NFC Notes: Joe Milton, Malik Nabers, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

The Cowboys elected to keep just Joe Milton as their primary backup quarterback behind Dak Prescott. Dallas HC Brian Schottenheimer feels Milton settled into their offense throughout the preseason, and they are confident in him going into the regular season. 

โ€œWeโ€™re always looking at situations,โ€ Schottenheimer said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic.. โ€œDak is our starter and Joe is the backup. I thought Joe settled in a little bit. It wasnโ€™t perfect, but we feel very good about Joe and his direction and where he can go. Nothing says weโ€™re not done looking around the league at all spots, not just quarterback. Thereโ€™s going to be a lot of names out there in a lot of different positions and that process is already started for Will and his team. It will be a long night tonight and into the morning.โ€

Regarding the Cowboys’ fifth receiver role, Schottenheimer said Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Brooks were “neck and neck” for the spot, but they ultimately chose Flournoy because of his dominance on special teams. 

โ€œIt was a tough one,โ€ Schottenheimer said. โ€œTough conversation with Jalen Brooks. It was one of those things where we were going back and forth a lot. We have point-of-attack tapes, we have target tapes. And literally from the offensive side of it, was literally neck and neck. But over the past two or three weeks, I would say thereโ€™s been no one that has played special teams more dominant than Ryan Flournoy. As a gunner, heโ€™s been unstoppable, whether they single him up, they vice him, because of his power and stuff like that. Heโ€™s done a really good job playing receiver with contested catches and versus press release and things like that. โ€ฆ And at the end of the day, when you turned on the special teams film, there was a guy that was doing it a very dominant level. Thatโ€™s what tipped the scales in his direction.โ€

Schottenheimer said they are always looking for new players, and vice president of player personnel Will McClay is actively searching the market. 

โ€œAlways be active,โ€ Schottenheimer said. โ€œWill McClay looks exhausted right now, but I donโ€™t feel bad for him at all. I said, โ€˜Hey, I donโ€™t want to hear it. Get back in there. Turn on some more film.โ€™ He and his staff are working incredibly hard. Why? This is like a second draft. Youโ€™re going to have all these players that get released into the free-agency market and the waiver wire, and the way itโ€™s set up, the claiming numbers and things like that where you can grab guys. I think we will definitely be active. What does that mean? I donโ€™t know how many new faces there will be here compared to how many guys we bring back. But weโ€™re open for business, if you will say.โ€

Eagles

The Eagles are still looking to determine their second outside cornerback opposite of Quinyon Mitchell, leading them to acquire Jakorian Bennett from the Raiders earlier this month. When asked about the cornerback spot, GM Howie Roseman responded that he doesn’t view it as a “weakness” going into the regular season. 

โ€œI think that we have a bunch of good players at the cornerback position,โ€ Roseman said, via Zach Berman and Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. โ€œI donโ€™t think thatโ€™s necessarily a weakness on this football team.โ€

Roseman mentioned that Mitchell and Cooper DeJean give them strength atop the position group, and expressed confidence in Kelee Ringo.

โ€œTo have two young corners like that, thatโ€™s a position of strength,โ€ Roseman said. โ€œAnd then we have a lot of guys at that position who are young, who have a lot of talent in their body. You know, Iโ€™m excited about the corners that we have on this football team. So, you know, I kind of look at it a different way. When you look at those guys, they have different skill sets, they have different strengths. You talk about Kelee. I mean, Kelee is big. Heโ€™s fast. Heโ€™s strong. Kelee has shown that heโ€™s one of the best special teams players in this league, which I think is a huge thing for our football team. So, I probably take it a little bit differently about that position. I think that thatโ€™s a position that we have strength in numbers there and Iโ€™m looking forward to seeing those guys play against Dallas.โ€

Giants

Giants WR Malik Nabers enters the season after being limited throughout their offseason program because of a back injury. Nabers said he is feeling good and is ready for Week 1. 

โ€œI feel good,โ€ Nabers said, via ProFootballTalk. โ€œI know itโ€™s been a little ride but right now, I feel good. . . . I feel like Iโ€™m always ready. When itโ€™s game time with those lights on, I believe my body is going to turn it on. Heโ€™s going to be ready to roll.โ€

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