Commanders
New Commanders OC Eric Bieniemy came to Washington to bet on himself with full control of an offense. His impact is already being felt, as Bieniemy was a vocal presence during minicamp practices this past week. Commanders HC Ron Rivera says he can feel the excitement from how many offensive players have been in attendance at voluntary OTAs so far.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that are here working, doing things they need to. They’re doing it with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement,” Rivera said via the Athletic’s Ben Standig. “I think a lot of it has to do with what we’ve done on the offensive side. … I think Eric has brought some optimism and you listen to the guys talk about it.”
Bieniemy’s fingerprints are on other areas. The coaches are arriving at the building at 7 am instead of 8 and Bieniemy has tweaked other parts of the schedule. He had a big say in bringing in sixth-round RB Chris Rodriguez and Rivera added he’s intrigued by how current RB Antonio Gibson fits “what [Bieniemy] wants to do with the offense.”
“He’s constantly with these coaches and constantly going through little detail things,” Rivera said. “It’s been real interesting to watch the way he handles things.”
Cowboys
Cowboys LB Micah Parsons requested former Bengals and Rams LT Andrew Whitworth to work out with him in Texas for three days and the veteran obliged him.
“You could tell, even in just those reps,” Whitworth told Albert Breer of SI.com. “You get a feel, having played against a trillion guys over the years, the guys who can set you up, and who have a real feel. And just in those two plays we went against each other, I could see that ability.”
“At first, it was like, I’m not sure this makes sense,” Whitworth continued. “And then you think about it, and it’s just like, what a genius idea. … Why wouldn’t you want that? He is a dynamic person just in how driven he is. He was so excited to be doing the work the whole time, just to try to find that little thing that he needed, and that’s unique—to be as good as he is but still so hungry to find the next edge.”
“I just think it’s crazy that it was on his mind to do this,” Whitworth added. “It’s really cool that that’s his perspective, that he’s trying so hard to find a way to get a percent better. You just think about the humbleness of it, and not because I’m so great or anything, but just to want to work with someone you don’t know like that. It’s awesome that he’s wired that way. The dude is different.”
Giants
Former NFL OL Jeremiah Sirles is one of the agents who represent Giants C John Michael Schmitz and has experience playing under OL coach Bobby Johnson and HC Brian Daboll during a season with the Bills.
“Got a lot of trust in him,” Daboll said of Sirles, via Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic. “It’s good to be able to bounce some things off of him regarding players that he may represent.”
“You have a young center now who you can mold and shape and work with and grow into becoming the 10-year starting center that you hope he can be,” Sirles noted. “I think that he and Bobby are really gonna meld well together with that, and just kind of create what they want the perfect New York Giants center to be.”
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