NFC Notes: Ron Rivera, Daniel Jones, Commanders, Cowboys, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Ron Rivera was asked by reporters about his job security and confirmed that he knows it is in question, adding that he did the best he could through all the changes over the past three years of difficulties to improve the culture and find a franchise quarterback.

“My big disappointment is that we haven’t played as well on defense as we’ve needed to. Does that make my job security shaky? It could,” Rivera said, via John Keim of ESPN. “I have no idea what Mr. Harris is going to do. The truth is, it’s the nature of the game. I get it. If it happens, it happens. If I stay, I stay. Until then we will continue to work. S—, I’ve been through enough. The last 3½ years has not been easy. Anyone who thinks it’s been easy, the hell with them. I’ll be honest. That’s how I feel about the last three years. It’s been a lot. We’ve done a lot; we’ve had our moments. The thing that feels good at the end of the day and the questions that need to be asked: Is the culture better and have we found the quarterback? That’s all I can control. Our guys will show up and play hard to the bitter end, and we’ll see what happens.”

“Mr. Harris has been terrific,” Rivera added. “He’s playing everything close to the vest, as he should, and it’s his prerogative as the owner to make decisions he feels are best for the future. We’ll continue to work and play hard and see how it unfolds. I’ll control what I can and that’s what goes on on the football field. Last week we didn’t get the pressure on the quarterback I would liked to have had. [Seahawks quarterback] Geno [Smith] was struggling. It would have been good to put more pressure on the quarterback. It would have helped us and given us a better opportunity to win, but I’m going to work with what we have and deal with what we have and stick to what I’ve said.”

• Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes was fined $15,563 for unnecessary roughness.

Cowboys

• Cowboys CB DaRon Bland tied the NFL single-season record with a fourth interception returned for a touchdown on Sunday against the Panthers. (Adam Schefter)
• Cowboys DT Neville Gallimore was fined $9,754 for unnecessary roughness.

Giants

When speaking about Giants QB Daniel Jones, Eli Manning feels the organization must continue trusting Jones 

“They saw Daniel Jones, they were around him. They had him for a year and they trusted that, ‘Hey, this is a kid that has a bunch of upside,’” Manning said, via the Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “He’s still in the first year of the offense, played extremely well. He can run, he’s tough. He can make the throws. Just unfortunately, this was a tough year with injuries. . . And so, I think you still got to trust your quarterback.”

Manning feels Jones can continue to grow as a quarterback and the organization must also secure RB Saquon Barkley and DT Dexter Lawrence. 

“He’s going to come back, he’s going to be healthy. He works hard. He’s a great teammate. He does all the intangible things really, really well, and I think they got to trust him, can put some guys, get help around them and continue to grow with these teams. I think when you sign your key guys to contracts, Saquon (Barkley), Dexter Lawrence, Daniel . . . you put these guys, you keep adding guys around them and you don’t just say, hey, switch it up right away because you have one bad year.”