NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

• Given how the Cowboys’ offense has hummed along nicely without WR Michael Gallup, ESPN’s Todd Archer thinks Dallas could consider trading him to bolster another position on the roster, especially because Gallup is in a contract year. 
• Cowboys WR coach Adam Henry called their receivers group “very cerebral” and praised Amari Cooper‘s leadership: “It’s a little different, I’m used to more personalities. But this group is very intriguing, very cerebral. … It really is a great group. Within that (WR) room, Coop has done a good job of just talking to the younger guys and bringing them along.” (Jon Machota)

Eagles

Eagles OC Shane Steichen said they must find ways to incorporate RB Miles Sanders into their offense more frequently after having just nine carries in Week 6. 

“Miles is a heck of a back,” Steichen said, via Josh Tolentino of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’ve got to get him going.”

Although Eagles QB Jalen Hurts believes their offense is “executing well enough,” the quarterback feels he must improve going forward. 

“I think this offense is executing well enough. I think I haven’t executed well enough to win, clearly. I take responsibility for that. I always take responsibility for that because the ball is in my hands every play, and I enjoy that. I have to be better.”

Steichen explained that their read-option offensive scheme plays into how defenses plan for them, which can dictate how they run the ball with Hurts and Sanders. 

“There’s a lot of detail that goes into it because when you start running zone read a lot, teams are going to play you different,” Steichen said. “When you’re looking at teams and you’re scheming up certain things and you see what they’re doing defensively, they’re not going to always play the same way because of the quarterback we have. I’m not going to get into too much scheme on how teams are doing it, but teams do play it differently when you’re running that type of stuff.”

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni believes their offense is still working on figuring out what their “identity is as a team.” 

“We’re looking at our self-scout,” Sirianni said. “We have more time obviously this week to be able to not only go into the run-pass ratio of things, but also into marrying some plays together and [discovering] what your identity is as a team. We are growing, we are finding it out more and more each week, and obviously we’re accelerating that as much as we possibly can to put our guys in the best position we possibly can put them in.”

• ESPN’s Tim McManus lists Eagles LB T.J. Edwards as a  potential trade candidate ahead of the deadline for a team looking for help at linebacker and on special teams.
• Sirianni said they are taking things “day-by-day” with OT Lane Johnson after missing three weeks due to a personal matter. (Zach Berman)

Giants

• ESPN’s Jordan Raanan lists Giants TE Evan Engram as a  potential trade candidate ahead of the deadline and adds New York should look to get what they can out of him in a contract year.
• Fansided’s Matt Lombardo, citing conversations he’s had around the league, writes that it’s his impression that the Giants will have a difficult time trading Engram.
• Lombardo adds that the Bills are a team to watch for Engram if any deal does come up. 
• Giants first-round WR Kadarius Toney (ankle), WR Kenny Golladay (knee) and RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) worked with trainers on Wednesday. (Ralph Vacchiano)
• Giants HC Joe Judge said recently signed OT Isaiah Wilson has “got a little ways to go” but is making progress. (Zack Rosenblatt)
• The Giants hosted DL Woodrow Hamilton, DT Treyvon Hester, and DT Xavier Williams for workouts on Tuesday. (Aaron Wilson)

Washington

• ESPN’s John Keim lists Washington DT Tim Settle as a  potential trade candidate ahead of the deadline, pointing out he’s in a contract year and Washington has plenty of depth at defensive tackle.
• Washington QB Taylor Heinicke feels that he’s trying to over-perfect every detail over the last two weeks: “I’ve been trying to be perfect, trying to make the perfect read every play. It doesn’t allow me to be who I am… It’s something we’ve talked about.”  (Keim)
• Washington HC Ron Rivera said he’s told S Landon Collins that he views him as a “downhill linebacker” rather than a traditional safety. (Nicki Jhabvala)
• Regarding Washington cutting K Dustin Hopkins in favor of K Chris Blewitt, Rivera said it was his decision to go with Blewitt: “We just felt that we needed to do something going forward. … This was my move, my decision and I’ll live with it.” (Jhabvala)
• Washington also K Lirim Hajrullahu, C Garrison Sanborn and K Sam Sloman for workouts on Tuesday.  (Aaron Wilson)