NFC Notes: Commanders, Fletcher Cox, Eagles, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Ron Rivera said that WR Curtis Samuel was held out of Wednesday’s practice as a precaution after dealing with a groin injury last season. 

“Curtis was a rest day [Wednesday] out of an abundance of caution,” Rivera said, via CommandersWire. “He had a real good day on Monday. Worked really hard, uh, came in the next day. He was a little bit tight, and in talking with him and, and, and talking with [Trainer] Al Bellamy, you know, we decided, hey, let’s just be smart. We’ve had a really good offseason. He’s participated; he’s been in the middle of everything. So, we backed off, and we thought we’d back off these two days, and we’re really looking forward to seeing him back up on the field on minicamp on Tuesday.”

Rivera added that Samuel didn’t feel soreness in his groin and was only from the amount of work he put in on Monday. 

“No, the soreness is from the work,” Rivera said. “Okay. He came in, he had, like I said, he had a really big day on Monday and when he came out, he just said, I feel tight, feel sore overall generally. And so that was just one of the things we just said, look, we’ve had a real good, real good run with him. Let’s just be smart. And let’s see if we can get him back ready to go on Tuesday.”

Eagles

Eagles LB Fletcher Cox said that he was released this offseason and re-signed due to a missed deadline to restructure his contract. 

“It was just one of those things where they were trying to get things worked out,” Cox said, via EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I knew the team wanted me here, but just, what we had, there was a deadline before we could get things done.”

Cox mentioned that his agent, Todd France, tried to work on a restructured deal with GM Howie Roseman up until the deadline. 

“Everything was respectively professional,” Cox said. “I knew days or maybe a week or so before that we were trying to get things worked out, Todd and [general manager Howie Roseman] and the organization. It came to a point where, 4 or 5 o’clock it was, I was notified by my agent and all that, we kind of knew it would go down.”

Cox was confident that he would return to Philadelphia. 

“I knew that it was possible things would work out,” Cox said. “When you’re a free agent, teams do reach out. It’s part of the process; I get it. But the Eagles wanted me here, and I’m back now and getting ready now to go into training camp.”

Giants

• Giants QB Daniel Jones is learning to go down to the ground earlier in order to avoid injuries when on the run: “I think more than anything it’s just being aware in certain situations, and making the decision to go down earlier. I think there are things you can watch on tape and learn from it, and I’ll continue to learn.” (Pro Football Talk)