Eagles News: Quinyon Mitchell is in elite company this season

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The quiet killer: Quinyon Mitchell putting together incredible season – NBCSP
Earlier this week, the NFL released its updated data of Pro Bowl fan voting and Mitchell was not among the top 10 vote-getters at the cornerback position. His teammate Cooper DeJean was at No. 9, but Mitchell was a notable and glaring omission. Simply put: There aren’t many corners in the NFL playing better than Mitchell this season. While Mitchell doesn’t have an interception this year, he’s tied for fourth in pass breakups with 15. But to understand how good Mitchell has been in 2025, you have to dig a little deeper into the stats. According to NFL NextGen Stats, Mitchell has been targeted 77 times this season (only six players have been targeted more) and he has given up just 32 catches for 376 yards and one touchdown. There are 57 defensive backs who have been targeted at least 50 times this season. Here’s where Mitchell ranks among them in several key categories: Catch rate: 1st (41.6%), Opponent passer rating: 2nd (61.4) — behind Derek Stingley Jr., Tight window rate: 2nd (41.6%) — behind Pat Surtain II, Average separation: 2nd (1.8 yards) — behind Surtain II, YAC/reception: 3rd (2.4 yards) — behind Keisean Nixon, Paulson Adebo. That’s elite company and Mitchell is still improving this early in his NFL career.

Eagles at Commanders Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the Week 16 enemy – BGN
4) The biggest matchup against the Commanders is probably the Commanders pass catchers vs the Eagles secondary. Terry McLaurin is by far our best pass catcher, but has been blanked by Quinyon Mitchell before. Deebo Samuel mostly operates out of the slot and probably can’t beat Cooper DeJean consistently. Zach Ertz is done for the season with an ACL. Outside of those guys, the Commanders don’t have many pass catchers they can especially trust, so I’d expect them to have trouble with the passing game.

Commanders vs Eagles Wednesday Injury Report: Another injury to thin TE group – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders held their second practice of a shortened week as they prepare to host the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday. Three players didn’t practice today as they continue to deal with injuries across the roster. DT Eddie Goldman suffered a concussion against the Giants, and is still not practicing. He’s trending towards missing his second game this season. TE Colson Yankoff was also injured against the Giants last Sunday. He suffered a new ankle injury and hasn’t practiced all week. Yankoff has been a core special teams player, and has seen limited action on offense. The Commanders lost starter Zach Ertz for the season two weeks ago with a torn ACL. John Bates and Ben Sinnott are the only healthy TEs on the 53-man roster. They also have Lawrence Cager and recently-signed Gee Scott Jr. available to elevate from the practice squad if Yankoff can’t play vs the Eagles on Saturday.

Laremy Tunsil will not play for Commanders vs. Eagles on Saturday – PFT
It’s unclear whether Tunsil’s injury is serious enough to shut him down for the remainder of the season. It’s also unclear whether Tunsil has a future in Washington. His salary cap number for next season is $24.95 million, but none of his remaining salary is guaranteed, and the Commanders could save most of that cap space by cutting him.

NFL Week 16 Preview: Schedule, storylines, matchups to watch and betting spreads – PFF
Matchup to watch: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley vs. Commanders’ run defense. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (63.5 grade; 52nd) hasn’t hit the heights of his 2024 season this year. Through 14 games, Barkley has rushed for 940 yards and six touchdowns, and his 2.50 yards after contact per attempt is his lowest since 2020. Injuries to the offensive line haven’t helped, but Barkley has looked better in the last two weeks with 200 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders and Chargers. The Eagles and Barkley will look to take advantage of one of the worst defenses against the run in Week 15. The Commanders’ PFF run-defense grade (60.0) is 23rd in the NFL, and they’ve allowed the fifth-most explosive runs (45) in 2025. The Eagles, even with their inconsistent play, are eighth in explosive runs (40). Barkley has totaled 11 explosive rushes on the season, and three in the last two games.

Jordan Davis found his voice and helped stabilize the Eagles defensive line – Inquirer
This year? It’s hard to miss Davis. He is often the loudest voice in the room, bouncing around and joking with his teammates. He holds court in front of cameras at his locker. He is one of the faces and voices of a defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 20 consecutive drives. Davis, who turns 26 next month, is having his best season. His weight loss and body change — Davis fell in love with Peloton workouts and lost 26 pounds in the offseason — has been well documented, but Davis also has found his voice. It’s all connected. “I had to make sure that everything around me was good,” Davis said Wednesday. “Had to make sure my body was right, I was living right, before I could really speak my voice. I’ve been this way since I got here, but now I think everybody is kind of just rallying behind me because they’ve seen the work that’s been put in, they’ve seen the work that’s being put in daily, and they see the consistency. ”It’s one thing to just hear it from a voice. But it’s another thing when he’s really believing, when he’s really living it, and he’s making decisions, making progress in terms of the way he wants to live his life.”

Why the Eagles are expanding their under-center offense in 2025 – The Athletic
Still, the pattern should not be ignored. The Eagles are 4-0 this season when they run 20 or more under-center plays, according to TruMedia. Those games include wins over the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. Saquon Barkley’s average yards per carry is higher in those games (4.4) than in others (3.7), and the passing game has flourished. Jalen Hurts amassed a perfect passer rating against the Vikings and nearly did it again by completing 12 of 15 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns against the Raiders. The evidence is convincing enough that the usually tight-lipped Hurts acknowledged that “some of those” offensive changes against the Raiders were intended to “get the run game going” and “a byproduct has been being able to throw it the way we have.” Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio also credited his unit’s success largely to the offense’s efficient approach. “When we play that way, that’s the best way we’ve played the last two years,” Fangio said.
The 2024 Eagles won Super Bowl LIX by leveraging a run-oriented offense against their top-rated defense. Barkley broke the NFL’s full-season rushing record while the Eagles averaged their most rushing attempts per game since 1978. Hurts embraced a conservative approach in which he threw a career-low 361 passes, a career-low 37 attempts of 20-plus air yards and took sacks at a career-high rate (9.5 percent). Then he was named Super Bowl MVP after making the Kansas City Chiefs pay in the passing game for focusing on stopping Barkley.

The Best NFL Bets for Week 16 – The Ringer
Marcus Mariota has been considerably more efficient than Jayden Daniels for the Commanders offense this season. Mariota ranks 14th out of 44 quarterbacks with at least 100 snaps in EPA and completion percentage of expected composite, while Daniels is 30th. I’m not here to say that Mariota is better than Daniels, but he has been significantly more effective as the signal caller in 2025. The best way to take advantage of the Commanders defense is by stressing the middle of the field, where the linebackers struggle in coverage. The Eagles, though, have not been willing to attack there consistently. Verdict: Bet Washington +6.5 (–110)

Spadaro: Shhh, the Eagles’ rushing attack is coming together – PE.com
The numbers say the running game, the bread and butter of the Eagles’ offense in these last five seasons with Nick Sirianni as the head coach, is improving. More than that, the team’s confidence in the ground attack is building. “You just keep working at it, working on it. We’ve gotten better, done some things differently, but mostly we’ve kept at it and that’s the important thing,” running back Saquon Barkley said on Sunday, minutes after rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown in the 31-0 win over Las Vegas. “We know it’s just a matter of time before we get things where we want them to be. It isn’t easy. We’ve had a lot of moving parts this season. But we’re getting there. We feel it.” The Eagles rambled for 183 yards against Vegas, the fifth time in seven games they’ve gone for more than 100 yards on the ground. Six nights earlier, they ran for 134 yards in Los Angeles against the Chargers. Progress. Progress. It is all encouraging. During a season in which the offensive line has battled injuries, the offense has searched for consistency, and the team has seen the best from every opponent, the offense believes the best is yet to come with the running game, one that has been the hallmark of championship-level teams this decade.

Eagles offense turning corner after sloppy practices and miscommunication: ‘We’re getting closer’ – NJ.com
“It’s trending upward,” Eagles right tackle Fred Johnson said about the offense’s direction. “Calling more and more runs. Executing better. It’s an uphill battle of trying to execute and deliver and stay the course, honestly. I feel like we’re getting closer and closer to being where we want to be as an offense.” Steen said the offensive line is “communicating better” and was able to adjust to un-scouted looks last week after struggling in that area previously. Dotson also mentioned the offense used more motion and other types of misdirection to confuse the Raiders. Scheme adjustments could elevate Philadelphia’s offense, but they won’t matter if penalties continue to stall drives — an issue they’ve struggled with all season. They have been flagged for 20 false starts, 19 offensive holding calls and seven delay-of-game penalties. But here’s the good news: against the Raiders, the Eagles committed just one offensive penalty. “We’ve just been cleaner in practice,” Calcaterra said “No pre-snap penalties and just making sure we’re all on the same page. There are definitely some times when we weren’t as clean (during practice), but that’s just part of the game.”

Rumors are Flying That Cooper DeJean is Dating WWE Superstar Nikki Bella – Crossing Broad
Rumors are flying all over social media that 22-year-old Cooper DeJean is dating 42-year-old WWE Superstar Nikki Bella. Lets look at the evidence starting with this weekend:

Cowboys injuries: Quinnen Williams, DaRon Bland DNP – Blogging The Boys
Still recovering from a high-ankle sprain, offensive Tyler Guyton (ankle) was with the rehab group and didn’t work into team activities, earning a DNP on today’s report. Also, not practicing today was CeeDee Lamb, who was sidelined with an illness, as well as cornerback DaRon Bland who sat out with a foot injury. Finally, Hunter Leupke and Quinnen Williams didn’t participate in today’s practice as they are both in the league’s concussion protocol.

Rival coach on NY Giants’ QB Jaxson Dart: ‘We gotta go out and hit him’ – Big Blue View
“He is a running back first … We gotta go out and hit him, fellas.” That was Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn talking to his players last week about New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, as captured the HBO ‘Hard Knocks’ cameras. As he has just about everything else this season, except being hauled off the field by officials for what seem like weekly concussion checks, Dart shrugged off the comments from Quinn. He said the remarks will “absolutely not” change anything for him.

Ranking NFL head coach potential openings: Best, worst jobs – ESPN
5. New York Giants. Projected 2026 cap space: 18th most ($26.6 million). Projected 2026 draft capital: most. We know the Giants will hire a new coach after firing Brian Daboll at midseason, and though there might have been a scenario where Mike Kafka would have inherited that role with an impressive end of the season, he has gone 0-4 as the interim coach in New York, struggling with game management at times along the way. Kafka should still have a path to head coaching opportunities in his future, but he’s more likely to land as a coordinator or offensive assistant somewhere else in 2026. When Daboll was fired, there was significant chatter suggesting that the Giants job would be the plum opportunity of the 2026 offseason. Having the first overall pick and the most projected draft capital of any team in football would obviously go a long way if the Giants end up there, although ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Big Blue only a 16% chance of finishing the season with the worst record. Outside of the potential draft capital, I’m not sure I agree with the idea that this is an outstanding opportunity for the league’s best coaching candidates.

2026 NFL offseason outlook: Ranking all 32 teams by projected cap space and draft capital – NFL.com
6) NEW YORK GIANTS. The Giants are one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on in the offseason. We know this organization will be bringing in a new head coach — and will look to build around an exciting young offensive core. Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo and, of course, Jaxson Dart give the Giants a good starting point. Year 2 is a perfect time to invest around a QB, with plenty of runway remaining on that affordable rookie contract. Consider the strategy followed by the Patriots (signing Stefon Diggs to be Drake Maye’s new WR1), Commanders (trading for Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil to boost Jayden Daniels) and Bears (investing their top two draft picks in pass-catchers Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III to help Caleb Williams) just last offseason. Due to the contracts they’ve given out over the past few years, the Giants are currently projected to have just $26.6 million in cap space, with the scheduled hits of Brian Burns ($34.8 million) and Dexter Lawrence ($27 million) looming especially large at the moment — meaning their best opportunity to add is going to be through the draft. And they’re currently in position to receive the first overall pick, although they could drop due to an upcoming Week 17 matchup with the Raiders. The Giants haven’t selected first overall since taking Tucker Frederickson in 1965, so it would be a rare opportunity for the franchise, though they are familiar with the earlier portions of the draft in general. Big Blue is going to make a top-six pick for the fourth time in the past five drafts — with the hope that this time, the selection will help propel the team to competitive status.

Puka Nacua’s Adin Ross appearance results in antisemitic touchdown dance promise – SB Nation
If you’re both a fan of Puka Nacua and a decent human being you might not want to read any further — but also you should, because he doesn’t have a right to be free of criticism for engaging in antisemitism. Nacua made an appearance on Adin Ross’ livestream where he floated a conspiracy theory about referees, and mocked the Kansas City Chiefs for getting eliminated, which is dumb, but whatever. The real story is that Puka reprehensibly vowed to Ross that the next touchdown he scores he will do a “Covetous Jew” dance, which Ross taught Nacua and involves spinning a dreidel, flexing, then rubbing his hands together while mimicking an established antisemitic trope.

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