Commanders
- Dianna Russini of The Athletic named Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury as an assistant coach who could garner “serious looks” in the upcoming coaching cycle.
Cowboys
Cowboys WR George Pickens struggled in Week 14’s loss to the Lions, recording just five receptions on nine targets for 37 yards. When asked if Pickens lacked effort on some of his routes, Dallas HC Brian Schottenheimer responded that the receiver took accountability for his poor performance.
“We talked a little about it,” Schottenheimer said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “In his words, he goes, ‘Hey, Schotty, I didn’t play my best game.’ Unfortunately, none of us played our best game. That’s real. But I don’t worry about George and his love for football and playing this game.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones doesn’t doubt Pickens’ love for the game and has no concerns about his effort level.
“One of the things that you got to appreciate about George Pickens is his intensity for the competition,” Jones said. “Now, he is a big-time competitor. When it comes to competing and when it comes to loving the game, I emphasize that point right there, loving the game, then I give him A-pluses. I like what George Pickens has done all year. … Just so that I’m real clear about it, I don’t have the concern that (others) debate about what George Pickens did or didn’t do in that game. I don’t have that kind of concern about him as far as his competing and helping us win football games on the field, at all.”
Jones points out how Pickens has been very impressive this season.
“Pickens brings everything to the table,” Jones said. “He brings enough pluses to the table to frankly live with what’s going on, this type of criticism. The criticism in my mind is, is he a competitor, and when he gets out there, can he come down with the ball? Does he compete when he’s out there? A-triple-plus.”
- Cowboys S Markquese Bell was fined $11,593 for a facemask.
Eagles
The Eagles have lost three games in a row, watching their record dip to 8-5. Philadelphia HC Nick Sirianni said he will continue putting more of his focus on the offense.
“I’m the head coach, so my attention goes to places that I feel like it needs to go,” Sirianni said, via Tim McManus of ESPN. “This week was with the offense, and I’ll continue to go in there with those guys and grind it out through the weeds with them and continue to move forward with that.”
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts said Sirianni had a role with their offense in Week 14 and feels he “provided some structure.”
“I think we had a lot of opportunity out there. Nick stepped in, and I think he played a very good role this week,” Hurts said. “He provided some structure and kind of organized some things for us. Obviously, we still have ways and room for improvement, but I look at myself first, I look at the man in the mirror first and say how can I respond to all those things? The mentality is to execute everything that’s called and try and bring the strategy that we’re taking in that game to life as best as I can, and I just want to continue to find ways to improve that.”
Sirianni added that he is always looking for ways to improve the team.
“I thought we moved the ball and did a lot of good things today, but we didn’t finish drives for multiple reasons and had some turnovers for multiple reasons,” Sirianni said. “You always look [to] improve the process, and we’ll get back to work and grind through it again and I anticipate being in there still.”
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