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gruden presser

apparently the audio guy didnt come into work today

September 6, 2017


Head Coach Jay Gruden



On injuries:

“Limited were Ryan Anderson, stinger/neck; Spencer Long, knee. Full participation was Junior Galette, hamstring; Josh Doctson, hamstring; and Montae Nicholson, shoulder.”



On how the chemistry is progressing between QB Kirk Cousins and WR Josh Doctson:

“They’re still in process. I think they’re in good shape. Josh is such a smooth route runner and a natural wide receiver that it makes it easy for quarterbacks. Not a concern there, just the longevity of it, make sure Josh’s stamina is up to par, which I think it is. He’s in great shape and he’s looked good the last couple days.”



On having a fully healthy offense:

“We’re excited. It’s always good to have your guys healthy and ready to go. It was good to get Jordan [Reed] back in there full-time and Josh [Doctson] and all the guys. Jamison [Crowder] is full-go, offensive line is in great shape, Spencer [Long] had a decent day today. He’s working toward it, being full-strength. They look good. They’re crisp and running around well.”



On his expectations of LB Junior Galette:

“I think what I expect and what Junior expects are pretty similar. We expect him to come out and play well, be a great pass rusher for us. He’s hungry. He’s been dying to get back on the field. He’s excited to play. So I’m excited to watch him play. Hopefully we get them in some third-and-longs to get him an opportunity to rush. That’ll be the key for us. Let him get his hand on the ground and come around the corner like he does so well.”



On the growth in RB Rob Kelley from last year until now:

“I just think from a general overall knowledge of the game, he’s a lot better equipped, I guess. He knows protections, running lanes, the steps, the footwork and all that stuff. He’s a lot more comfortable or more natural where now he can get the ball in his hands and do his thing. Been impressed with how he’s progressed from his rookie year to now, but games are starting, so we’ll see how they do.”



On Doctson being a “natural wide receiver” and how much that can help speed up chemistry-building:

“As you know, this offense is built on timing and anticipation, so it’s very important to have receivers that you know. Unfortunately they haven’t worked a lot together, he or Terrelle [Pryor Sr.]. So we’ll see. The jury is still out, but like I said, he is a very natural route runner, very friendly quarterback target. He runs and gets in and out of his breaks smooth. He gets his head around. He’s at the right depth. He understands the route tree very well. He knows how to run everything. There’s not a route that he can’t run. We’ll see how it goes, but I feel very good about where he is as far as mentally and his approach to running routes at receiver.”



On the evolution of Cousins’ preparation in his third season as a starter:

“He’s always going to prepare himself. That’s not the issue. That’s the one thing that you have to be consistent about at the quarterback position. That can’t vary, whether it’s Monday Night Football, Super Bowl or Week 1 of the preseason. You know, you have to continue to prepare yourself, and he’s very good about that. We do have to have a sense of urgency. This is a division game, it’s a home game, so it is an important game for us. So hopefully everybody understands the importance of this game. I think we do have to take it very seriously, which we are.”



On if a sense of urgency was lacking in the preseason:

“I think that’s always the case in the preseason. I think a lot of guys who have been in the league for some time may not have quite the same approach to a preseason game as they would a regular season game. But, you know, this is different. It always is.”



On Doctson’s confidence level:

“Ask him… He looks fine. He looks good. Josh has never lacked confidence. He just hasn’t been 100 percent healthy. He’s a very confident player. He was the top receiver in the draft, we thought. He made a huge impact in college football when he played at TCU. So I think confidence is not an issue with Josh.”



On how important it is to rush Eagles QB Carson Wentz:

“It’s always important, it’s always important. Like I said earlier, the important thing is stopping LeGarrette Blount and the running game, and they have a good running game with him. When they bring in [Darren] Sproles and [Wendell] Smallwood and all those guys, we have to somehow figure out how to get them third-and-long, try to make them one-dimensional. When we’re at our worst offensively is when we’re one-dimensional. That’s the case for the majority of offenses in pro football, so we have to try to get them some third-and-longs and put our hand in the dirt and let Ryan Kerrigan and Junior Galette and all the rest of the guys rush.”



On if C Chase Roullier would be the backup guard as well:

“Yeah, we’d probably make a two-man switch if that happened. Hopefully it doesn’t happen. If Spencer [Long] is our starter and he went down… Did you say if Chase was the starter?... If we needed a guard? Yes, we’d probably make Spencer the guard and Chase the center.”



On QB Alek Torgersen:

“You know, I studied Alek a lot. I think at Penn he had a good career, and then I watched every throw that he had in the East-West Shrine game and I thought he had a good, quick arm and an accurate arm. We actually thought about trying to get him here as a free agent but I didn’t really want to go four quarterbacks, you know I needed that spot for somewhere else, so we just went with three quarterbacks. He became available and we lost Nate [Sudfeld] so we decided to grab him.”



On Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery:

“Alshon makes a difference in any offense. He’s a big guy that can run the entire route tree very similar to what I’m talking about with Josh [Doctson]; Josh hasn’t done it yet. But he can go up and get the ball, he can run, and obviously he’s very good after the catch. He’s one of the star receivers in this league and he’ll be a big impact for them.”



On the matchup between Jeffery and CB Josh Norman:

“What was good about it? Well, it was a very competitive matchup, they both made some plays for sure. When you have a great corner like Josh and a great receiver like Alshon, Alshon’s going to make his share of plays and hopefully Josh can make his share or [Bashaud] Breeland if he’s on him or whoever, so we’ll just have to compete.”



On Philadelphia’s defense:

“Well, they harass you. They have a very active front is what they do. Their defensive ends are very strong, they line up and use wide nines and they get up the field and hurry. They have two internal players that are excellent, Fletcher Cox and [Tim] Jernigan and last year they had a couple other guys that were very good. They have blitzes that are unique and effective, and their defensive backs, they do a good job of playing good man coverage and they mix in their zones every now and again. They’re just a harass… they move their front a lot and make it hard to run against and then when you do have to get in third-and-long, they have a good blitz package and they can get home with four guys. [Vinny] Curry’s a heck of a rusher off the edge, Brandon Graham’s a good rusher, I talked about Fletcher Cox, they’ve got [Chris] Long that can come in the game, they’ve got the first-round draft pick [Derek] Barnett, who’s a very good pass rusher. The key for us is to, like I said, stay multi-dimensional. One-dimensional and we’ll be in trouble.”



On the mindset of the team going into Week 1:

“Yeah, we’re very hungry. I think Wednesday doesn’t really give you an indication of what they’re going to be like on game day, it’s more teaching them and installing the game plan. Thursday’swill be very similar. We’re going to do more third down, really focus on that part of the game and then Friday’s we’re going to focus on red zone and short yardage and all that stuff. So, really, this is learning and trying to get our people in the right position so come Saturday, Friday afternoon and Saturday, they feel good about the plan, they can play fast on Sunday. I think you’ll see Thursday afternoon and Friday they’ll start to rev it up a little bit. They’ll be ready.”



On Cousins’ nook/office:

“Don’t know what you’re talking about [laughter]. Oh, the one here? I thought you meant at his house. But yeah, he’s got it. We’ve got him all set up.”



On if Cousins had been bugging him for a space like that:

“Yeah, he wants somewhere to watch film in private. He’s a very private person. He makes his own notes, he’s a unique individual when it comes to that – very detailed. That’s a good thing … sometimes [laughter].”



On any player/position decisions that stand out on the depth chart:

“As far as depth chart? Yeah, I mean, they’re all not easy. They all take a lot of thought and all the things we’ve done in OTAs and training camp try to weigh in and in the preseason games and you try to come up with the best solution. Free agency – we’re excited about the guys we’ve got, especially D.J. [Swearinger]. I think D.J. was an excellent pickup for us. He’s a great leader of the defense obviously. He was voted captain after just being here. I’m excited to see Jonathan Allen play. We haven’t had an interior pass rusher like that, or an impact-type player like that in a long time and I feel good about what he can do. So we’re excited about those guys. Offensively, we’ll see what Terrelle [Pryor Sr.] can do and I’m excited to see Josh, but as far as our 53-man roster, we feel good where we’re at. We feel good about the depth, but that will be in flux from time to time throughout the course of the season. We’re trying to get the right match of players and just continue to play hard and get better.”

 
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cousins presser

QB Kirk Cousins


On his feelings going into the season after feeling “burnt out” from over-preparation this time last year:

“I would say I’ve done a better job managing it. I feel that each year I’m going to get better at handling my role and how to be best prepared each week. It’s been a good offseason, I’m ready to go. Feel like the last six weeks, through training camp and through preseason games, it’s never been perfect but it’s been a good six weeks. We’ve done all we can to be ready for this first game.”



On having all of his weapons available:

“It’s great to have everybody healthy, at least for this week. We’ll see from there. Around the league, because the margin for error, the difference in talent from team to team is so small, injuries do play a major role in the outcome of seasons and division races. If we can stay healthy, it’s going to give us a major advantage later in the year. We work for that, train for that and we do have some depth, that’s going to be an advantage for us hopefully down the road. I’d like to think we can get all of our guys going, spread the ball around, let them all show what they can do and give us a lot that the defense has to focus on.”



On the plan if his first child arrives on a game day:

“I think the plan is to not have a plan in the sense that if I can be there, I’m going to be there. If I can’t, I can’t. I’m going to get there as fast as I can, whenever my commitment is over. Obviously the biggest commitment is the game, but we’ve talked about how it’s going to look and we’re just going to react accordingly whenever it happens.”



On his chemistry and timing with WR Josh Doctson:

“I feel pretty good because Josh is a natural receiver and has done it a long time. He was able to watch last year and sit in on meetings and learn our offense. He knows what it should look like. He watched some really good players, some veteran players do it last year. It doesn’t take a lot of time to get him going. We just do need him out there for him to be able to show what he can do and really make a difference for our team and for our offense. I’m excited for that just like I’m sure the fan base is to see what he’s got in the tank. We’ve had a good week of practice here. We’ve just got to continue to give him opportunities.”



On what Doctson does well to be a “natural receiver”:

“Natural hands, tracks the ball well. He’s got good speed, he jumps well, great size, long arms. Smart player, laid-back personality, doesn’t take things too seriously in the sense that he just goes out there and enjoys the game and plays. He tracks the ball really well in the air, which is a tough skill to be able to have.”



On what challenges the Eagles’ wide-nine defensive front presents:

I could say a lot of things about the Eagles’ defense. I’ve always respected their pass rush, not only their players they have – which they have great pass rushers – but also the scheme. I’ve always respected Coach Schwartz and their defense and the way they come after you. Just constantly put pressure on you, even sometimes with only three or four rushers, you still feel them. I’ve always respected Malcolm Jenkins as a safety and really the entire unit. I think Jordan Hicks is a very good Mike linebacker. He’s a smart player, you can tell he’s a good leader for them. Mychal Kendricks has always been a guy who plays fast, plays downhill. He’ll strike you. Just a lot of respect all the way around. Very versatile players who can do multiple things. It’s going to be a good challenge."



On his previous success against the Eagles and what has worked well against them:

“Well, we found ways to win last year but it certainly wasn’t perfect – and it never is. When you go back and look at it, there are plenty of plays that you want back. And if you go back and look at our production against them, they kept us in check quite a bit. We’re going to have our hands full. They do have a good scheme. Then when you think about the fact that it’s now their second year in this scheme, that gives their team ability to get the personnel catered to what they want and to have more experience. It’s going to be a really good challenge, and it’s what you expect. Week 1, Redskins-Eagles. I think it’ll live up to how intense you expect it to be.”



On QB Alek Torgersen and transitioning him into the system:

“I asked him today, I said, ‘Is your head spinning, or how do you feel?’ He’s handling it well. It is a lot to pick up. He does a good job of understanding a lot of the big terms and techniques. He really has picked it up quickly. The challenge is in all the little nuances. That takes sometimes years. Having been in Atlanta, there’s some carryover. He was around a really good offense this past offseason through training camp. I’m even asking him questions, trying to learn about what Atlanta has done that’s worked. It’ll be great to have him there in our room. I’m always enjoying meeting new people, collecting new people to be able to have those relationships and hear their story and learn from them.”



On his comfort level with this offense:

“I like to think I am pretty comfortable, but we are going to find out as the season goes here how much production we have. Every year I have been taking a step. I feel like every session I take a step, from OTAs to training camp through the preseason games. There is greater mastery, and there always will be, but it has got to turn into production. Unless it is leading to points and touchdowns and yards and completions and good decision making, then it doesn’t mean much to say, ‘I’ve really mastered the offense.’ So, we have got to turn it into a lot of production.”



On his new QB nook/office:

“I’m thrilled to talk about it. You know, in college we had a quarterback meeting room, but here we have always just had an offensive staff room which the quarterbacks use to meet. When the offensive staff is meeting – like Monday morning after a game, they get together to watch the tape of the game – that room is not available so I am kind of homeless. So I go to the tight end room if it is open or I go to the O-line room, just try to find an empty room and watch film. Sometimes it is the team room. I like a place to kind of leave my stuff and have notes and a white board and thoughts that I can have organized, old binders that I have kept and just have them stockpiled up. There really wasn’t a place to do that, that I could have access to it at all times. We found an old nook is the best word I can think of. It’s really not an office, but it works for me. Ms. BJ, our secretary, did a good job of getting it dressed up for me and we have talked about maybe putting saloon doors on it because there are no doors right now. We were told we won’t be able to put a door on it, so maybe saloon doors or maybe hippie beads coming down from the ceiling, I don’t know. We have talked about it, but it’s great. I go in there and I’ve got a quote on the wall. I’ve got my laptop and the video guys put a monitor in there for me. I’ve got my Jeff Foxworthy ‘You might be a redneck’ peel-off calendar every day. So I got some of those fun office knick knacks. Some of the stuff from Michael Scott’s desk from The Office I put on there to be funny. We are kind of playing up the whole office thing and it’s a good place to go to work now.”



On the quote on his white board:

“It’s an old quote from Muhammad Ali that I learned in college that says – essentially it says – the fight is won or lost long before I dance under the lights. That is what he used to say, so I put that there just as a reminder when I’m in there that often times the game can be won or lost right here when you see something or you find a tip or a piece of information that can make a difference. So, it is just a good reminder, I thought it was a fitting quote for what that room should be about.”



On what he did with his notes before having his own office:

“Yeah, I have a big bin in my basement in our townhouse where I keep all of my old stuff going back to my rookie year and really college. So I have binders stacked up. I didn’t want to lose them because some day if I coach or help out at a high school, I want to have all that information. I have got it all saved up, I’ve got game plans from previous seasons and notes on D-coordinators and stuff so it is nice now to have it all in a place.”



On his emotions in season openers and the challenge of winning the opener:

“There certainly isn’t a better way to start the season than with a win. There are a lot of emotions in Week 1. It is always a balance of not revving too much, but also not falling asleep, and you have got to find that balance. And certainly Week 1, I think a tendency for me tends to be that you’re a little too revved up. So, just try to find a way to stay calm, process, not get too excited or worked up to still be able to be accurate and go through my reads and not rush anything. That is always a challenge the first couple weeks of the year. I think you’re still finding your way and figuring out what kind of team you have and what your identity is going to be. Hopefully we can hit the ground running here right away on Sunday.”



On QB Nate Sudfeld signing with the Eagles and if he has to change his approach as a result:

“Sure, I am going to try to say a lot answering this question without saying anything. It’s a fair question. It certainly goes on. It is smart of them to do that and we are going to do the best we can to plan accordingly. At the end of the day, they’re going to have a plan and we are going to have a plan and it’s all about execution on both sides of the ball.”



On the third-down duo of RB Chris Thompson and TE Jordan Reed:

“I haven’t done a study around the league to know who would be ranked higher but I’m certainly pleased. I don’t feel a need to go look elsewhere to find somebody in those two roles. Both are very natural, great players. I’m sure it helps to have other guys who complement them. Chris Thompson, outside with Terrelle [Pryor Sr.] and Josh Doctson and Ryan Grant and on and on, Vernon Davis. When you can have other guys thrown into the mix, it hopefully keeps defenses guessing, opens up lanes for Jamison [Crowder] and Jordan. They’re a big help to our offense. They show up in big moments. That’s what great players do. We’re going to need them to do that on Sunday.”

 

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gruden/cavanaugh presser

September 8, 2017



Head Coach Jay Gruden


On injuries:

“We have got three questionables: Ryan Anderson with his neck/stinger, Spencer Long with his knee and Jamison Crowder with his hip flexor.”



On if WR Jamison Crowder a concern for Sunday:
“Yeah, he’s a concern. Anybody who’s questionable is a concern. So we have another day of treatment – recovery – and we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”



On who will play in the slot if Crowder is unavailable:

“Ryan Grant will move in there.”



On if people are sleeping on the Redskins this year:

“I don’t know, I haven’t really asked everybody’s opinion. That’s the first I’ve heard about it, so we’re just going to try to go out and do our job. I feel good about this football team and the competitive spirit. I think we’ve improved but time will tell. We’re going to go out and compete and play well and see what happens.”



On preparing for Week 1 as compared to other weeks:

“Even though it’s the Eagles, and they’re in our division, we’ve seen them quite a few times. There’s still some things that they’re going to do, I’m sure, that we haven’t seen before. That’s just pro football. Really each week you’re going to see some nuance – a formation or a play – that you haven’t seen, or a defense or a coverage or a blitz that you haven’t seen. You just hope your rules hold up, you weather the storm, and at the end of the day it’s going to be about man-on-man, blocking, tackling, fundamentals, ball security, staying away from the crazy penalties. We’re trying to prepare them the best we can, but at the end of the day, they’re going to have to go out and make plays.”



On if TE Jordan Reed has made up for lost time:

“Yeah, I think so. He’s done a great job of coming in here. I think his body is in football shape now. He never really got out of shape. That’s the good thing. Even though he missed a significant portion of the OTAs and part of training camp, he stayed in really good shape and he’s in a good spot right now. Again, he’s one of those receivers that’s very easy to throw to, good in and out of his cuts, we can put him in different spots. He’s comfortable and he’s doing well.”



On if WR Josh Doctson and LB Junior Galette are good to go for Sunday:

“Yeah.”



Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh


On the luxury of WR Ryan Grant’s versatility:

“It’s wonderful. He’s got a lot of versatility. He can play all three positions, he’s experienced – so it’s a nice luxury. It won’t necessarily mean he’s not going to get on the field if Jamison [Crowder] is playing, he’s going to get work, so we’re excited about that.”



On if the team could use different personnel groups if they’re limited to four wide receivers:

“Yeah, even with four, we’ve got enough personnel groups that we’ll get 11 guys out there. Whether it’s an extra tight end or getting the most out of the receivers we’ve got dressed out, we’ll have plenty of players.”



On the challenges the Eagles’ defense presents:

“It’s a big challenge. They’re very good up front. They’ve got a very good defense. They’ve got some new faces. [Tim] Jernigan’s in there now they drafted [Derek] Barnett, they’ve got some new faces in the secondary, so we’ve got our work cut out. But I think we match up well, and we’ll find out. We’ve had a good week of practice. I feel real good about our unit up front, but protection is a lot more than just the guys up front. It’s the backs, it’s the tight ends, it’s the quarterback getting the ball out of his hands in rhythm, guys getting open, so we never really say that the only way we’re going to win this game is if we block the front four. We expect that, but there’s a lot more that goes into it. All 11 guys are responsible.”



On having patience in the running game:

“I think most running games in this league are about being patient. You can’t let them force you out of something that you want to do. Obviously we want to run the ball. We want to be as balanced as we can. I think we’ve got a good package together to run the ball, and we will be patient.”

 

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gruden presser

September 11, 2017



Head Coach Jay Gruden


On injuries:

“We just have some bumps and bruises here and there, nothing really to announce. We will announce the injury report on Wednesday. Everybody came out pretty good.”



On the number of rushing attempts:

“It got away from us a little bit. We had a couple other runs called that we threw quick passes on. So have to get that cleaned up a little bit and get the running game going.”



On if the Eagles did anything different to stop the rushing attack:

“No, they have a good front. That is well-documented. We have a good front also. We should block better than we did. From time to time we had… I think 13 of our rushes by running backs, I think eight of them were positive, five of them were negative. That’s not a very good percentage. I think it was somewhere around there. I don’t know the exact number, but just have got to get it cleaned up. That’s not just the offensive line, you know, sometimes it’s the back, sometimes it’s the tight end. So we all have our hand in it.”



On if he was surprised by the play of the offensive line:

“Yeah, I was surprised. We expect great things from our offensive line. I know Coach [Bill] Callahan holds them to very high standards, as do I. They hold themselves to high standards. Unfortunately it was a combination of everybody. It wasn’t just one area. Our left tackle had a couple, our left guard had a couple, our center had a couple, our right guard had a couple, and our right tackle had a couple. It’s not like each individual played terribly. It’s just they all had mistakes or poor protection things at inopportune times. They will work at it. They will get better and they have to.”



On his impressions of Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky’s defense:

“They played hard without a doubt and we expect them to. They should and they will every week. Just one glaring stat that just blinks out at you is 8-for-13 on third down. That’s something we have to get better on. We have to get better with our four-man rushes when we rush four. We have to get better with our blitzes when we blitz. We have to tackle the quarterback when we have him in the grasp. We had four sacks and we let him go. Heck of a job by Carson [Wentz]. He is a big strong kid, but still we have got to do a better job of wrapping him up when we get a chance. When he does get out of the pocket, we have got to match our receivers and play better defense.”



On if “readiness issues” limited WR Josh Doctson’s snaps:

“I don’t think it is ‘readiness issues.’ I think he is ready to go. I think it is something more that he has to perform and he has to play well to earn more playing time. You know, he hasn’t practiced a whole lot. Last year he didn’t practice a whole lot. This year, he has been in and out of the lineup a little bit. I think once he establishes himself as an everyday player, he is going to get the reps and he is going to prove that he is one of our top receivers. He’ll get more and more reps as the season goes on without a doubt, but he has got to earn that right like everybody does.”



On if practice is where Doctson will earn that role:

“Yeah, of course. Consistent. He’ll get more next week.”



On the play of QB Kirk Cousins and the offense:

“I am not up here to bash any individual. We know that as an offense that we have to play better. Line has to play better, tight ends have to play better, backs have to play better, our receivers have to play a lot better, our quarterback has to play better. The pick was unfortunate. A very similar thing happened against Arizona last year at the end of the game. We had pressure in his face and the ball got away from him and Patrick Peterson picked it. It was the same exact route and the same exact outcome. When you have a free hitter in your face, you have got to do a good job of drifting and trying to make a good throw. The ball just got away from him.”



On Cousins developing chemistry with the receivers:

“That is going to be the issue. We just have to keep practicing. That’s what we are out here for on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. We have to do a good job of getting these guys on the same page and calling plays they’re comfortable with that they can run. We have to get our tight ends more involved and Chris Thompson more involved in the passing game if we have to. For the most part, I think our receivers played pretty well. Ryan Grant played well. I think [Jamison] Crowder played hard, didn’t get as many opportunities as he normally would. But we will get it together, without a doubt. Those guys will have good chemistry sooner than later.”



On why Doctson didn’t get any targets:

“It wasn’t anything Josh did. It was just that, for whatever reason, the play we had called didn’t get targeted to him.”



On what Doctson needs to do to earn more reps:

“I need to see him out here at practice, you know, on a consistent basis. He will make plays in practice. The more plays he makes in practice, the more comfortable that Kirk will be, the more reps he is going to get and that is going to happen. It will happen. I know that will happen. Josh is a great receiver. Now it is just a matter of putting it day in and day out consistently, stacking days together one after another and then he will play plenty and get plenty of catches by the time the year is up.”



On if TE Jordan Reed is still feeling the effects of the toe injury:

“No, I think his toe is fine. I think he had enough time off to get it healed. He’s got the orthotics in there and I think he ran around pretty good. If anything, he might’ve just been a little rusty, just a little too quick with some of his cuts, all that stuff. He had some opportunities to make some big plays. We missed him on a couple, quite frankly. Jordan will be a big part. I think he’s healthy and feeling good, if you ask him.”



On balancing predictability and plays that work well with Reed:

“That’s what we battle every day in meetings. We have enough formations and ways to utilize not only Jordan on some option routes but Jamison [Crowder] and our halfback. Chris [Thompson] caught a great one for a touchdown. Just have got to keep changing it up, getting our best players the ball in optimum looks. Then when we get the optimum looks, make sure we get it to them – give them the ball and protect.”



On if he was easing LB Junior Galette back into action:

“Yeah, a little bit. We’ve got to ease him back to make sure he’s ready to go. I think he’s very similar to Josh [Doctson]. He’s going to earn his right and get more and more reps. I think next week you’ll see him probably get 25 reps or 30. Same thing with Josh; he’ll probably get 35 or 40 next week. Just get these guys going, make sure you don’t push the envelope too far, [too] fast. Make sure they’re ready to go, and when they are ready, we’ll let them loose.”



On the pass rush:

“Well, we had opportunities to get him [Carson Wentz] on the ground – we missed four sacks at least, like I mentioned – so that was good. We had a couple others, I think there was a couple instances, especially on third down, we rushed four and didn’t get much pressure, which hurt us a little bit. We’ll try to get that fixed. Overall, I think the defense did play hard. We just had some tough deals on third down.”



On if the punt and kickoff returners are set:

“Punt is going to be Jamison [Crowder]. That’s the first drop I’ve seen him have. Maybe he’s had another one, but he won’t drop anymore. On kick return, that’ll be ever changing, probably, but Chris Thompson and [Bashaud] Breeland. We’ll stick with them. We’ve just got to block better. We didn’t block anybody.”



On if he’s concerned about exposing CB Bashaud Breeland on kickoffs:

“No, I think Breeland wants it. He’s been wanting to be a kick returner for a while, so I’ll let him keep doing it. He’s done well. He’ll be OK there – we just have got to block for him.”



On Breeland’s indecisiveness in stepping out of the end zone on one kickoff:

“That was a tough one. We’ll fix that. He’ll fix that.”



On the challenge of Rams Head Coach Sean McVay knowing the Redskins’ tendencies:

“Greg [Manusky] is a little bit different than what he’s seen before, but Sean does a good job of attacking what Greg does. They have a good receiving corps – Sammy Watkins and Cooper [Kupp] and obviously a good running back in [Todd] Gurley. Tavon Austin is a good mix-it-up guy, he can play in the backfield as a running back, he can do option routes, he can do jet sweeps. They’ve got enough weapons they can hurt you. It’ll be a great challenge. We have a good idea of what he likes to do, but you just don’t know when he’s going to do it.”



On his impressions of the reviewed fumble in the fourth quarter:

“I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t tell. Maybe the ball was still in his hand. Sounded like it was blocked from where I was. I ran it back on the sideline copy, I couldn’t tell.”

 

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roster moves

For Immediate Release

September 11, 2017



REDSKINS MAKE ROSTER MOVES



LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The Washington Redskins announced today that they have made the following roster moves:


The Redskins signed the following player to their practice squad:

OL Alex Balducci


The Redskins released the following player from their practice squad:

OL Anthony Fabiano
 

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gruden presser

September 13, 2017


Head Coach Jay Gruden


On injuries:

“Limited: [Josh] Doctson, hamstring; [D.J.] Swearinger, back. Full were the rest of the guys.”



On the origin of Doctson’s injury:

“He’s just been tight. Precautionary this time of week.”



On his approach to facing Rams Head Coach Sean McVay:

“Well, we have to approach it, study what they’ve been doing and understand that they have a very good offense. They’re very efficient on offense when they’re in positive down-and-distances. So we have to figure out ways to get them in third-and-long and then make them one-dimensional, like every week. It never changes. They have a very good running game with Todd Gurley. They’ve got different weapons on the outside that can hurt you. Jared [Goff] is playing efficient football right now, obviously, after one game. I think the amount of formations, the keepers, the play-pass, all that stuff is very, very good when you have a lead and you’re in favorable down-and-distances. It’s tough to stop. You’ve got to get after the quarterback. It’s the only option.”



On if the Redskins are at a disadvantage because of how well McVay knows the Redskins’ offense:

“Our offense? No. No. Not at all. It’s the same thing for us. When you’re one-dimensional and you’re letting their five rushers rush, it’s going to be tough because they have four or five or six or seven of them that can really get after the quarterback, similar to last week. Different fronts, but very, very good pass rushers with [Aaron] Donald and [Robert] Quinn – list goes on and on – Connor Barwin. We have to be able to be balanced, keep them off-balance somehow.”



On if he has faced a coach that knows him like McVay:

“Not really. Not like this. We played Cincinnati in the preseason a little bit, and in London last year. We knew them quite well. None of that matters. You don’t know what they’re going to run anytime. I know he’s a good football coach. He’ll have his team ready. That’s all I know. We have to treat this like another game. We have to go out and try to figure out a way to get our first win on the road, which will be tough. I think our guys will bounce back and make a good game out of it.”



On if they will change their approach at all for the West Coast trip:

“We’ve talked to sleep specialists and all that, we’re going to have to tinker with the schedule a little bit, try to get them some more sleep. For the most part, it’s a business trip. It’s a long trip, we understand that. Most important thing is to try to get them the rest that they need to be efficient on Sunday.”



If the long trip changes anything in terms of practice:

“No, we’ll just move it back a little bit from time to time. Nothing changes.”



On if he is emphasizing third-down defense this week:

“Yeah, same as always. Rushing the passer. Got to rush the passer. You can play different coverages, there’s going to be a hole in a zone if you play zone, man-to-man you’re going to have to buckle down and play good, tight man-to-man. At the end of the day, you’ve got to rush the passer. You can’t give the quarterback time to throw and set his feet that easily like we did. It’s easy for pro quarterbacks to pick you apart and find an open receiver if they have time.”



On not being able to finish sacks:

“That’s a tough deal, we had four of them, I guess. We had arms or hands on the guy and he spun out of all of them. He’s a very strong quarterback. There’s nothing you can do. We just talk about keeping your eyes up and trying to wrap him up if you can.”



On how QB Kirk Cousins can better handle situations like the one that resulted in an interception last week:

“I don’t know, he’s got just be able to try to see the throw if he can. It’s hard, it’s easier said than done when you have a guy barreling in front of you unblocked from time to time. But that’s part of pro football. When they bring one more than you can block, you have to throw if off drift and find your guy. I think he saw a couple burgundy jerseys and thought one was running the other route and got a little confused there. We just have to keep trying to work with him and hopefully drill him in practice and get him better.”



On what separates other quarterbacks from Cousins in that situation:

“Maybe they’ve done it before, maybe they’ve seen that same type of blitz or people in their face, and have a better understanding of where the guys are going. Unfortunately for us, in fairness to Kirk, that was an option route for Jamison [Crowder], so he could be breaking out or in, he broke in. The ball sailed on him. He just threw it off the wrong foot and the ball sailed on him – which happens. He’s not the only quarterback that’s ever happened to.”



On what he would like to do better to help the team execute:

“Yeah, I think it’s obvious. I think, when you’re talking about pro football, it’s about rushing the quarterback, getting after the quarterback, protecting the quarterback. We didn’t do a good enough job in either instance. I think we had some opportunities to get the quarterback down, like we mentioned, but we failed to do so. We let Carson [Wentz] have time to throw it, and we didn’t protect our quarterback very well in critical situations. And then ball security. We had four turnovers and that’s not quite good enough. When you talk about situational football, things that you need to improve on, we always talk about third downs. We were 8-for-13 on defense and 3-for-10 on offense. That’s not good enough, that’s not our standard. Then you talk about ball security, we dropped four balls, four turnovers. That’s not good enough. Then you talk about red zone, we were 0-for-2 in the red zone. So the three critical areas you have to be successful on in pro football, we failed miserably.”



On if Doctson’s limited practice today could impact the number of snaps he could play this week:

“It doesn’t help.”



On if he is spending more time with the defensive staff given his familiarity with McVay’s offense:

“Yes, we have discussed numerous things – not with the players, with the staff. Not that it will help, but we have discussed it.”



On what gave him confidence to give McVay play-calling responsibilities in Washington:

“Well, he is organized and detailed, number one. He was with me and my brother in Tampa and he was with me in the UFL, so he knew what I like to run. Very smart, very detailed. He also had a good grasp on what they did here in previous years with Robert [Griffin III] and Kirk [Cousins]. So we tried to kind of mix and mingle our two systems together. He was a big part of that, so I felt good about him calling plays and we scripted together – well, not scripted, but we game planned together – and got our situational stuff down. So it was a steady, good flow that he had about him. I didn’t have to step in a whole lot. I did from time-to-time, but he is a good play caller. We just kind of let him roll with it.”



On the team’s mood and S D.J. Swearinger bringing the team together before practice:

“I think everybody is still smarting a little bit. We should be. I am, at least. But it’s time to get over it. I think D.J. just wanted to give them a little kick in the rear, make sure we are working towards our first win and not trying to talk about what we didn’t do or feeling sorry for ourselves about the last one that is already gone. I think that is the one thing you have to do after a loss. You have to correct the mistakes and then you have got to move forward. That is what we are trying to do here and I think that was the message.”



On how much the Rams’ offense mirrors the Redskins’ offense from years past:

“It’s a different line coach. Aaron Kromer’s the line coach. The run concepts are maybe a little bit different, but not too much. But everything else, we can call everything on tape. I’m sure they can call everything on tape that we’re doing. It’s just probably they changed the terminology up a little bit. Like I said, the whole key is staying in positive down-and-distances and staying balanced and getting your quarterback out of the pocket from time-to-time and mixing in the play-actions and then staying out of those dreadful third-and-longs.”



On if he’s ever really surprised by teams now given the amount of film study in today’s game:

“Teams have tendencies, but they also know that they have those tendencies, so they play off of those tendencies. Very few times can you call the exact play coming out unless you’re just getting gutted by the same play over and over again and a coach is like, ‘Heck, I’m running it again. They haven’t stopped it yet.’ But very few offensive coaches will call the same play in the same situation over and over again. You prepare for those plays that they like. They have set plays that they like that they might go to in critical situations over the course of a year, but you hope your defense and your rules hold up versus anything they throw at you. And that’s where the pass rush comes in. You need to have a good pass rush.”

 

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QB Kirk Cousins


On the challenge of preparing for a team that knows his game so well:

“There is a familiarity there and that does present a challenge, as you’d imagine, with knowing what makes the offense go, not only the scheme but the personnel, and so we’ve got to be aware of that and plan accordingly. I think Sean [McVay] would tell you and we would say that ultimately it comes down to executing and if we can run our plays very detailed and be disciplined in the way we execute, usually that can overcome familiarity. But certainly if we don’t execute well, it certainly gives them the opportunity to capitalize.”



On what Rams Head Coach Sean McVay would have told him to work on after last week:

“I’m sure anything that he would share would be what Jay [Gruden] and Coach Cav [Matt Cavanaugh] and Kevin [O’Connell] are telling me, but it’s all correctable. It’s all there to be fixed and it’s disappointing that we let one get away at home, but there’s nothing we can do to change it now. We can only move forward and try to make the most of each opportunity we have and in preparing for the next opportunity. We’ve got a great challenge coming on Sunday and we can get right back where we want to be with a great performance and a win, so that’s where our focus is.”



On how he balances his reads between being personnel-based or defense-based:

“I’m always defense based. I think the coaches are always going to be personnel-based trying to get certain guys involved. When they draw up the game plan, they can create formations and motions and reads where certain guys may have a higher percentage chance of getting the football. But once it comes to game day, unless it’s a complete 50-50 read, I’m just going off what the coverage dictates and the front and what the read tells me to do and then from there, what the post-snap read tells me to do. It can be everybody on any given day and from week to week I think it will change quite a bit.”



On how cognizant he is of keeping a run/pass balance:

“Yeah, I think that again goes back to just philosophy and what you’re coached to do. In the game, we threw a few of those, what we call run alerts. The thought process was, ‘Hey, if we can get five yards, let’s just take the five yards,’ because if you’re getting five yards on a run play, that’s a pretty good run play. So if we can get five yards, let’s take them. There are other times where you feel like maybe, ‘OK, we’re doing that too much. We’re getting four or five yards, but there’s some good opportunities there in the run game, let’s hand it off.’ Then that goes back to having that discussion on the sideline and making sure you’re doing what you’re coached to do and I think that’s something we want to, like you said, not get too out of control with getting away from running the football too much.”



On what McVay meant to his career:

“I mean, Sean meant a lot to my career. I signed a jersey for him when he left and it just said – and there’s a lot of people I could say this to but certainly to him – I just said ‘I owe you my career,’ and then signed it. I certainly appreciate the hard work he gave to our team and as a result, gave me an opportunity to be successful and it was just a smart hire by Jay [Gruden] to bring him in in the first place at his age. Very smart by Jay to give him the role that he gave him and the opportunities he gave him and, you know, that’s one of Jay’s strengths – his ability to identify potential in people and believe in them maybe when it’s not the common thought everywhere else. It’s not an obvious choice. Jay clearly made a really good decision there in bringing in Sean and Sean proved him right, and as a result he’s a head coach now. So I guess when you make good decisions like that and have success, you could lose those people, but Sean’s certainly a great coach.”


On why he feels that way about McVay:

“Well, I mean, he was our play caller for my two best seasons in the league. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. I think it’s pretty self-evident why he’s had a big impact on my career. He was also there calling plays when I was struggling and didn’t give up on me and encouraged me through that process and believed in me. I’ve been reading Bill Walsh’s book ‘The Score Takes Care of Itself’ and Bill says in the book that four of the most powerful words you can say as a coach to a player is, ‘I believe in you.’ And Sean said that to me over and over and over again even when there weren’t many other people who did, so that certainly means a lot especially when you look back and see where we came from there.”



On the challenges that Aaron Donald and the Rams’ defense present:

“Yeah, they always say, ‘It’s not just about the X’s and O’s, it’s about the Jimmy’s and the Joes.’ Sean’s going to have great schemes. He does a great job as a coach and you need that, but when you have players like Aaron Donald and Trumaine Johnson, it definitely helps. Aaron, as we’ve all documented and talked about, is one of the best interior lineman, both against the run and the pass, in the NFL and he’s going to be a great challenge for us. I do feel that every week when you look at the NFL schedule, you can name a player on the other side of the ball who’s dominant – who’s a game changing player –and Aaron’s no different. They have a couple others as well. But that’s the NFL and that’s why this league is so tough and also so great is because there’s just such a challenge every single week.”



On what about Donald’s game makes him so good:

“I don’t know that I’ve studied him enough to really give you a breakdown but I think that he seems to have really good leverage. He seems to be a very compact player. He seems to have really good get-off off the snap count. He’s quick-twitch. He’s sudden. He uses leverage and power. Football is a game of leverage and power and he knows how to use it and get every ounce of his power and drive where he needs it to create havoc in the backfield.”
 

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On what’s different about McVay than other coaches he’s worked with:

“I think the difference may be more in personality in terms of the way they go about their business. I think at the end of the day, the X’s and the O’s and the way they look at football are pretty similar, but the way it’s presented is always different based on your personality. Sean is high energy – a great communicator. He’s a warm, friendly guy. Positive. So those are the kind of traits that I think were unique to him. He kind of had them all the time and he was wired. He was a guy that was high energy from early in the morning until late at night and it served him well. He’s done a great job.”



On what enables McVay to walk into a locker room and ease the doubts of players:

“Well, I think the best way to ease doubts is to win football games. I think ultimately you can ease all the doubts you want to ease in OTAs and it doesn’t mean a whole lot if you don’t win come the regular season. Sean has presence and it’s hard to teach presence. He has charisma. That’s hard to teach, and it’s hard to teach being a good communicator. You kind of either have it or you don’t. So you can talk about his age, but he had presence when he was 20 years old and there’s a lot of guys who are 65 who don’t have any presence. That just is something you have or you don’t and he has it, and I’m sure that was a big reason why when he goes in there and interviews, he impresses because he has something that doesn’t grow on trees.”



On how much input he prefers to have in early play calling:

“I’ve really always had as much input as I want to have. I’ve never really had the door shut in my face or them laugh at me. Whenever I want to speak up, they listen and take it into account and factor it in and they appreciate the feedback – they’ll ask for the feedback. But I’m also pretty comfortable with what they’ve done and trust them at the same time, so it’s a back and forth but I let them do their job. I liked the play call. I think it was good, I think that you mix it up. You don’t want do the same thing every week to start the game, keep defenses guessing and I think the play was there to be made. Again, we talked about execution at the start of this press conference and that’s what it comes down to, right? I mean, you could draw plays and have a great scheme, but we have to go out and execute them and make plays happen and create opportunities. I really do trust the plan each week that we have it.”



On how McVay could help a young quarterback like Rams QB Jared Goff:

“It won’t just be Sean, although I’m sure he’ll have a major role. I think you’ve got to look at other people he’s hired; Matt LaFleur and the other guys there also do a really good job coaching him up. I think the fact that they can say, ‘Look, Matt was with Matt Ryan last year – NFL MVP.’ Sean has been with me the last couple of years and they can say, ‘Look, we’ve worked with other quarterbacks, we’ve helped them have success and move the football and there’s nothing that they do that you can’t do.’ I think all that helps, so it’s just a matter of coaching and teaching, which is what these guys got in the profession to do in the first place and I think they cherish that opportunity to help develop a young player. It helps when he has a lot of ability and he can throw the ball really well, and so that gives them the ability to draw up all the plays they want to draw up because he has an arm that can make all the throws.”



On the timing between quarterbacks and receivers:

“I think timing is a process. You never like, ‘Just check the box, we have that fixed now. We can move on.’ You’re always trying to tighten it up no matter how long you’re together and keep it sharp. With the nature of NFL pass rush, there’s a lot of anticipation that has to happen, a lot of being on the same page because you can’t just sit there and see everything and then let the ball go. You have to kind of see it before it happens and then trust it and let it go and believe that it’s going to happen the way it needs to once the ball is out of your hands. That takes time and work and that’s why I’ve said for a long time, we’re a work in progress. We’re getting better. We’re doing everything we can and I think that I’m encouraged because a lot of the mistakes you look at from Sunday, they’re very correctable. They’re very fixable. If they weren’t, then you’d be sitting here pretty nervous, but I do feel like, including myself, that a lot of the stuff that we didn’t do well enough can be fixed and corrected and need to be. So we’ve just got to get back out, keep working, never lose confidence and just prepare for the next one.”



On if there’s anything specific he could do to help that process:

“I mean it could be anything from sending a text message to communicating why maybe there was a drop or maybe the ball was a little bit behind him or if he can take a different number of steps or if I can take a different number of steps in the pocket. There’s all kinds of reasons that can lead to just feeling a little off or making it harder to track the ball. So you have to go back and talk about those things and communicate and be productive in meetings and on the practice field and spend time. All the stuff that we’ve talked about for a long time.”

 

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gruden presser

September 14, 2017


Head Coach Jay Gruden


On injuries:

“Limited today was [Josh] Doctson, everybody else was full.”



On the level of concern with WR Josh Docston:

“We’ll have to see tomorrow, see where he’s at. He’s just tight, you know, it’s not like it’s going to make him miss time or anything like that, but it could limit the amount of reps that he has but we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”



On if Doctson’s injury has to do with learning his body:

“I don’t know. I just know he’s got a tight hamstring. It happens. He runs a lot and, like I said, it’s not pulled so that’s a good thing. We’ve just got to make sure we manage it and make sure he gets it loose.”



On how to game plan for Rams DT Aaron Donald’s return:

“We’re assuming he’s playing 70 snaps. He doesn’t come out in nickel, he probably won’t come out in base. I don’t know why you would take him out. I’m sure he’s in good shape, so I imagine we’ll see a lot of Aaron Donald.”



On if he knows why his teams have been more productive in Week 2 than Week 1 during his tenure:

“I do not, no. If I did, I would have fixed it by now… I think sometimes we have a lot of new players on defense who are playing together for the first time. We’ve had some new receivers obviously and it takes some time to get to gel a little bit, so that’s the only thing I can point to. But, really, no excuses. We just didn’t come out and play our best football. We turned the ball over, didn’t play well on third down. They really took the fight to us. Their defensive line played extremely well and Carson Wentz had a nice day.”



On if something happens between the first two weeks on a yearly basis:

“Maybe you get beat and people take it personal like I hope they are. I hope they do take it personal and they bounce back in a big way. It’s a sign of a mentally tough football team. That’s what I want to see, because I didn’t predict we’d go 16-0, but we do want to take care of home games and we’re not happy we lost the first one. But we know we have 15 more to play and it’s important for us to handle the ebbs and flows of pro football and be able to bounce back.”


On if it is a luxury that WR Ryan Grant can play multiple positions:

“Yeah, no question. He can do whatever you want him to do. He can play all three spots and he’s smart and detailed in what he does. Hopefully he gets more involved in the offense. He had three catches for 66 yards [four for 61] the other day, had a chance to have a couple more, but I think the more opportunities that he gets the better he’ll show people that he is.”



On if RB Samaje Perine is ready to contribute:

“I think so. I think it’s all about possession of the football. We didn’t do a good job of possessing the football. Three-for-10 on third downs means you’re punting and you’re on the sidelines, and then you get back out there and you’re trying to get points – you’re down. We didn’t maintain the ball on a lot of good drives so we weren’t able to get him out there. It’s our job to possess the football, convert on third down and have more opportunities. The more opportunities we get offensively, the more carries he’s going to get and that’s our intent every week. It just didn’t happen Week 1.”


On if he still keeps Perine’s fumble in the preseason in mind:

“Yeah, we don’t forget fumbles. [Laughter] He won’t forget that either. He’s not that type of guy I don’t think, but we’ll see. We’ve just got to get him some opportunities and see where he’s at. But we think he’s a physical runner and he’s going to help this football team over the course of the season.”



On if TE Niles Paul didn’t get many reps last week because of lack of opportunity:

“Yeah, same thing, same thing, and we didn’t have a lot of the two-tight end fullback package in or three-tight end package in that week. So we may see more of that this week, I don’t know. But we can’t get everybody playing time if you only have 60 snaps or 55 snaps or whatever we had. Niles is a very good player. It’s just he is behind two excellent players. Like I said yesterday, I would never be upset if Niles was our starter or backup or whatever. He can do it all. He is a valuable guy to have.”



On how much he focuses on getting the ball to certain players as opposed to simply attacking defenses:

“Yeah, both. That is one thing you’ve got to understand. You can design plays all you want for a person, but they can double them or they can roll to him or they can have zone coverage underneath him and somebody behind him. It’s not always that easy just to throw a ball to one guy. So you try to move him around and get him in different spots. Like Jordan [Reed], you try to play him in the slot, you try to play him outside, and you try to play him in the core. And then Jamison [Crowder], you try to play him inside, outside, try to get him some balls. When you feel like you have four or five good targets on any given play – Chris Thompson and the three receivers that we have at one given time or Vernon [Davis] or Jordan or Niles, whoever it is – then you have got to let the coverage dictate where the ball goes and then if it’s man-to-man you want to take your best matchup.”



On if he saw different coverages for WR Jamison Crowder without DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garçon:

“No, they didn’t change. They played the same way.”



On the adjustments the offense needs to make on third downs:

“We have to do a lot of things better. We have to protect better. We have to throw the ball better. We have to run better routes. So it is just a combination of things. I have got to call better plays. I have to call plays that are conducive to those situations and the coverages that we are going to see by percentage and then we have to protect. So a little bit of everything.”



On if TE Jordan Reed is getting back into rhythm:

“Jordan has had a couple of really good weeks and I think he is in a good spot physically and mentally. I think he was just a little giddy on a couple plays, but he played well. But he has just continued to work and get better. He had another good day today.”



On if defenses are specifically running at Reed now:

“You can see that. You can see that a lot. Some teams will pick a guy to double and it could be Jordan on a given time because he is a very key weapon for us. They could take the safety out of the middle of the field and bring him down to where Jordan is and have help on the inside, play outside leverage on him and it is hard to get him the ball sometimes. That’s why you have to have other players be ready to perform.”



On if he still wants to get Reed the ball if he is getting doubled:

“Well, if he is getting doubled, then the other guys have got to win. He is not getting doubled all the time. That’s the way it should be. If a great player is getting doubled, you better have somebody else step up and make the plays.”


 

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manusky presser

Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky


On the pass rush:

“I think the most important thing is it’s got to be together. We’ve got to do it together. From a pass rush and from coverage on the back end, I think both have got to tie in hand-in-hand and at times we didn’t do that. We had opportunities during the game on Sunday and they made the plays and we didn’t.”



On if he’s going to try to play LB Will Compton more:

“I think across the board with every player we’re trying to get them opportunities to play. For right now, on that past Sunday, it wasn’t in the books, and we’re looking forward. During the season, he’s going to have some time to play and we’re going to put a lot of players in different positions.”



On tying the pass rush and the coverage together:

“Sometimes, you know, if you’ve got a man pressure and all of a sudden, we’ve got to get there before he completes the ball and vice versa. The guys have got to cover on the back end if we’re playing a zone coverage. The guys up front with the four-man rush have to get after the quarterback. We had opportunities to make plays on the quarterback. He actually made some good plays – got out of the pocket and made some plays where we needed to plaster him and we didn’t.”



On the similarities between the Rams Head Coach Sean McVay’s offense and the Redskins’ offense:

“Similar offense. He’s going to take what he learned here in his tenure as a quality control and moving up the ranks across the board. He’s got a little bit of tweaks here and there, but for the most part it’s very similar.”



On what stood out with the run defense last week:

“It was good. We stopped it with a short box at times. We made some plays. I mean, Ryan [Kerrigan] made a couple of plays, Zach [Brown] made a couple of plays inside, [Jonathan] Allen made a couple of plays. They’re doing a good job of making sure we make them a little bit one-dimensional and they started throwing the ball.”



On DL Jonathan Allen’s first NFL game:

“It’s his first go-around. I think he’s going to learn, just like every player and coach does from every year that they compete in. He’s going to get better over the year and we’re expecting great things from him.”



On what kind of threat Rams RB Todd Gurley II poses:

“A big threat. He is still a good running back, even with the ball in his hands. Anytime you can get it into an athlete’s hands in the open field, it is good for them. He had a couple of runs that were called back because of some penalties, but overall he is a good [back]... He has great vision, good sight lines. He has got burst through the hole. He is a good back.”


On the third-down defense:

“We have to get better. Overall, you want to be… not completing any third downs, but overall we were better in shorter yardages than longer yardages, which is kind of weird.”



On the pass rush getting close last week and what might help them finish plays in the future:

“Well, I think that just overall our main objective of course was to stop the run game and put them a little bit one-dimensional and throwing the ball. Overall on third down, we have got to do a better job with the pass rush. We have got to do a better job on the back end. It’s also the calls coming in, we have got to just work together and it’s the first game that we all played together for the whole game and we will get better down the line.”



On the difference he sees in Rams QB Jared Goff from last year to this year:

“A year of playing football. Over the year, you get to learn and in the offseason you know what to expect, and that’s what he did. He got better.”



On what stood out about Eagles QB Carson Wentz last week:

“His scrambling ability, big time. Getting out of the pocket and keeping his eyes up the field. I think he did a great job of doing that and he caught us a couple of times and we have got to do a better job of rushing the coverage at the back end.”
 

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gruden presser

September 15, 2017


Head Coach Jay Gruden


On the injury report:

“[Josh] Doctson will be questionable, everyone else was OK I believe.”



On WR Josh Doctson’s availability:

“We’ll have a better sense tomorrow after the flight. We have a little practice tomorrow [at] UCLA and we’ll check him out then.”



On if LB Junior Galette can get more snaps this week:

“It could be, yeah. We’re trying to figure out ways to get our best pass rushers on the field and he’s one of them. We do have to increase his role somehow.”



On Doctson’s practice today:

“He was limited.”


On if Doctson looked better today:

“Yeah, he looked OK. It’s about how he feels come tomorrow and Sunday.”


On the schedule for this weekend:

“We fly out, we get there about 6:15 p.m. tonight and they’ll be off, curfew at 11 p.m., and then we have practice tomorrow and then play Sunday.”



On how he feels about the past week going into Sunday:

”Feel good. You know, you put the plan together, the guys come out here and practice it. They executed pretty well and we have a lot of coaching to do still this time of week but we feel good about where we’re at.”



On if it is hard to see Doctson getting a lot of reps after being limited all week:

“Yeah, I think those will come eventually in time. We will see how he does tomorrow.”



On if Rams QB Jared Goff can succeed in the NFL after coming from a different style of offense in college:

“A guy like that who is the first pick in the NFL draft?... I mean, it is a quarterback-friendly offense when everything is in your favor – lead, down and distance and all that stuff. It’s our job to make him uncomfortable in the pocket and see how he does then. The offense is suited for quarterbacks, we think, but we will see. Sometimes it doesn’t look that way.”
 

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gruden presser 1/2

September 18, 2017


Head Coach Jay Gruden


** The following is a transcript of a conference call with local reporters this afternoon.**


On injuries:

“Rob Kelley has a rib cartilage injury, he’ll be day-to-day. Jordan Reed has a chest/sternum contusion, he’ll be day-to-day. Josh Norman has an AC joint sprain, day-to-day. [Montae] Nicholson, AC joint sprain, day-to-day. Mason Foster has a shoulder dislocation and the labrum, he’ll be day-to-day; [Deshazor] Everett, knee sprain/MCL, day-to-day; [Morgan] Moses, ankle sprain/shoulder strain, he’ll be day-to-day. Those are the big ones.”



On what he told the offense late in the fourth quarter:

“Well, just play with poise. I challenged Kirk [Cousins] a little bit and, you know, we had six minutes to go so we weren’t really in a hurry-up mode. It was important for us to continue with our plan, mix in some runs and the passes and when we had to throw, convert a big third down to Jamison Crowder – that was huge. And obviously the pass to Ryan Grant was big. But just stick with the plan. The guys had a lot of poise and made the plays.”



On “challenging” Cousins:

“I didn’t really, just, ‘It’s the fourth quarter, man.’ It’s his time. It’s time for him to make the plays that he’s going to make. We had a lot of confidence in him and he had a lot of confidence walking out there and performed well.”



On what has changed in terms of being able to stop the run this year:

“I just think overall the team defense, I think we’re better personnel-wise, quite frankly. I think that helps. I think when you add Jonathan Allen… I think Matt Ioannidis had a heck of a game and you bring in Ziggy Hood, who is playing good nose guard football. Our linebackers are playing well, our safeties are tackling well, our corners are coming in and making tackles. You know, it’s a physical group. All our secondary guys are good tacklers, our linebackers are… with Zach Brown, we added some speed. But our defensive line with [Terrell] McClain, Hood, [Stacy] McGee, Ioannidis, obviously Jonathan Allen and then our outside backers are setting a good edge.”



On if any injuries are particularly concerning heading into Sunday night’s game:

“Well, I think we’ll just have to wait and see. You know, I gave them today off obviously and then tomorrow will be another good treatment day for them. We’ll start practice on Wednesday so I’ll get a good look at them Wednesday when we see them. Tomorrow will be another good day of treatment and then we’ll see where we are Wednesday. We’ll put the pads on and practice Wednesday and see how many guys can participate and go from there. But, you know, obviously Rob Kelley’s a tough guy. I think he’ll try to play with that thing, but you never know how much pain he’s in. We’ll see how that rib feels. Same with Jordan, same with Josh, same with Montae, same with Mason, same with Deshazor, same with Morgan. So they’re all a concern, but they’re all tough guys and hopefully we’ll have them.”



On if there’s a certain position that needs to be addressed if one of the injured players can’t play:

“Luckily we have Mack Brown ready to go. He’s on our 53-man roster. And if Deshazor and Montae are both banged up a little bit, we’ll have to think about getting Fish [Smithson] up. We’ll just have to wait and see. But let’s hold on until Wednesday and Thursday and see how these guys are.”



On the improvements he saw from RB Samaje Perine:

“I saw him stay… I think he did a nice job, really. I think I felt him run with a lot of power. Even after his 10th, 12th, 15th carry, I still think he had power left in the tank, which was good to see. A lot of times you don’t know how their stamina is going to be when they get more than 10-12 carries, but I think his stamina was outstanding and he ran with great pad level and got the tough, physical yards we needed.”



On particular areas of improvement that helped the run game:

“I just think they came off the ball. I mean, every run scheme that we had had some kind of success. Obviously they stopped some runs there in the third quarter. They did better against the run in the third quarter for a little while, but for the most part I think we were hitting on all cylinders as far as guys were finishing blocks, getting up on the right people, we were… The box count was done correctly by Spencer Long and guys were finishing plays – not just the offensive lineman. Like you said, the tight ends, Jordan Reed had a great day blocking, Vernon Davis was outstanding, Niles Paul did a great job. It was fun to watch those guys play. Last week, we just had a couple breakdowns here and there against Philadelphia. This week, we had very few.”



On if there is an update regarding S Su’a Cravens:

“No, I haven’t heard anything from Su’a or about Su’a.”



On RB Chris Thompson and if there is a possibility he could receive an expanded role:

“Oh, yeah, that’s a possibility, without a doubt. And if Rob Kelley can’t go, we’ll get Mack Brown up and ready to go and he’ll get some carries too. Still, Chris has got such a defined role for this offense and it could be expanded, but he’s so important to us on third down we just have to be careful. He’s not the biggest guy in the world. We don’t want him to get 20-25 carries a game and get a lot of pounding on that body. He’s definitely needed in pass protection and the routes and all that stuff on third down and red zone. So we’ll try to expand his role a little bit, but we don’t want to go too crazy with him.”



On the roles of WRs Josh Doctson and Ryan Grant moving forward:

“We’re going to continue to expand on Josh’s role. The more he practices, the more he’s going to get a chance to play. Last week, we didn’t get a lot of opportunity balls to the wide receivers. Terrelle [Pryor Sr.] made a couple plays, Ryan Grant made a big one at the end of the game. [Jamison] Crowder made a few. Their day will come. Just a matter of what defenses we’re playing, how we’re going to attack. I think yesterday was more about tight ends and backs against their linebackers and safeties. This week could be different. We could attack their corners, we’ll see.”
 

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gruden presser 2/2

On conversations he’s had with Cravens:

“I haven’t had one. The last time I talked to him was when he informed me that he was leaving. So that’s all I know.”



On CB Kendall Fuller’s development:

“I think he’s done a good job. I think he’s playing physical football. Number one [thing] you look for in a nickel, you’ve got to have a tough guy in there. He can make tackles in the running game and obviously made a couple big tackles in the passing game to stop the Rams short of some third down conversions. On a crossing route he came up and made a big hit. So I like where Kendall’s at, man. I think he’s getting better and better. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get. He’s a very smart football player, very cerebral. And he can do a lot of things for us – he can cover, he can tackle. He’s going to get better and better, the more he sees, the more he plays.”



On how to consistently run the ball well:

“Yeah, it takes a lot of continuity in the offensive line. We’re going to play different fronts, different challenges each week. The Raiders will pose a different front, different type of challenges with Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin and some of the big guys they have, the rookie [Eddie] Vanderdoes from UCLA. So it’ll be a great challenge for us. We just have to identify the right people, get on the right people, finish blocks, stay away from the holding calls and the missed assignments and just let our backs hit the hole and finish runs.”


On the importance of football intelligence and versatility:

“Yeah, it’s critical, it really is. You downplay the importance of intelligence sometimes. You look at the athletic skills of a player, but intelligence this day and age in pro football plays a great role. Guys are going to have to play nickel, corner and safety. They’re going to have to play inside – both inside backers, they are going to have to play both outside backers, maybe even some defensive line. The defensive linemen are have to play nose, three, and five. The tight ends are going to have to play Y, U and sometimes a little fullback. The receivers are going to have to play three positions. That’s why guys like Ryan Grant, [Josh] Doctson and Jamison Crowder are very important. The defensive linemen we all have are very versatile. The corners and the safeties are doing a great job of learning what they’re supposed to do. We have [Will] Compton and he can play both linebacker spots and Mason [Foster] can play both linebacker spots. So having smart football players is a necessary deal here in the NFL and fortunately we have quite a few of them.”



On if they will change the schedule at all with the game being on Sunday night:

“The only thing I did is I gave them Monday and Tuesday off. Everything else will be the same.”



On QB Kirk Cousins’ statistics and if there’s anything he isn’t doing right:

“Not doing right? No, I think there are a lot of things involved in his completion percentage. We have taken more shots. We haven’t done as many of the quick passing game that really get your stats up to around 70 percent. I think those will come. I think the quick passes will come and I think we will hit some more shots down the field. I think we haven’t hit as many big plays, but for the most part I think he has been efficient. There is a lot we can improve on in the passing game, from Kirk to the routes to the protection. It’s a work in progress, but we will get there. We have total faith that we will get it done and his numbers will get better.”



On S Montae Nicholson:

“I think he has just progressed. We started him in training camp – obviously he wasn’t on PUP, but he was unable to practice, but he was getting all the walkthrough reps, so he was getting all the mental reps, which is important for him. Then when he was able to practice, he just got in there and made some plays. He is a big, physical guy that can run and we are excited about his prospects. Nothing against [Deshazor] Everett, we are just trying to get him out there and get him some reps. We know how important that position is. The last couple years, we have had a lot of injuries so we are trying to get all our guys ready to play. Montae has all the traits to be a great safety, we just have got to get him in there and get him some experience and the more experience he gets, the better he will get.”



On what he learned from the team in the last five minutes of the game:

“They are a resilient group, man. I think you have a tough loss at home against the Eagles, one that we really wanted to come out and start fast on. Unfortunately we didn’t get it done, but for them to bounce back shows their mental toughness. Then obviously with the injuries a lot of these guys played with shows their physical toughness. That’s a mark of a good football team. We just have to keep building on our performance last week, correct the mistakes that we made and move forward on to Oakland. I have got a great group of guys, man. They all work hard, they practice hard and obviously they are showing their mental and physical toughness, which is critical this day in age in pro football.”



On why the team is so good when their backs are against the wall:

“I think we try to keep the same consistent approach to every game. I think we try to have a sense of urgency every week. You only get 16 cracks at these things and just because we lose a game doesn’t mean we didn’t have any sense of urgency. I think sometimes the team that we played just played better than us that day. But it shows the signs that we are a mentally tough team and we don’t let a bad performance identify us as a bad team. We have to bounce back and our guys did bounce back and got a big win on the road in California. It’s not easy to travel to the West Coast and get a win against a team like the Rams, a very talented football team. But we are a mentally tough team, we have been, and that’s the type of guys we try to target in the draft and free agency – guys that are going to deal through adversity and rise above it.”


On how close the passing game is to where he wants it to be:

“Very close. Very, very, very close, but close isn’t good enough. Close doesn’t win you any games, obviously. We have had some plays out there that I expect us to make and I think we will make here in the near future. So we’re just going to keep sticking with the plan, getting these guys open the best way we can and hopefully we give Kirk the protection and he sees the throws and makes the throws. But we’re right there, really. I like the group that we have – the receiving group, the tight end group, the running back group, our offensive line in protection. So we’re not far away. And then with the added running game, if we can continue with the running game, it will open up everything.”



On if anything changed that caused the passing game to click on the last drive:

“No, not really. We stuck with the plan. Unfortunately we had a big first-and-20; I think we had a holding call on a little naked that we called to Terrelle Pryor called, so we had first-and-20. But luckily Samaje hit a trap play to get us to I think it was third down and six or whatever, and then Crowder made a big completion on a third down play for the first down. We stuck with the plan, stuck with our inventory of plays on third down and our dropbacks. The big play in the red zone was a play we worked and Ryan did a great job executing, so did Kirk.”



On Nicholson:

“I was impressed with Montae, the way he runs around. He had a big hit, unfortunately hurt his shoulder and his game got cut a little short. But he’s done a good job on special teams and the bit that he played in the game, he did a good job.”



On the differences between Nicholson and S Deshazor Everett:

“They’re different players, really. I think Montae covers a lot of ground. He’s very long and very fast and Montae is a good hitter too. Deshazor is still doing a good job at safety and on special teams. He was dinged up a little bit, too, but both of them are good football players and we plan to use them both. I think they’re both going to help us.”



On LB Preston Smith:

“I think he’s doing good. I think he’s doing good against the run, number one. That’s what we have to do. He’s got to set the point. You’ve got to set the point of attack, and he’s done a good job of that. And then when he’s asked to rush some, he’s done fine. I think he and Junior [Galette] had some good rushes. Junior got that critical holding call that pushed them back out of the red zone and forcing them into a field goal and obviously [Ryan] Kerrigan is doing his thing, so all three of those guys are doing a great job as far as giving a chance of pace. Preston is doing a good job. He can go inside, he can use his bull [rush] and he’s working on his get off. So I think he’s getting better and better.”



On if he’s happy with LB Junior Galette’s role at the moment:

“Oh, yeah, we’re happy with where he’s at. We’ll try to get him more and more in there, but with Kerrigan and Preston, we’re trying to get all three of them on the field from time to time. But I like where Junior is at. He’s getting better and better. He showed some explosiveness again in the game yesterday and I think he’s just going to get better and better as the season goes on.”



On the Raiders:

“I just started watching their defense. I know all about their offense. I know [Derek] Carr is playing at a very, very high level. He’s got some great receivers and the line is giving him good protection. But he can throw it in the tightest of windows. He believes in his receivers and they’re making plays for him. And then obviously the Beast Mode [Marshawn Lynch] and adding Cordarrelle Patterson as a specialty guy in reverses and the running game is a dangerous, dangerous proposition for us. They can run the ball equally as well as they can pass it. So they’ve got great balance, they’ve got a great scheme and obviously great players to boot.”
 

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couldnt pass this up
 

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I am guilty of being all over Grant's (_)_) so I'll have a share of crow with that champagne.
 

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