NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

Cowboys’ DE Brent Urban prides himself on being a player who can take on double teams and do the dirty work on the defensive line.

“I do a good job being stout up front, taking on double teams, and doing the dirty work to allow those guys to run free,” Urban said, via DallasCowboys.com. “That’s part of the reason I came here. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to continue to do that and help elevate this defense and allow the athletes to be athletes.”

Urban has no problem making his presence felt in camp and knows his role, saying that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win football games.

“You’ve got to,” Urban said via DallasNews.com “It’s not flashy, but you can identify the great defenses doing that job. It’s an important job. It’s one that takes a selfless individual to do. That’s something I pride myself on. I just want to win. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. I understand with my size and attributes, that’s what I’m good at.”

Giants

Giants’ CB James Bradberry has a competitive streak but knows that New York needs to have it all come together defensively before they can make any major strides this season.

“We’re still putting the pieces of the puzzle together because we’re just in OTAs and minicamp,” Bradberry said, via GiantsWire.com. “We just finished with that. We’re still learning each other, still getting that chemistry down, still learning the defense. I feel like once we get all of that down, we’re going to be pretty good. Like you said, we have talented guys. First and foremost, we’re going to work hard. That’s what Coach Judge talks about every day. We’re going to be gritty, we’re going to work hard, we’re going to be blue-collar. That’s where you start. After that, you just have to put the work in and study film. The plays will come after that. That’s where we’re starting right now. We’re just working hard and grinding.”

Washington

Washington HC Ron Rivera said their goal this offseason was to improve their overall speed and add depth at receiver, defensive back, and flexible offensive linemen. 

“One of the things we talked about was team speed. Getting faster, period. If there was something that we were concerned about, it was that,” said Rivera, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “The next thing we talked about was at wide receiver and at defensive back. We also talked about shoring up the depth, the emphasis being on position flex, predominantly on the offensive line, and then saying, “If we’re going to try and build this roster and try and keep as many of our current guys that we can that we’ve drafted — they’ve played very big roles for us — how can we do that?”

Rivera indicated that Washington’s “Plan A” at quarterback was to sign a veteran like Matthew Stafford, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and a “couple” of other players. 

“Stafford and Ryan and a couple of those other guys I can’t name because it’s tampering. As you remember, the Stafford [trade from the Lions to the Rams] went very quickly. So we had to finish the rest of our discussions in terms of do we want to go really young, young, or do we continue to look for that veteran guy?”

Rivera continued that they preferred to add a veteran quarterback given the potential cost of trading up in this year’s NFL Draft. 

“Yes, because of what it potentially would have cost us [to trade up in the draft]. To do the things that we want to do, we’ve got to hit on draft picks right now because that helps keep your salary cap in control,” said Rivera. 

Rivera added that the organization shifted focus to positions other than quarterback after signing Fitzpatrick, and believes that the veteran could potentially play past next season.

I think for right now, the focus has shifted to shoring up the rest of the positions. Again, there’s nothing that says Ryan Fitzpatrick can’t be the guy for a while. If this dude continues to play at the level he has and with Brady showing everybody that these veteran guys can do it — just ask Phil Mickelson, he’ll tell you — then why not? Why would we want to move on?

In the end, Rivera mentioned that they will continue observing QBs Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen, and Steven Montez. 

“At the same time, we have a guy we have confidence in Taylor, we have confidence in Kyle, and we got a very young player in Steven Montez. So we’re kind of in an interesting position right now,” said Rivera.