FRISCO, Texas — Dak Prescott said Thursday that he hopes every New York Giants cornerback believes what Greg Newsome II said about their room, three days before the Dallas Cowboys open the season at MetLife Stadium.
Kickoff Sunday night is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. Newsome said last week that the Giants have the best cornerback room in the league. Prescott knows what Dallas has at receiver.
“Well, I hope they all think that,” Prescott said. “If he doesn’t, he probably should switch his job. And the fact that he does is even more exciting. I know what we’ve got, and we’re going to go [show it].”
George Pickens Answers Greg Newsome II
Receiver George Pickens heard Newsome’s comments. He said Wednesday that he and CeeDee Lamb are the best receiver duo in the NFL.
“Yeah, we definitely think we’re the best,” Pickens said. “Now, for everybody’s brains and mindsets, I don’t know what they’re going to say. For us, yeah, we’re the best.”
Newsome told reporters after a Giants practice last week that New York has the best room in the league. Pickens said Newsome should feel the way he does about his group, but the Cowboys see it differently.
“Yeah, that’s definitely how he should feel,” Pickens said. “Now, how we should feel, I’d definitely probably say a completely different story. But that’s cool that he definitely thinks that, that’s cool.”
Lamb and Pickens combined for 2,506 receiving yards last season, second among receiver duos to a Detroit pair that finished 12 yards ahead. Pickens caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns, made his first Pro Bowl, and was a second-team All-Pro. Lamb caught 75 passes for 1,077 yards and 3 touchdowns in 14 games and made his fifth straight Pro Bowl.
Greg Newsome II And George Pickens Meet Again
Newsome and Pickens last faced each other in 2024, when Newsome played for Cleveland and Pickens for Pittsburgh. The two wrestled on a Hail Mary at the end of a 24-19 Browns win in Week 12 and kept going after the ball fell incomplete. Pickens missed the teams’ second meeting that season with a hamstring injury, so they have not shared a field since.
Newsome said this week that the history makes Sunday “a little more special,” Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reported. Newsome called Pickens great at the catch point and said he likes the Giants’ chances.
Cleveland drafted Newsome 26th overall in 2021. He has played 71 games with 58 starts for Cleveland and Jacksonville, with 207 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 43 passes defensed. His best season came in 2023, when he set career highs with 2 interceptions and 14 passes defensed. New York signed him March 13, and he started 5 games for the Browns last season before finishing the year in Jacksonville.
Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said Thursday that the rest of the room gravitates to Newsome. Wilson also called Pickens a matchup problem one-on-one who can catch the contested football.
“The first thing I love about him is he loves to compete,” Wilson said of Newsome. “He’s a glue guy. It’s like the guys in the room, they gravitate to him. His attention to detail in terms of his technique, assignments and understanding where his help is, what he can do within the framework of the defense is top notch. I love just the person.”
Paulson Adebo and Deonte Banks are also in the Giants’ cornerback room. Wilson wants a defense built on press coverage.
“I believe in no free access, no easy completions,” Wilson said. “As a quarterback, drop back and try to decipher what coverage you’re in. That’s just how I’ve been raised in this game, and that’s what I believe in.”
Dallas finished second in the NFL with 4,527 net passing yards last season, and Prescott led the league with 404 completions. In the Week 2 meeting, Lamb had 9 catches for 112 yards and Pickens had 5 catches for 68 yards and 1 touchdown in a 40-37 overtime win. Lamb also drew 10 defensive pass interference penalties last season, the most in the NFL, and Pickens tied for fourth with five.
