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NFC Notes: Malik Nabers, George Pickens, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants
Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Cowboys 

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb missed Week 4 with an ankle injury, which caused WR George Pickens to have an increased role. Pickens said all of their receivers understand they need to step up in Lamb’s absence. 

“You can tell a person that’s missing,” Pickens said, via Patrik Walker of the team’s site. “But we’ve always got to show up for Dak — all the other receivers as well. We’re just trying to stay on the same page, and hoping [Lamb’s] recovery goes well.”

Pickens feels he has a “great opportunity” to showcase his skills and did so in the tie with the Packers on Sunday night.

“Oh, it’s a great opportunity,” Pickens said. “I already kind of showcased, but I just want to show up for Dak, and show for the team and get a dub. … I just have to make plays, run the right routes and, you know, show up for Dak.”

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is comfortable with the timing he’s established with Pickens so far and feels “very confident” in the receiver. 

“Yeah, it’s where we need it to be on this point,” Prescott said of his timing and telepathy with Pickens. “Obviously, there’s always gonna be growth. That’s with any receiver. Anybody that I play with, we’re never complacent, and we’re always gonna push it. I’m very comfortable, and very confident, in what he’s gonna do, where I expect him to be, and where he expects the ball. Those communications are continuously happening.”

Eagles

Eagles OC Kevin Patullo doesn’t like the fact that the team’s offense is being labeled as conservative.

“I wouldn’t say conservative is the word,” Patullo said, via Eagles Wire. “I think when those things happen, like we went three-and-out, obviously, a few times. You look at, ‘Okay, where was the drive starting? What was the breakdown on the play? What happened? How do we stop this? How do we get out of this? So, I think when we look back on it, there’s obviously things we can always learn from that, but you don’t go into it saying like, ‘Hey, I got to be really conservative here.’ That’s definitely not something you want to do. I think it’s just a matter of going forward, learning from those moments, and how to get ourselves out of those situations.”

  • Eagles WR A.J. Brown on the team’s offense and their second-half surge last week: “Those are my feelings, and I expressed those to the world. But if it doesn’t go that way, everybody says, ‘A.J.’s not happy!’ But the goal is to win the game, and obviously we want to do that first. It just took too long for us as an offense to adjust and be more aggressive. When one thing’s not working, let’s not keep hitting our head against the wall and see if it’s going to work.” (Zach Berman)
  • Brown believes the team needs to utilize the passing game to open up running lanes for RB Saquon Barkley: “We’re probably going to get what we’re getting (from defenses) until we show we can handle that. And that’s probably what’s slowing up Saquon — because they’re trying to take him away. Rightfully so, because he can change the game. We have to help him with the pass game to help the run game. Last year was kind of like the opposite.” (Berman)
  • Eagles QB Jalen Hurts credited Patullo for making second-half adjustments to get the offense going: “We had to. …We found a way to get it going. I give a lot of credit to (Kevin Patullo) in that, to be able to adjust and get us in the direction we needed.” (Berman)
  • Eagles DT Jalen Carter was fined $11,593 for taunting in Week 3.

Giants

Giants WR Malik Nabers exited Week 4 early after suffering a knee injury, and an MRI on Monday revealed a torn ACL that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. Giants HC Brian Daboll gave some insight on how they move forward if it’s serious. 

“Injuries happen. Certainly not happy about it, whether it’s Malik or anybody else,” Daboll said, via Michael Baca of NFL.com. “Unfortunately, this is a business of injury. I feel terrible about Malik’s injury. We’ll see where it’s at. He’s an important piece of our team, but the guys that play behind him… Everybody gets paid to do a job. It’s next man up.”

  • Daboll believes first-round QB Jaxson Dart “played well, within himself” but thinks the rookie “is probably going to be sore. He’s a tough son of a …” (Jordan Raanan)

This article first appeared on NFLTradeRumors.co and was syndicated with permission.

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