NFC Notes: Darius Slay, Tyrone Tracy, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy said he’s been “very impressed” by new RB Royce Freeman‘s ability to quickly learn their system. 

“When you have the opportunity to play in a number of different systems, I’m very impressed with how quickly he picked up the language. Football comes pretty easy to him. It’s natural. You can see that protection. He has been an excellent addition,” McCarthy said, via the team’s site. 

Eagles

Eagles veteran CB Darius Slay is taking on a leadership role with Philadelphia’s young cornerbacks like rookies CB Quinyon Mitchell and CB Cooper DeJean.

“That’s the main thing, just teaching them how to be a pro,” said Slay, via Dave Spadaro of the team’s site. “I was talking to them, letting them know ‘I’m always here for y’all. Anything y’all need from me, I got ya.’ I want to give them a blueprint of everything to make sure they succeed at this level. That’s my job to do. That’s what I’ve always been brought up to do. I’m an older brother to all the siblings.”

Mitchell plans on leaning on his older teammates and learning as much as possible

“I’m just starting out and I have a lot to learn, a long way to go,” Mitchell said. “I plan on learning as much as I can from those guys.”

Slay told their cornerbacks group that everyone is there to compete and et each other better. 

“We’re all here to compete,” Slay said. “That’s what I told the room. We’re all here to help everyone and get better. It’s not like anybody is hating on each other or anything like that. We’re all here for each other. We’re all family at the end of the day.”

Giants

Giants’ fifth-round RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. converted from receiver coming out of high school upon joining Purdue. Boilermakers HC Ryan Walters said they thought he could make an impact at running back and Tracy Jr. was open to the idea. 

“You see a lot of guys that are his stature, his speed, sort of skillset at the receiver position, and we needed running backs. Our running back room was very, very thin,” Walters said, via Matt Citak of the team’s site. “Then you looked at him when he had the ball in his hands, he looked natural, making people miss, and was hard to bring down. So really the question I had was would he be tough enough in pass protection? Would he be tough enough to have 15 to 20 touches a game, where at wideout, he might be getting three or four? I approached him with that thought process, and all he wanted was opportunity.”

Walters said Tracy Jr. quickly picked up the running back position and was consistent with his approach. 

“He picked it up pretty quickly,” Walters said. “I had full faith in him that he was going to be able to get it done just because of the way he operated every day, though. It had nothing to do with him learning the X’s and O’s. It was the way he worked out, the way he responded to coaching, the way he interacted with his teammates, and just the energy that he brought every day, it was consistent. When people are consistent, it’s easy to trust them. I think that’s where Tyrone excelled.”

Purdue RBs coach Lamar Conard reiterated how the film revealed Tracy Jr.’s potential as a ballcarrier after seeing what he could do after the catch. 

“If you watch him at receiver, once the ball was in his hands, he ran like a running back,” Conard said. “His contact runs, ability to stay on his feet and turn a five-yard hitch into 15-20 yards was running back-ish. To be able to find open space, cut back, not be afraid to go across the middle, it’s running back-ish. So when I got him, it was more about seeing the field from a different perspective… It didn’t take long. His confidence was always there.”