NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Washington

Cowboys

Regarding some passes from Dak Prescott in Week 13 that appeared like errant throws, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones responded that some receivers have made mistakes on their route-running. 

“Yes, yes. The thing that you’re seeing is sometimes the pass looks errant is because the receiver, for instance, ran the route two yards, cut it off two yards shorter. He should be out two more yards before he makes his cuts. It can make all the different in the world as far as his ability to separate. It has a relativeness to the other receivers. And, so, if you’re not really crisp on the way the play was designed, relative to how many yards you go, the cut, then your passing game can look really off. That’s one of the answers: better routes,” said Jones, via the Dallas Morning News. 

As for having DT Neville Gallimore, DE Randy Gregory and DE DeMarcus Lawrence return from injuries to play alongside LB Micah Parsons, Jones believes that rotating Parsons around the defense “is the ticket” for more success. 

“I’m going to freeze it in time as far as this season is concerned — when all three of them are out there at the same time, and all three of them have a play where they’ve quote ‘got their hands down,’ but all three of them are in a pressure call or a pressure situation on defense, that’s going to be one that I want a picture of and I want to freeze it for a long time. Have all three of them pressure. Moving [Parsons] around is the ticket, especially when you’re sitting here picturing Gregory and you’re picturing Lawrence out there. Now, the good news is that Lawrence, Gregory, they can move down and inside. And so, those give you a lot of options relative to Micah being outside now.”

When asked about having RB Tony Pollard earn more playing time with Ezekiel Elliott hampered by a knee injury, Jones said that their plan throughout the season was to have Pollard successively receive “five to 10 more” carries per game. 

“Well, without seriously buying into that you have as limited Zeke as you might be implying, we’ve had going into games, relative to this time last year or relative to the start of the season, we’ve had or planned on having Pollard touch the ball anywhere from five to 10 more times a game. So, that is the plan. That is generally what you’re trying to do, and you just see how the game goes. But yeah, we’ve frankly — ever since training camp — been wanting to, relative to what we’ve done in the past, get the ball to Pollard more. That is not necessarily because of Zeke. We just want him to have the ball more. That kick return that he made back against [the Raiders], the kick return that he made there will get you all the attention that you need as far as [letting him] touch the ball.”

• Cowboys’ WR Amari Cooper spoke about the time he took to rest his injured hamstring: “I feel really good. I feel phenomenal. Of course. We’re gonna go out there and get the dub.” (Jon Machota)
• Cowboys’ RB Tony Pollard partially tore the plantar fascia on his left foot during his big 58-yard run last week and will now be a game-time decision this week. (Stephania Bell)
• Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy said RB Tony Pollard (foot) is a game-time decision for Week 14. (Calvin Watkins)
• McCarthy wouldn’t say who would take over kick return duties if Pollard is unavailable. 
• McCarthy said DE Randy Gregory has been dealing with a cold but is expected to play in Sunday’s game. (Jon Machota)
• Cowboys LB Micah Parsons (hip) will start Sunday’s game at Washington. (Michael Gehlken)

Giants

• Giants HC Joe Judge said WR Kadarius Toney (quad) is “progressing” and will likely be a game-time decision. (Zack Rosenblatt)
• Judge said QB Mike Glennon (concussion) is “on track” with his recovery and is expected to start Week 14.  (Jordan Raanan)
• Regarding Judge being viewed as a conservative-minded offensive coach, he thinks there are some misconceptions and takes a situational approach to the game:  “I look at everything situationally … some people look at not being aggressive by punting the ball. It depends how you define aggressiveness.” (Zach Rosenblatt)

Washington

• Washington HC Ron Rivera on Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy predicting a win over his team this Sunday: “You do that for a couple of reasons. One, you want to get in our head. Secondly, he’s trying to convince his team. He’s now made it about him. I think it’s a big mistake.” (Jon Machota)
• Washington HC Ron Rivera refused to get into Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy‘s recent comments about guaranteeing a Week 14 victory for Dallas: “As far as I’m concerned, I try to stay out of that. … We’ll play hard and see how things go.” (Matthew Paras)
• Washington is hosting K Lirim Hajrullahu for a workout on Friday. (Nicki Jhabvala)
• Washington has ruled out LB Jordan Kunaszyk (hamstring) and OL Wes Schweitzer (ankle) from Week 14. (Nicki Jhabvala)
• Washington has listed four players as questionable for Sunday’s game, including S Landon Collins (foot), RB J.D. McKissic (concussion), LB Jamin Davis (concussion), and WR Curtis Samuel (groin).