Trevon Diggs

Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer said that there were multiple factors that led to the team waiving CB Trevon Diggs, including him not taking the team flight home from Washington.

“It was one of many factors,” Schottenheimer said, via ESPN. “It was not the only factor. I’m not the Grinch that stole Christmas. I love Christmas. I love my family. But at the end of the day, we have a protocol that we go through, and the process was not followed.”

Schottenheimer added that he had a conversation with Diggs informing him of his release and wished him the best moving forward.

“When I look back on it, I really do like Trevon. I want what’s best for him,” Schottenheimer said. “I think at the end of the day, maybe he didn’t like some of the things we did. I don’t know. You guys will have to ask him that. But again, I thought he was trying to do better, and I wish him nothing but the best. We’ll see where he lands. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet and continue to play good football.”

Schottenheimer added that he has an open-door policy and said that players can always air out their grievances in his office if they feel the need to.

“They know my door is always open, and if they have questions or concerns, I would love to talk about it,” Schottenheimer said. “But I’m going to say this again, this decision that was made was very difficult. This decision was not made because he chose to not get on a plane. That was not the only factor involved, and I think that’s important. To me, this team and what we’re building, this culture that we’re building, is about the 53 strongest, most connected group of people. I believe that, and that’s why the team element to me is so important.”

Cowboys

The Cowboys’ defense ranks at the bottom of the NFL in points allowed. Owner Jerry Jones promised their fans that they’ll improve the defense this offseason. 

“We’ve got to have a more solid defense,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “That’s disappointing this year. We will get better on defense. I promise you that.”

Jones doesn’t think that DC Matt Eberflus is completely to blame for their defensive struggles. 

“Make no mistake about it, everybody had their finger in what we did out there defensively,” Jones said. “Everybody. It’s not just a one-man blame at all. I say that because therein lies what you have to sit down and figure out, what, if anything, you want to change. We’ll get to that pronto. Everybody involved in this thing, I’m sure, has been thinking ahead about how to adjust out of our results this year. The main thing in football is that it is rare when you have one coach or one player that is the cause or the solution to the problem. That’s the main thing I’d like to emphasize to anybody listening. We’re trying to solve the problem and try to get better where we are. One guy is not going to do that.”

Eagles

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni has experience when it comes to heading into the playoffs with roster decisions to make, such as allowing certain players rest ahead of the first round.

“If I look back, and how beneficial some of the byes that we’ve had have been, that’s part of the reason why you think through it. It’s a marathon of a season,” Sirianni said, via Zach Berman of The Athletic. “You give your guys some rest, you get some time to think through some different things, even though you’re preparing for an opponent as you go. Both times that I’ve been here that we’ve been to the Super Bowl, we’ve had that opportunity for a bye, and that’s ’22 and obviously ’24. In ’21, we created ourselves a bye as well. You have the opportunity to do that…And ’23, we played a little bit (in Week 18 in) that aspect. You have a bunch of different scenarios, and yes, your seeding’s not locked down yet, but you are thinking, ‘Hey, can I put ourselves in the best position seeding-wise?’ But also, you’re thinking to yourself how important byes are and creating them if you don’t earn the right for the first-round bye. Those are all things you’ve got to think through and go through because I think a lot of guys would say, last year, that that was a big deal of being able to have a bye last year to set us up for what we ultimately did last year.”

“We will end up doing what we think is the best for the team as we go through our process, and we’re still thinking through that,” Sirianni added. “That’s not a decision I have to make today or even tomorrow. It’s just something that you have to go through the process of making. I know there’ll be a debate about whatever it is that we do, but that’s why we have to go through our process and do what we feel is best to help our team moving forward.”