NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Washington, Cam Newton

Cowboys

• Cowboys DC Dan Quinn said LB Jaylon Smith and LB Leighton Vander Esch‘s usage isn’t set in stone. They played just 16 and 14 snaps respectively on Thursday: “This is early. We’re certainly expecting those guys to play a lot. Some games, it will be a lot. Some games, it will be more balanced. …I would expect that to move around as the season progresses.” (Michael Gehlken)

Eagles

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni said that his team’s “dog mentality” came out today and complimented his second-year QB Jalen Hurts on being in control of the game. Hurts said it wasn’t so much about being in control, but just going out and executing what he was coached to do, and played within the system.

“It’s not a thing about control. It’s a thing of me going out there and doing what I’m coached to do,” Hurts said via The Athletic. “I always talk about executing. I want to execute at a high level, whatever that is, running the ball, throwing the ball, alignment things, situation things, I just want to execute at a high level, so we go through it. We’re on the same page, we prepare together, we do all these things together. We try and be on the same page when we go about our business.” 

• Sirianni said Eagles WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside is day-to-day with an ankle injury while S Marcus Epps is in the concussion protocol. (Zach Berman) 

Giants

• The Athletic’s Dan Duggan mentions Giants WR Sterling Shepard‘s dead money cap hit increased from $4 million to $8 million in 2022 after his deal was restructured, making him more likely to stick around next year.
• According to Duggan, DB Logan Ryan‘s restructured contract means the team may be less likely to extend S Jabrill Peppers.
• NBC Sports’ Peter King says the Giants were also interested in signing RB Latavius Murray before he landed with the Ravens.