NFC Notes: Commanders, Eagles, Giants

Commanders

An NFL scout tells Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports that the Commanders got a steal in fifth-round quarterback Sam Howell. 

“With his talent, he should have never lasted that long in the draft,” said the scout. “That happens with quarterbacks. You don’t take them high if you don’t need them. But he was also inconsistent [in his final year at North Carolina]. There wasn’t a lot [of talent] around him, but the knock on him was that the tools were there, but he just didn’t look ready.”

Eagles

Eagles’ veteran DE Brandon Graham believes that his attitude and “a little bit of luck” has helped him reach Year 13 of his career. 

“A little bit of my attitude and a little bit of luck, got me to this place,” said Graham, via Zach Berman of The Athletic.  

Graham doesn’t think that his season-ending Achilles injury last season was severe as his knee injury in 2011 given the science behind the issue has improved. 

“It wasn’t as bad as my knee,” Graham said. “I was always scared of the Achilles because of what people said. But it’s a new day and age with the medicine. It was really a breeze, other than just trying to make sure I was in shape.”

Eagles’ veteran DT Fletcher Cox thinks that Graham’s condition is “the best he’s looked in a couple of years” and is more motivated after his Achilles injury. 

“He’s looked, honestly, the best he’s looked in a couple of years,” said Fletcher Cox, Graham’s teammate for a decade. “He’s always looked good, but now what motivated him times 10 was coming off the injury. BG, he’s into the media deal. He might have read something. Something lit a fire under BG right now. That’s the biggest thing for him. He looks really good. He’s in shape. … Whatever he’s doing, it’s working.”

Giants

Giants WR Kadarius Toney feels that he has “a lot to prove” and expects a bigger season out of himself in 2022. 

“I’m just hungry right now,” said Toney, via Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media. “I’ve got a lot to prove to myself. I know what I want to get done. I don’t really set goals or whatever, but I expect to do better than I did last year, I guess you could say.”

Toney feels that he must do a better job of staying healthy through a full season. 

“Football is unpredictable, so you can’t ever really say what’s going to happen or what’s not going to happen,” Toney said. “You can get hurt running routes on air out there [in practice]. It’s not really hard to get hurt. It’s just all about taking care of your body, all about recovery. So I guess I’ll just have to do a better job of doing that.”

Toney said he has always kept a “move-forward mentality” and is already putting last season’s struggles behind him.

“It’s already behind me,” Toney said. “I never really thought about the past. I always have a move-forward mentality.”