NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

Cowboys’ QB Andy Dalton is unhappy to have missed two games this season due to circumstances that were out of his control.

He first missed a game due to a concussion suffered on a devastating hit from Washington LB Jon Bostic, then another following a bout with COVID-19 that left him without his sense of taste and smell.

“It was a little frustrating,” Dalton said. via Todd Archer of ESPN. “You miss the one game because of the concussion, first time dealing with that, and then the COVID. It’s like, it all kind of hit at once. I wish I could have been out there. I wish I could have played in the two games that I missed. Everything is out in front of us. That’s the crazy thing with how this season has gone. Some games we feel like we have had chances in. All of that stuff doesn’t matter at this point. Now we have to move forward. We have to think about these next seven games, and that is all our focus is what we have in front of us.”

Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said Dak Prescott is “ahead of schedule” with his recovery from an ankle injury.

“He’s been so diligent in his rehab. They said if anything, he’s ahead of schedule and rolling. We expect a full recovery,” said Jones, via Jon Machota.

• OUT for Week 11: C Tyler Biadasz (hamstring)
• QUESTIONABLE for Week 11: DE Randy Gregory (illness), DE Demarcus Lawrence (illness)

Eagles

Eagles HC Doug Pederson said TE Zach Ertz (ankle) “probably needs a little more time” before returning from the injured reserve. 

“This was a good week for him, much like Isaac was last week,” Pederson said, via Zach Berman. 

• The Philadelphia Eagles are bringing in DB Jameson Houston for a tryout this week, according to Aaron Wilson.
• Eagles’ passing game coordinator/QBs coach Press Taylor and WRs coach Aaron Moorehead are going through COVID-19 protocols and will not travel with the team to the Browns for Week 11. 
• OUT for Week 11: S Rudy Ford (hamstring)

Giants

• Mike Silver reports that tensions between Giants HC Joe Judge and former OL coach Marc Colombo began weeks before Colombo was fired and actually started during an incident on the practice field.
• According to Silver, Judge corrected the technique of center Nick Gates during practice several weeks ago and Colombo disagreed with the correction. Judge was reportedly angered by this and it ultimately led to him being “frosty” with Colombo.
• Silver says the Giants’ offensive line began to show improvement after struggling early on in the season and Colombo, who was popular with players, finally got them in a good spot before his firing.
• Tensions reportedly escalated after Judge began ripping first-round pick Andrew Thomas in a film session. Colombo stepped in to defend Thomas, which only led to more issues between the Judge and Colombo.
• Silver adds that the situation remains an “open sore” and many of the team’s offensive linemen are unsure what the change will mean and whether they’ll have to relearn techniques on the fly.

Washington

Washington HC Ron Rivera said they would’ve considered selecting QB Joe Burrow at No. 2 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft if the Bengals didn’t pick him with the top selection. However, they still feel great about DE Chase Young. 

“We feel like championships are won by playing good defense. We felt pretty strongly about him [Chase Young]. The only other option we felt was a viable one for us was [Joe] Burrow and obviously he was taken by Cincinnati,” Rivera said, via James Rapien of Sports Illustrated. “We think Joe is the full package. We really do. We think Chase is the full package. Depending on what Cincinnati did, that’s what we were going to do. The opposite. We didn’t think we would lose out either way. We really didn’t. We think both players are going to be great players and have great careers and we’re fired up that we have Chase.”

Rivera expects Burrow to have a “better than solid” career in the NFL. 

“He’s going to be a solid player in this league for a very long time. In fact, he’ll be better than solid,” Rivera said. “I like him. I think he’s a solid young man. I really enjoyed my opportunity to talk with him and listen to him talk about things. I think he’s a guy who’s going to continue to grow. I really do. He’s done nothing but be impressive the way he’s handling things, the way he’s gone about his business.”

• OUT for Week 11: DE Ryan Anderson (knee), S Deshazor Everett (ankle), T Cornelius Lucas (ankle), LB Jared Norris (hamstring)
• QUESTIONABLE for Week 11: K Dustin Hopkins (right groin), WR Dontrelle Inman (hamstring), LS Nick Sundberg (illness), WR Isaiah Wright (illness)