NFC Notes: Kliff Kingsbury, Micah Parsons, Brian Burns, Commanders, Cowboys, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Dan Quinn believes the team’s offense has a lot more to show and raved about OC Kliff Kingsbury.

“A lot that I’ve grown to appreciate,” Quinn said, via Around The NFL. “I’ve found out the competitor that he is and the detail that he wants to get to with the group. And we’ve got, we think a lot more under the hood, about where we can develop and how far we can take it. And Kliff’s a really big part of that. He’s got incredibly high standards for the group. He’s got a very creative mind. So, to think that all of our playbook has been seen, you would be mistaken.”

• Quinn said recently acquired CB Marshon Lattimore will not play in Thursday night’s game, via Jonathan Jones. 
• Quinn said RB Brian Robinson (hamstring) showed a “good sign” that he’ll be ready for Week 11 in Wednesday’s practice, via JP Finlay.

Cowboys

Cowboys LB Micah Parsons is still on the mend from his high ankle sprain but mentioned he will play without any limitations once he’s back in the lineup. 

“Once I’m playing, I’m playing,” Parsons said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “That’s just the competitor in me. I was banged up plenty of times and I’m just like once I’m competing, I’m competing. It’s hard to restrain that.”

Parsons feels like he’s re-starting his season and is curious if he’ll be available for Week 10. 

“Basically, it’s like I’m starting my season all over again so it’s just going to be an interesting week,” Parsons said.

Parsons wanted to return quickly after initially suffering his injury but realized it was more serious after undergoing an MRI. 

“I mean as soon as I got hurt I was like, ‘Man I can come back against Detroit right? I get it. I got a long week,’ and then realizing my injury is more significant than I thought and the team thought when I got the MRI,” Parsons said. “It was challenging. Obviously, everyone is different, the healing process was different. I thought I was known as a fast healer. Obviously, I didn’t want to go on [injured reserve], but looking back I probably should [have]. It’s a tough place to be in, honestly, because I couldn’t even get on my toes for three, four weeks. So it’s constant battling and I’m just happy to be where I’m at.”

Giants

The Giants acquired OLB Brian Burns from the Panthers back in March in exchange for second-round and fifth-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Giants GM Joe Schoen reflected on the deal, mentioning how their backup plans on the free-agent market disappeared. 

“There were a lot of moving parts as we went through it that had to fall into place,” Schoen said, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “Again, one of the most stressful parts is players we would have targeted if we weren’t able to get Brian Burns were being signed by other teams. So it got a little stressful as it went further into Monday.”

Burns said he thought he would spend his entire career in Carolina. 

“I felt like I was going to be there forever,” Burns said. “But things change.”

Burns doesn’t think he was undervalued by the Panthers’ front office and isn’t harboring any ill feelings. 

“They had other plans. I guess my timeline and the Carolina Panthers timeline didn’t match up at a certain point. So I think that’s what it was,” Burns said. “I don’t think it was really any bad blood or they thought I was a bad player or anything like that.”