NFC Notes: Commanders, Eagles, Giants

Commanders DC Jack Del Rio offered praise for assistant DL coach Ryan Kerrigan, who is currently in his first coaching gig following his retirement from the NFL.

“Yeah, he is doing his job as a coach, looking to help guys,” Del Rio said, via CommandersWire.com. “I think him having a different perspective, especially with the defensive ends and creating awareness as pass rushers and looking to attack different things that we identify throughout the week, that’s part of his job, help us put that rush plan together. I think he’s done a great job with it.”

• According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Commanders plan for DE Chase Young to make his debut in Week 15 against the Giants at home when Washington returns from its bye week. 
• According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, it is now mathematically improbable for Commanders QB Carson Wentz to play enough snaps to qualify the conditional pick Washington traded for him to the Colts to become a second instead of a third. 
• Wentz needed to hit 70 percent of the snaps to meet the condition but has played just 422 of the team’s 834 snaps this year. Jones writes he’d need to play six games at his current pace to hit 70 percent and there are only five games left, with QB Taylor Heinicke slated to start this week. 
• However, a team source said the decision to start Heinicke “had nothing to do with [that]” considering Washington is in the thick of the playoff race and draft picks are a smaller consideration relative to that. 
• Jones notes the team has definitively played better with Heinicke in the lineup compared to Wentz, but the performance of Heinicke himself hasn’t closed the door to Wentz re-entering the lineup at some point this season. 
• He adds Wentz has no guarantees left on his deal and can be cut this offseason without penalty. Heinicke is also in a contract year and setting himself up for a decent deal as a high-end backup or bridge starter, either with Washington or elsewhere. 

Eagles

• Per Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post, the Eagles are slated to have a top-ten pick from the Saints, and most people in the NFL expect GM Howie Roseman to flip that pick for a handsome profit: “What are the chances that Howie keeps that pick if someone is willing to pay a hefty price to move up for a quarterback? Five percent?” 
• Eagles WR Quez Watkins said he “should be fine” when asked about his shoulder injury. (Jeff McLane)
• Eagles WR A.J. Brown seemed unstoppable against his former team: “This one meant a lot to me. … I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.” (McLane)
• Eagles DT Javon Hargrave was feeling confident in the team’s abilities after their win over the Titans: “We knew the exact challenge. We manned up. We were physical. We showed out.” (Josh Tolentino)

Giants

Regarding the Giants’ upcoming game against the Commanders, S Landon Collins said that he doesn’t have any “hard feelings” about Washington after being cut in March. 

“I took this game more seriously,” said Collins, via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “Being here before, it felt like I had something to prove when I was playing against the Giants. I’ve got no hard feelings against Washington.”

Collins said that missing the past three games on the practice squad has been “frustrating” but is confident he’ll still make an impact at some point. 

“Frustrating, if I’m being honest,” Collins said. “But it’s good to teach these [younger] guys and answer questions, still be in the building and help out. I have hope … and once the opportunity comes, I’ll definitely go crazy when I get on the field.”

As for his time with the Commanders, Collins admitted that an Achilles and foot injury held him back in Washington and mentioned that the organization never followed up on a potential pay cut to remain with the team.  

“Injuries set me back over there,” Collins said. “I get the process. I wasn’t producing anything. When I was on the field, I tried to produce as much as I can. They wanted a pay cut, but they never gave me numbers on what it would be, so I was like, ‘I don’t have time to keep playing around. I need to figure out what’s going on.’”

• According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, free agent WR Odell Beckham wants to return to the Giants for a number of different reasons but the key is going to be if they’re competitive with the salary.
• Raanan adds the deal will be more about 2023 than 2022, as Beckham will still need time to ramp up coming off of a February torn ACL.