NFC Notes: Commanders, Dan Quinn, DeMarvion Overshown, Cowboys, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Dan Quinn is back in the playoffs as a head coach for the first time since his first stint as a head man with the Falcons. In between, Quinn was fired and had to embark on a serious process of self-evaluation to try and earn a second chance at a head coaching gig. It included a revamp of his defensive scheme and enlisting a reporter to compile brutally honest anonymous feedback from his fellow coaches. 

“At the time, I didn’t know there was this silver lining, honestly, to getting fired in October,” Quinn said via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. “It’s lonely and it sucks, but I wouldn’t have done as much because I had this time and space to dig in.”

“If you don’t learn from it and apply what you learned, then all the pain of going through what you did is lost,” Quinn added. “I didn’t want that emotion or pain of not getting it done to be lost.”

Cowboys

Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown suffered torn ACL, MCL, and PCL of his right knee in Week 14. He said surgeons used his patellar tendon in his left knee to repair his ACL.

“I’m out of patellar tendons,” Overshown said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “This is it. You have two good ones. Two good enough to reconstruct your other ACL.”

Ocershown already had screws inserted in his surgically repaired left knee. He explained doctors had to remove the screws and broke their mallet during the process. 

“He said my bone was so strong and so dense that he broke his mallet,” Overshown said. “I got some strong, healthy bones. For people that say drink milk to get strong, healthy bones, that is not true. I do not like milk at all. But according to the doc, I have some of the most dense bones he’s ever seen.”

Overshown has not been given a timeline for his return and does not think it’s wise to rush it. 

“They haven’t really tried to talk timelines with me, just because they know how I am,” Overshown said. “Don’t tell me that I’m going to miss the whole season. Don’t tell me I can play at the beginning of the season. Being me, I’m going to try to get there right now. I think it’s kind of like last year, we’re going to get to the nine-month period, see how I am, start working me in and wait until I’m fully comfortable and healthy. I don’t think there’s a point in rushing me back out there or me trying to rush myself back out there, knowing that when I’m healthy, I can come back and do what I was doing when I left the field. I don’t think it’s a big focus right now on getting me back too fast, but I’ll be back playing football for sure in 2025. And it won’t be in December. It will be before that.”

• ESPN’s Todd Archer mentions that the Cowboys’ assistant coaches all have the same negotiating period as HC Mike McCarthy through January 14th, meaning other teams require permission to speak with any Dallas assistants until then.

Giants

Giants CB Deonte Banks said it’s his goal to play more consistently in 2025 to prove he was worthy of a first-round pick. 

“I’m always confident, but I feel like I have to be more consistent and then I’ll be straight,” Banks said, via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “You have to be more consistent in how you approach things and be consistent in your play — consistent with your eyes, consistent with your keys, stuff like that.”

Banks allowed 49 receptions for 689 yards and six touchdowns in 2024. He understands what he needs to improve as New York’s No. 1 cornerback. 

“I really do know what it’s about now,” Banks said. “I didn’t know some stuff, but I think I know what I need to do and what’s being asked of me. I want to follow the No. 1 [receiver]. But I don’t get into that whole label. I’m cool with whatever. I just want to go out and play and do what I do.”

Giants DC Shane Bowen feels Banks has the “right mindset” going into 2025.

“Obviously he would like to have a little bit more production than what he’s had,” said Bowen. “Hopefully we can get there and he can continue to progress to that. But he’s got the right mindset. It’s just a matter of continuing to grow up.”