East Notes: Eagles, Romo, Tannehill

Despite the old NFL adage that says, “if you want to win a Super Bowl, make sure you don’t have a great wide receiver,” Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes the Eagles need to address their wide receiver position, currently the weakest area of their roster, if they want to become true contenders. Although it is unlikely the club could acquire a top-flight wideout via trade this year, there may be a few quality free agent options this offseason, such as Alshon Jeffery or old friend DeSean Jackson. Plus, Philadelphia could invest a fair amount of money at the position while Carson Wentz is still playing under his rookie deal.

As McLane notes, Nelson Agholor, Dorial Green-Beckham, and Josh Huff have shown little to suggest they can develop into premier receivers, which leaves Jordan Matthews–who is better suited to the slot–as Wentz’s only truly reliable wideout. With Wentz looking like the real deal, the Eagles could be legitimate threats this year, but they could cement their contender status moving forward if they can give their young signal-caller another weapon or two.

Now let’s take a look at a few more notes from the league’s east divisions:

  • Todd Archer of ESPN.com says Tony Romo‘s most likely return date is November 6 against Cleveland, not October 30 against Philadelphia. And, despite the Cowboys‘ insistence that Romo will regain the starting role when he is healthy, Archer says the team could be “singing a different tune” if Dak Prescott is still winning. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Prescott has more support in the Cowboys’ locker room to keep the status quo than Romo has to change it.
  • Martellus Bennett is thriving in his first year with the Patriots, but despite that, and despite the fact that he is set to hit the open market at season’s end, the 29-year-old tight end insists he is not thinking about his next contract, as Phil Perry of CSNNewEngland.com writes. Bennett said, “For me, I haven’t even thought about [next year]. It’s not something I want to think about, really. I just want to enjoy each game with my teammates and my friends on this team and go out there and ball.”
  • The Dolphins continue to insist that, although Ryan Tannehill shares a fair amount of the blame for the team’s woeful start to the 2016 season, their quarterback problem is not strictly a Tannehill problem. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that, upon reviewing game film, Miami’s coaching staff sees offensive linemen and receivers alike simply missing assignments and demonstrating poor technique, and if the team can remedy those issues, the staff believes Tannehill can realize his potential. In fact, Salguero writes, “speaking to people within the organization, there’s a concern that if this team gives up on Tannehill now, he would go elsewhere and in the years to come would be a good quarterback. Some other team’s good quarterback.”
  • Despite being fourth on the only four-man quarterback depth chart in the NFL, Jets rookie signal-caller Christian Hackenberg is not discouraged. He is trying to maximize his scout team reps, is taking copious notes, and is otherwise remaining upbeat as he waits for his moment. Hackenberg said, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat. I’m happy for the [other rookie quarterbacks] playing well. I know a lot of them. That’s cool, but there are a lot of ways to get it” (link via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com).
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