NFC Notes: Commanders, Cowboys, Giants

Commanders

After changing his mind to return to Washington, Bills GM Brandon Beane voiced frustration with the Commanders, accusing them of continuing to pursue RB J.D. McKissic after they had reached an agreement.

“Once you have an agreement, the agent’s supposed to say it’s over,” Beane said, via ESPN. “And this agent did that. And this agent told the other club it’s over. But the other club didn’t back off.”

McKissic said that he had unfinished business in Washington, which is the main reason why he chose to return to the Commanders.

“You can’t ask for a better organization to be chosen by, but I had unfinished business in Washington. The way we left off, we felt we were inclining…I had things I wanted to prove in Washington. I made my decision off where I wanted to be. Buffalo is a great organization, but I feel we can do great things here as well.”

Cowboys

Cowboys WR James Washington said that coming home to play for Dallas is a “dream come true.”

“This is like a small-town kid’s dream, to play for the Dallas Cowboys,” Washington said, via Cowboys Wire. “I’m living it out, for sure.”

Washington will compete for snaps at the wide receiver position, but noted that he spoke with HC Mike McCarthy who plans to get him involved all over the field.

“I actually talked to Coach McCarthy,” he revealed. “We’re going to play everywhere, and we’re going to do whatever I need to do to help this team get down the field and get in the end zone.”

Giants

Giants EDGE Jihad Ward said he joined New York to play under DC Wink Martindale, and believes that Martindale can help extend his career.

“I wanted to go somewhere they’re going to make me feel loose, and Wink is one of those coaches where basically he’s going to make me extend my career being the best that I can be,” Ward said, via NY Post. “Wink is one of the coaches that did a hell of a job with me when I was a Raven, so I’m here now and ready to win some games.”

Ward believes that he can help make the Giants’ defensive line a position of strength on the team.

“I can bring a lot to the team,” Ward said. “The most important thing I can bring to the table is just trying to win games, dominating the edge and then dominating the D-line. I believe that I can be one of the best up there and one of the top-tier D-linemen. So, when you play the Giants, the D-line is going to be one that’s mentioned.”

Ward said that he love the fact that Martindale is not afraid to blitz.

“Basically, just coming in with that aggression,” Ward said of Martindale’s philosophy. “You don’t know when we’re going to come. That’s his type of style. We’re going to come at you.”

Ward adds that Martindale’s scheme will feature a lot of versatility and different fronts depending on game plan, making it harder for opponents to prepare against.

“The only thing is with the rest of the D-line that’s here, we’ve just got to basically understand its different types of fronts,” Ward said. “It’s quite difficult for us, and we’ll change the scheme up based on whatever the personnel is. It’s going to be a lot of [creating] confusion and versatility.”