles. Caleb is a guy that can move around, but we like him down near the line of scrimmage.“
- Downs on his debut: “Did some good things. Some things to clean up. That’s how I’m always looking at it. Made a couple plays, a couple plays I wish I had back.” (Machota)
- Cowboys TE Brevyn Spann-Ford‘s three-year, $18 million extension includes a $4 million signing bonus and $12.575 million guaranteed. His $3.75 million salary in 2027 is guaranteed, along with non-guaranteed salaries of $3.75 million in 2028 and $5.5 million in 2029. He can also earn up to $1.5 million in per-game roster bonuses. (OverTheCap)
Eagles
Eagles first-round WR Makai Lemon finished his debut with three catches for minus five yards after he was tackled almost immediately on two plays behind the line of scrimmage. Lemon feels he has “lots to improve on,” including route details.
“Lots to improve on… Route details. Just making sure I define my routes and assignments,” Lemon said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia HC Nick Sirianni feels Lemon did plenty of good things in his first game that won’t show up in the stat sheet, such as blocking and being in the right spots.
“There’s a lot of things that Makai did in that game that don’t reflect on the stat sheet,” Sirianni said. “We constantly talk about that: What are you doing to help this team win the game, particularly if you’re a skill guy? That might not be able to be seen from the stat book or to the naked eye. What he’s always done a good job since he’s been here [is] blocking, doing the right things, being in the right spots. Obviously the ones that went to him [on Sunday] didn’t equal out to a big yardage game, right? But he did little things to help us win the football game that sometimes are unseen.”
Follow NFL Trade Rumors on X.com and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
