Here is what is going on with the NFC East right now.
Commanders camp just started but rising star is already shining in familiar spot – Dean Jones, RiggosRag.com
Impressions are already being made in the first week of training camp.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and his exceptional coaching staff are putting players through their initial paces at training camp. This is still the bedding-in period, but one not-so-subtle shift surrounding a potential franchise cornerstone has already caught the eye.
Joe Whitt Jr. is demanding more from his cornerback unit this season. Second-year general manager Adam Peters has improved the playing personnel available, spending a second-round pick on Trey Amos and also signing two-time Super Bowl winner Jonathan Jones in free agency.
Noah Igbinoghene got another one-year deal from the franchise after impressing last time around. Four-time Pro Bowl corner Marshon Lattimore also looks healthy, refocused, and explosive after finally ridding himself of the hamstring complication that blighted the early returns of his trade. That is a game-changer in no uncertain terms.
Mike Sainristil is already thriving in the nickel at Commanders training camp
Then, there’s Mike Sainristil. The 2024 second-round pick thrived as a rookie, proving no moment was too big en route to becoming a key part of the team’s plans. His competitiveness, composure on the biggest stages, and relentless work ethic defied his status as the No. 50 pick. It’s early days, but the Commanders already have a huge steal on their hands.
Thanks to the additions made this offseason, the Commanders are moving Sainristil back to the position where he starred in college. Whitt had to move him to the boundary last season after the likes of Benjamin St-Juste, Michael Davis, and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. began to struggle. He took on the challenge and excelled, but his skills are much better suited to the nickel.
With Amos and Jones competing for the starting outside role opposite Lattimore, the Commanders are throwing Sainristil back into the slot. This gives him more flexibility to be instinctive, and Washington will already have several ways devised schematically to maximize his skill set.
Sainristil is already turning heads in his preferred position. Those in attendance noted his superb pass defenses on Day 2 of camp. The Commanders’ defense has questions to answer elsewhere, but the coaching staff can relax, safe in the knowledge that they don’t have anything to worry about where the Michigan product is concerned.
What does Cooper DeJean think of his new nickname from A.J. Brown? – Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports Philadelphia
An impressive rookie season led to a praiseworthy nickname for the Eagles DB.
It started in OTAs. That was when A.J. Brown began calling second-year defensive back Cooper DeJean “All-Pro Coop” or “APC” if he abbreviates it.
DeJean, 22, had a good rookie season for a second-round pick and he capped it with a pick-6 in Super Bowl LIX.
But All-Pro Coop?
“I thought he was crazy,” DeJean said after the Eagles’ second training camp practice of 2025. “I thought he was crazy. But when he explained it to me, he’s trying to speak it into existence for me. That gives me something to work towards and try to prove every single day when I come out here.”
The Eagles were ecstatic last April when they were able to move up in the second round to draft DeJean with the No. 40 overall pick out of Iowa. A hamstring injury delayed DeJean’s first training camp and put him behind last summer. But when the Eagles came back from their Week 5 bye week in 2024 with a 2-2 record, DeJean was inserted into the lineup as the starting nickel corner and the Eagles’ defense took off.
Under Vic Fangio, the Eagles had the No. 1 overall defense and the No. 1 passing defense in the entire NFL en route to a dominant performance against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. And DeJean was a major part of all of it.
So maybe it’s not too crazy to start thinking about the ceiling for DeJean, even if All-Pro feels like a lofty goal.
“It gives me something to strive and to work for,” DeJean said. “We had talked about that during OTAs. [Brown is] going to be one that pushes me every single day to make sure that I’m playing at a high level, no matter the day, to work towards that. Which is pretty cool coming from a guy who’s been All-Pro multiple times.”
Giants’ Dexter Lawrence: Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott ‘speaking up a little bit’ – Serena Burks, USA Today
Leadership is taking hold in New York.
The New York Giants opened training camp on Wednesday, and after their practice, several players were made available to the media for questions. Nose tackle Dexter Lawrence is the clear leader on the defense, and he’s ready to get back to work after missing the last five games of 2024 with a dislocated elbow.
When Lawrence spoke with the media after the Giants’ first official practice of 2025, he was asked what gives him hope that this team is going to be better this year.
“I think it is different guys like (Deonte Banks) speaking up a little bit,” he replied. “(Cor’Dale) Flott speaking up a little bit. Different guys like that who have been here for a little bit who haven’t spoken much, but they’re more comfortable in their roles, whatever it is.
“I think that’s what a team is. You got to understand your roles. If you’re special teams, you’re special teams. You’re a superstar, you’re a superstar, you’re a backup, you’re a backup, and flourishing in those roles, because you never know where it can go. I think we’re all part of a body, and the body is this team and this organization, and everybody [has] to do their specific role every day so we can get what we want to get.”
Flott is entering his fourth season in the NFL with the Giants, and Banks is in his third season. Both have been around the team under Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll. They know the expectations, they know what has happened in the past few years, and they’re figuring out that it’s their time to step up.
