On Monday night, the Giants held their annual Town Hall event. For the first time arguably since the days of Bill Parcells, the team has a good head coach who is also a clear and direct (and at times blunt) communicator.
Art Stapleton of USA Today has posted a snippet from the event that will be music to the ears of Giants fans.
Here’s the question to John Harbaugh, from one of the folks in the crowd: “We turn on the TV on Sundays, and then we face the Eagles and the Cowboys, and a lot of the time they just kick our butts. How confident are you, Coach, that going into this season we’ll go into those Dallas games, those Eagles games, and those Commanders games, and we’ll take them down?”
“I could care less about what’s happened last year, the year before that, or ten years before that,” Harbaugh said. “Honestly, I don’t give a crap about any of it. Not one bit. All I care about is tomorrow’s practice. Because if tomorrow’s practice is the way it’s supposed to be, that’ll be one more step in the direction of being a good enough football team to kick the Cowboys’ ass.”
And with that, the room exploded in cheers.
“That’s our job,” Harbaugh added. “That’s our job to be good enough to do that. We gotta make ourselves good enough to do that. That’s our responsibility.”
And the countdown to Week 1 continues. With the Cowboys coming to town to face the Giants in Harbaugh’s first game of his first year in New York.
While the proof will be in the proverbial pudding, Harbaugh has the fans more excited than they’ve been in a long time.
The stadium that periodically has an issue with sunlight from the outside now has a pink glow coming from the inside.
It’s part of the Herculean effort to equip AT&T Stadium — officially known through the end of the World Cup as Dallas Stadium — to prepare for nine upcoming matches in the world’s biggest soccer tournament.
NBC DFW recently took a close look at the work being done to transform the Cowboys’ venue into something that will comply with FIFA’s exacting requirements. The grass was grown in Colorado. A ventilation and irrigation system was installed beneath it. Pink lights hang over the pitch to help the grass grow.
The transformation will require 45,000 man-hours and 15,000 tons of material.
Whatever the expense, the powers-that-be have gladly incurred it as a cost of doing FIFA business. When the matches end, it’ll go back to the usual fake stuff that the vast majority of NFL players don’t want.
One such player currently plays for the Cowboys. Receiver CeeDee Lamb recently posted a plea for grass on Instagram.
It won’t be happening in Dallas, unless and until the Collective Bargaining Agreement compels it. And if the players push for it, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be at the front of the line that’s pushing. While the effort to secure high-quality natural grass won’t affect the teams that already have it, those that don’t will fight the hardest.
Even if, as Jones is, they’re spending millions for a short-term stint to install grass for fewer than ten international soccer matches.
One of the reasons the Cowboys can hope to have a better defense this season is the fact that linebacker DeMarvion Overshown isn’t rehabbing an injury right now.
After Overshown missed his rookie season in 2023 with a torn ACL, he returned to give the Cowboys an athletic and productive player in the middle of their defense. He had 90 tackles, five sacks, an interception return for a touchdown, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 13 games before suffering another knee injury. The recovery from multiple torn ligaments kept him out for most of last season, but he emerged from a five-game return without any more issues to deal with this offseason.
On Thursday, Overshown said that he believes the healthy offseason has him primed for big things in the fall.
“Biggest blessing I can ask for,” Overshown said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “I feel like everybody knows when I’m healthy, I’m one of the best linebackers in the league. That’s not to toot my own horn, but the film and that stats speaks for itself when I’m on the field. Being healthy is the number one way to stay on the field and be able to do what I do. “The fact that I get to go through this whole offseason as a healthy man, and coming into training camp healthy, I feel like people ain’t seen my best yet. So, I know it’s going to be one of my best years.”
The Cowboys’ issues on defense last season went beyond missing Overshown, which was illustrated by the numerous moves they made to address that side of the ball over the last few months. Getting Overshown back to where he was a couple of years ago would still be a big step forward for the unit and things appear to be on the right track on that front.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott advised wide receiver George Pickens to “bet on yourself” when Pickens received the franchise tag earlier this year and Pickens took that advice.
Pickens signed the tag despite the Cowboys saying they have no plans to work out a long-term contract extension with the wideout this offseason. Pickens’s decision has not led him to take part in the voluntary portions of the team’s offseason program, but that isn’t an issue for Prescott when it come to Pickens’s preparation for the season.
While at the team’s charity home run derby Thursday, Prescott said that he and Pickens have done “as much as needed” while working together on their own and that he has no doubt Pickens will hit the ground running once he is with the team.
“I’ve just showed George my support,” Prescott said, via the team’s website. “The guy that I know George is, obviously he signed the tag, so when he has to be there and ready to play, he’s going to be there. He’s a hell of a talent. We’ve thrown this offseason, so I’m comfortable with where he’s at and I’m excited for when he can get in the building and get rolling.”
The only mandatory work of the Cowboys’ offseason is at their minicamp in mid-June. Pickens may not be around until that starts, but that won’t be an issue for his quarterback.
The NFL did the Chiefs a favor, giving them an early off week as Patrick Mahomes works his way back.
The Chiefs and Panthers have the earliest possible bye, getting an off week in Week 5.
The Chiefs quarterback tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 game against the Chargers and underwent surgery the following day. There is no timeline for his return, although Mahomes reportedly is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is shooting for Week 1.
If he’s not ready, Mahomes would miss only four games in six weeks. Those four games are the Broncos, Colts, Dolphins and Raiders, so the start to the season is not nearly as hard as it could have been.
The Cowboys and Cardinals have the latest possible off week, with their bye coming in Week 14.
Here are the other bye weeks:
Week 6 — Bengals, Lions, Dolphins, Vikings.
Week 7 — Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Commanders.
Week 8 — Giants, Texans, Saints, 49ers.
Week 9 — Steelers, Titans.
Week 10 — Bears, Broncos, Eagles, Bucs.
Week 11 — Seahawks, Rams, Falcons, Patriots, Browns, Packers.
Week 13 — Ravens, Jets, Colts, Raiders.
