NFC Notes: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Devonte Wyatt, Cowboys, Giants, Packers

Cowboys

• Todd Archer reports Cowboys TE John Stephens suffered a torn ACL in Wednesday’s practice in the same knee as his previously torn ACL last year. 
• Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey was recently summoned for jury duty but has still been getting in work afterward. Dallas HC Mike McCarthy expects him to be ready for Week 8: “We have a plan to make sure he’s ready to go for Sunday.” (Jon Machota)
• McCarthy added LB Micah Parsons (ankle) is improving with rehab but still isn’t ready for Week 8: “Micah is improving. He’ll be part of the rehab group today. We don’t have him set for reps. Well, there’s always a threshold of return to play. He’s not over that threshold yet. Until he can get out there and cut it loose, I think when you have veteran players, the general is if they don’t practice on Saturday they’re not going to play in the game. If you’re looking for a finish line, it would be full participant player in Saturday’s practice.” (Machota)

Giants

• Giants OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux said he first felt his wrist injury in Week 4 against the Cowboys and initially played through it thinking he suffered a thumb injury: “I thought it was a thumb injury, kind of battled through it. Wasn’t really too worried about it just because that’s the nature of the game, just getting little nicks and things. So kind of played through it until after the Seattle game, I was like, ‘Something’s wrong.’” (Dan Duggan)
• Thibodeaux believes playing through the injury would only make it worse: “It’s for the long term. You’ve got to fix it so that it can heal and then you can go play rather than just clubbing it up and potentially hurting it worse.”
• Giants HC Brian Daboll was non-committal on their plans at left tackle for Week 8 and indicated Joshua Ezeudu will get the first chance in practice followed by Chris Hubbard. (Duggan)
• Giants DT Dexter Lawrence called out CB Deonte Banks for his lack of effort: “That is not acceptable. He knows it. We addressed it. That’s that type of thing we don’t accept that as a defense. He knows that.” (Jordan Raanan)

Packers

Packers DL Devonte Wyatt is eager to get back on the field with his teammates and said that his ankle injury was “humbling.”

“Humbling, I would say,” Wyatt said, via the team’s website. “Because I saw my guys out there. I wanted to get back out there so bad, but I supported them, just from where I was, and just being patient (to) get back on that field, really.”

Packers DC Jeff Hafley stated that Wyatt has emerged as a true three-down lineman and his run defense tends to get overshadowed by his pass-rushing abilities.