NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Rams

Cowboys

Cowboys ST coordinator John Fassel believes that teams are now aware of return specialist KaVontae Turpin after scoring twice in their preseason game against the Chargers. 

“He broke it and I was like, ‘Yeah, great for him!’” Fassel said, via the team’s official site. “But then, immediately, I thought, ‘Ugh, teams are going to be on him now.’”

Fassel reiterated that the “secret’s out” with Turpin. 

“You sign a guy in the middle of training camp, I don’t know maybe if I was just hoping that there was going to be a secret with him. Maybe there wouldn’t have been,” Fassel said. “The secret’s out, and I think he’s going to be really good.”

Fassel added that they could elect to be aggressive on kick returns and line up Turpin a couple of yards deep in the end zone. 

“I think when we’re on kickoff return, there’s probably not much we can do about having them put the ball in play,” Fassel said. “That’ll be a decision that the opponent will make. We’ll have a decision about how far back we want to move him back to return kickoffs, whether it’s on the goal line [or] a couple yards deep. The situation could call for being aggressive compared to being smart. On the punt, I think there’s ways to force the opponent to put the ball in play. We’re working on that right now. Because obviously anybody that goes against a Turpin- including us if he was on another team- you’re looking at, ‘How can we force this guy to make fair catches, or [do we] punt the ball out of bounds?’ I think that will be the mindset a lot of teams will have.”

• Turpin envisions himself as a big play threat for the team: “My mindset is to score every time I touch the ball…The guys, they know. After the Chargers game, they knew I was a big play waiting to happen, so they’re doing everything they can. And they don’t have to stay on their blocks too long because I’m gonna be gone.” (Jon Machota)

Giants

Giants WR Sterling Shepard (Achilles) confirmed that he is “ready to go” for Week 1.

“Yep, ready to go,” said Shepard, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.

Shepard mentioned that his original goal was to return earlier in the offseason program similar to Rams RB Cam Akers. 

“My original goal was to [come back] like Cam Akers, and he did it two months before I did it. That was crazy,” Shepard said. “That was my original goal. It didn’t work out that way, but I wanted to come back early. I worked my ass off and that is what I did.”

Shepard added that he wants to be available for all 17 games and manage his body for a full season. 

“I just want to be reliable for my teammates. I want to stay on the field. I want to play a full 17 [games]. That’s my personal goal,” Shepard said. “I know if I’m on the field I’m going to do my thing. That has never been my problem. It’s a physical game we play. Stuff happens from time to time. Just taking care of my body the best I can and play my game. Whatever happens, happens. I don’t think about anything. I just play.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay admits that they weren’t “ready to go” for Thursday’s game against the Bills. 

“When you look at the lot of the ways this game unfolded, I feel a huge sense of responsibility to this team,” said McVay, via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. “We weren’t ready to go. I take a lot of pride in that, that’s on me. I gotta do better. … This was a humbling experience, but we’re gonna stay connected.”

Rams QB Matthew Stafford said that the offense must do a better job of capitalizing on turnovers forced by their defense. 

“I thought our defense played great in the first half, they give us turnovers like that, we gotta do something better with the football, capitalize with it, get more points out of those,” said Stafford. 

McVay added that Buffalo’s offense executed at a high level on third downs. 

“That was tough,” said McVay. “Really, I thought (the Bills’) execution was pretty good (on third down). We were tight, they were tight-window throws and catches and Josh was able to create a little bit with his legs. You give credit to those guys, that’s gonna be a really, really good football team.”