NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

• Per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones reiterated his belief Dallas would eventually extend QB Dak Prescott: “I feel confident we’ll get one.”
• Jones praised what DT Trysten Hill has done to step up and earn the starting job after the injury to Gerald McCoy: “He has shown why we were so optimistic about him in the draft. …He deserves to be the starter.” (Michael Gehlken)
• Jones is also happy the NFL will reinstate DE Randy Gregory at some point this season: “He’s really doing well off the field. It goes without saying what we think about him as a player. He’s just going to add to what we think is a really stout defensive front. You can’t have enough of these pass rushers.” (Jon Machota)
• Jones said there’s still not much happening with S Earl Thomas: “I don’t like to comment on players who aren’t on this team. Certainly we’re real happy with our roster. We made a couple of good additions there, but we’re really pleased with the makeup of our roster.” (Machota)

Eagles

• NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo says Eagles OL Jason Peters agreed to move to left tackle from right guard without the pay bump he had been seeking. 
• Garafolo says the Eagles could still give him a raise for moving but Peters made the decision as a show of good faith in the organization. 
• Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice highlights Eagles LB Nathan Gerry, S Jalen Mills and DE Derek Barnett as potential in-season extension candidates. 
• He adds he doesn’t see Philadelphia being in a huge rush to extend TE Zach Ertz given he still has two years left on his deal. 
• Eagles QB Carson Wentz returned to practice and says he was out while dealing with some minor groin tightness. (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
• Eagles CB Cre’Von LeBlanc received some interest from other teams when the team released him yesterday to clear room to put players on short-term IR, but he elected to stay in Philadelphia. (Mike Kaye)

Giants

• Per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, new Giants CB Logan Ryan said he’s comfortable playing outside corner if the team asks him to do that. Where exactly he’s being deployed is “G-5 classified, ask Joe Judge type of information” per Ryan. 

Washington

One of the first items on new Washington HC Ron Rivera‘s docket when taking the job was figuring out what to do with 2019 first-round QB Dwayne Haskins, who had a rough rookie transition to the NFL. Rivera sought out Haskins’ head coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer, who gave him the blueprint to getting the most out of Haskins: challenge him. And that’s exactly what Rivera did throughout the offseason. 

“He really explained Dwayne to me,” Rivera said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “And the biggest thing he told me, ‘You have to challenge him, Coach. Challenge him.’ And so when I met with him, after I’d studied him and watched him on tape, I challenged him. I challenged him on a couple things. I challenged him to be more mature, and not worry about what’s going on in the world of social media. Two, I talked about working on leadership, understanding how important it is to lead, and sometimes lead by example, not necessarily through what you say.

“I also challenged him on transforming himself, both physically and mentally. And then I challenged him on working on specific aspects of his game, his footwork, his decision-making, his movement skills.”