NFC Notes: Sam Howell, Dak Prescott, Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles

Commanders

Commanders DL Jonathan Allen said the team isn’t even thinking about the playoff picture right now.

“Until we play better we’re not worried about [playoffs],” Allen said, via ESPN’s John Keim. “Besides that, I play for legacy. A lot of guys in the locker room play for fame, a lot play for money. Besides competing and winning I’m playing for legacy and the name on the back of my jersey.”

Commanders HC Ron Rivera said QB Sam Howell has taken a step forward in his development this season and his decision-making has been a big part of that.

“It really is his decision-making,” Rivera said. “That’s one of the things that is really always important with the quarterback, is he making the right decisions and then getting to him and asking why were these decisions made.”

Rivera credited Howell’s footwork but wants to see more consistency with him keeping his eyes downfield to make a play.

“It’s just a little more confidence in stepping up and with those eyes downfield consistently,” Rivera said. “When he’s done that he’s been very, very effective and he has created some really good opportunities for himself downfield.”

Commanders WR Terry McLaurin hopes to connect more with Howell downfield and said that element has been missing from their offense this season.

“I would love to see us connect on the shots we have down the field,” McLaurin said. “We can, as a collective group, do a better job of that. It’s just the details of [Howell] trusting where we’re going to be. Him trusting in his eyes and seeing the leverage of the coverage that we have and throwing us to the right spaces and us making the tough, contested plays. That’s something we’ve kind of missed throughout this season. So these next four weeks, when we get those opportunities to make plays down the field, create explosives, I think we’re going to have to do that, not just for the maturation for the future, but to have a chance to win.”

• Commanders OC Eric Bieniemy has been pleased about Howell’s development, but they must win more games: “I like what he has done, he’s growing, we’re excited by his development but ultimately in this league you’re judged by wins and losses,” per JP Finlay.

Cowboys

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott said the team needed to continue to keep its momentum up on the road in a tough environment in Buffalo.

“Right now, it’s about taking the momentum that we’ve created from these last few games that have been at home, and understanding that we’ve created a standard and expectations for ourselves — on offense, defense, special teams and really as a whole in playing complementary football,” Prescott said, via PFT. “We have to feed off of success and be there for when, maybe, one side isn’t doing what they expect to do. I want to take this momentum [and make] sure our communication is at an all-time high on offense, going into a hectic environment and great atmosphere with great fans, I hear.”

Eagles

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni said they are searching for “every different way” to improve following their two consecutive blowout losses to the 49ers and Cowboys. 

“We’ll find every different way we can to improve what we’re doing on offense or defense,” Sirianni said, via NFL.com. “We’re not hitting a panic button as far as we’ve got to do everything different. We didn’t play good and we didn’t coach good the last two weeks. We didn’t play good enough and we didn’t coach good enough the last two weeks to win the games. It wasn’t up to our standard.”

Sirianni said they aren’t paying attention to all outside criticism and are focused on examining everything.

“So we’re pissed and we’re looking for ways to fix that, and like I said, we have our ideas of what we do, but then sometimes you look at different avenues of whether it’s the criticism from the outside or it’s an analytical thing. … There’s an art to knowing what criticisms you listen to and what ones are jokes for that matter. But that’s our jobs as coaches to go over everything we possibly can do.”