NFC Notes: Eagles, Giants, Washington

Eagles

Eagles CB Cre’Von LeBlanc has become a favorite of Eagles DC Jim Schwartz since being claimed off waivers back in 2018. LeBlanc immediately established himself as a strong option at nickel corner and signed a one-year extension going into the 2019 season. But a Lisfranc injury shuttered LeBlanc for most of the season. He still played more than 80 percent of the snaps in Philadelphia’s final two games in Week 17 and the playoffs, but this offseason the team brought in CB Nickell Robey-Coleman to compete for the nickel defender role. Both players have the chance to prove they can be part of the Eagles’ plans beyond 2020. 

“At the end of the day it is a business. They always going to bring in guys who want to compete. Just looking back last year in the DB room, we had some guys who were starting on other teams who came in, and were competing in training camp with us. At the end of the day, none of that matters between those white lines,” LeBlanc said via 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks. “When you go out there and focus on what you have to do and you are doing everything you possibly can to control what you can control, everything will fall into place. I am a good football player, Nickell is a great football player. He is not different from me. He puts his pants on how I put my pants on. He is from Florida, so we have that in common. We are going to go out there and compete, and may the best guy win. That is what it is all about.”

Giants

Giants rookie S Xavier McKinney says that he is comfortable in any situation and is expected to make a big impact in New York this season playing next to S Jabrill Peppers.

“I’ve always said this and I’ll always keep saying it, my biggest comfort zone is I’m comfortable anywhere,” McKinney told Dan Salamone of Giants.com. “Any zone that I feel like I’m uncomfortable at, I try to make it my comfort zone. But how I play and the way I play, I’m comfortable at any level of the defense. I try not to just pinpoint one thing that I do well. I’m just excited to be ready for wherever the opportunity might be.”

Washington

• Per Les Carpenter of the Washington Post, Washington HC Ron Rivera is hopeful the team will complete its process of changing the name before the start of the season in September: “If we get it done in time for the season, it would be awesome.”
• Rivera said honoring Native American culture and the military were two important criteria the team is looking at with the new name, adding he has two favorites of the options so far: “We want to do this in a positive way… We came up with a couple of names — two of them I really like.”
• Rivera pointed out, and other team sources confirmed to NBC Sports’ JP Finlay, the team actually started discussions about changing the name in June before pressure from outside sponsors started. 
• However, Finlay says there’s no doubt public pressure from Nike, FedEx, Pepsi and officials involved in a potential new stadium helped hasten the process. He adds it seems inevitable that the team has played its last game under that moniker. 
• As far as what the new name will be, Finlay writes the Warriors and Red Tails seem to have the most public momentum, but the team will consult a wide variety of people before making a decision. He notes Washington does not want to abandon all of its past success and tradition. 
• Because the team has not replaced former team president Bruce Allen yet, Rivera has become the voice of the team while team owner Dan Snyder has been out of the country the past three months. (Pro Football Talk)
• Rivera has taken on a larger role with non-football areas of the team, including talking to the business side, helping craft the statement released after the death of George Floyd and assisting with the name change, all of which he admitted he wasn’t necessarily expecting: “The interesting thing for me is that I’m going to make some mistakes. This is my first time. I’m going to learn and correct them.”