Dallas City News

Texans QB C.J. Stroud raves about new Commanders hire Dylan Thompson – Bryan Manning, USA Today

The culture overhaul in Washington continues.

The Washington Commanders made another impressive hire on Monday. This time, general manager Adam Peters made a hire that directly impacts his rookie class, specifically quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Washington hired Houston Texans director of team development Dylan Thompson for a similar role. The Commanders parted ways with Malcolm Bracken earlier this offseason. Bracken had served as Washington’s senior director of player development.

Let’s briefly explain the role. First, it’s not a front-office move or a coaching move. In this role, Thompson is responsible for helping all players, specifically younger players, acclimate to the NFL. A former college quarterback at South Carolina, Thompson made a positive impact on last year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, C.J. Stroud, with the Texans.

According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston, here’s what Stroud said about Thompson last year.

“I think I grew tremendously, man,” said Stroud. “I know he’s going to be mad at me for this, Dylan Thompson. Oh my gosh, Dylan is one of the best human beings that I’ve ever met in my life. There’s a ton of people, great people in this organization, but DT has been the main person.

More from Stroud on Thompson.

“You talk about a brother like to somebody who loves you no matter what happens on that field, you can feel that. I just appreciate that and now he’s going to be mad at me, but, man, he’s a great person, and really one of the reasons why I feel like we were very successful this year.”

Cover 3: Takeaways from spring, questions for summer – John Schmeelk, Dan Salomone et al., Giants.com

Giants writers share noteworthy takeaways from New York’s OTAs.

John Schmeelk: There’s only so much you can learn from spring workouts. As Brian Daboll pointed out each time he spoke to the media over the last couple months, OTAs are more about teaching and less about competition. Because contact isn’t allowed, I wouldn’t draw any firm conclusions from what I’ve seen on the practice field in terms of player performance. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything to learn. Here are a few bullet points:

* Barring a setback, Daniel Jones is going to be ready to play in Week 1, and I would be shocked if he is not a full participant at the start of training camp. He looks great moving around and throwing the football.

* Jermaine Eluemunor looks primed to be a guard. There was some question whether he would just be a swing tackle, but the team seems very happy to use him inside.

* Wide receiver Malik Nabers looks just as explosive as he did at LSU, and tight end Theo Johnson’s testing numbers match what I have seen in terms of his athleticism on the field during OTAs.

Dan Salomone: My biggest takeaway from this spring is that the Giants are going to rely on their front four getting after the quarterback, and if they can do so, that has been a good formula throughout franchise history. Led by newcomer Brian Burns, fellow two-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, fresh off his first double-digit sack campaign, the group has the potential to be not only the strength of the defense, but also the identity of the team.

All under the age of 27, they will lead Bowen’s new defense for the foreseeable future. Despite the non-contact rules, we’ve seen and heard them start to develop the chemistry that will be necessary across the board.

“I think last year the interior and the edge weren’t cohesive,” Thibodeaux said. “Now it’s going to start to work like clockwork. That’s the maturity. That’s where I’m growing as a player and we’re growing as a defense, being able to play as a unit.”

Have the Eagles Set Up Nick Sirianni To Fail? – John McMullen, Sports Illustrated

The coaching shift in Philadelphia has provided some interesting discourse.

PHILADELPHIA – The worst part of Jalen Hurts’ answer is that it wasn’t an answer.

The Eagles quarterback was given an opportunity to strike it 300 yards dead center down the middle of the fairway after the team’s recent minicamp when he was tossed a softball on Nick Sirianni’s shift away from offensive leader to full-blown CEO coach.

“Um,” Hurts said before considering the question during a lengthy, somewhat awkward pause. “I mean, that’s a great question, I don’t know that I know the answer to it.”

For a 25-year-old on-field leader with 56 career NFL starts, including a Super Bowl under his belt, answering that should have been the equivalent of a bunny in the lane for an NBA 7-footer.

Something like ‘Nick’s a professional and he understands what needs to be done.’ or how about ‘a selfless act designed to make us better as a group?’

That’s kid stuff but all Hurts managed to the follow-up was:

“I think he’s just been great in um….(another long pause)…the messages he’s delivering to the team,” Hurts sad. “He’s trying to be very intentional with what he’s saying…yeah.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the new Eagles coaching setup from their most important player after a stilted offensive spring where Hurts described the difficulty in learning another new offense by ballparking the changes at a 95 percent level.

Ironically, Hurts’ empty words obfuscated the more important ones coming for Sirianni himself who confirmed he’s untethered himself from the Eagles’ $255 million franchise quarterback.

“I’m not with him every second of every day like I have been in the past,” Sirianni admitted. “… But I know this: When I’m not in there, every single second of every single day, that means I’m around everybody else because my relationship with Jalen is highly important, but my relationship with Milton Williams is highly important, my relationship with [Defensive Line Coach] Clint Hurtt is highly important, my relationship with [GM] Howie [Roseman] is highly important.