Game Thread: Week 1: Eagles @ Redskins

[skinsdad62]

http://www.redskins.com/media-galle...y_Hungry/d401fed5-2b2d-40b3-a805-b935c033ea45

gruden presser part 2 wed

 

[skinsdad62]

http://www.redskins.com/media-galle..._Running/9745c453-b8d1-4f75-b0f0-9a36679f6a00

KC presser

 

[Krusheasy]

pederson interview

Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson



On how RB Darren Sproles’ role will change with the signing of LeGarrette Blount:

“I think it won’t be affected that much. What I mean by that is, you know, you go into a game plan and obviously there’s specific runners even with Wendell Smallwood and you just design your run and your pass game around the guys you have. Darren has a big impact, obviously, on our offense. He will continue to maintain that role this season.”



On how they plan to use WR Alshon Jeffery this year:

“Well, he definitely gives us some experience out there. He is a big target, still runs well. Just really excited, obviously excited back in OTAs and through camp and watching he and Carson [Wentz] work. He is going to have a significant role. He is a big part of our offense, it’s the reason why we brought him in. Each week we will have a certain set of plays designed as we do with all our playmakers, and again most teams game plan that way for their playmakers. He is no different with us and Carson has to understand that we don’t force balls, but at the same time, we just let it unfold and hopefully we can get him some touches this weekend.”



On the growth and development of QB Carson Wentz:

“Well, the biggest I think is just his role on the team, his leadership on the team. Guys have embraced him, obviously as the starter. Went back to obviously a year ago when I named him the starter Week 1. I’d probably say that not everyone was on board with that. Now, he is and guys have really embraced that. You see that leadership role on and off the football field. On the football field, how he handles situational football, that’s where he’s grown tremendously, I feel – in the situational part – whether it be third down or in the red zone. And just knowing the situation is where he’s shown the most growth.”



On the signing of QB Nate Sudfeld to the practice squad:

“Nate, we obviously liked him when he came out. He was definitely on our list. Big, tall kid. Good arm, smart, all the things that you can measure definitely you can see. Obviously now getting to know him, those things really hold true. Great kid, great person, and someone that we feel gives us more depth now at the quarterback position – even behind Nick [Foles]. Just looking forward to getting him caught up and getting him in a position where, if need be, he can step in and play a little bit.”



On how the Redskins have been able to win five consecutive games against the Eagles:

“Number one, I think they obviously play extremely well, they play great team defense. They had some tremendous playmakers last year that took advantage of some situations in the game with DeSean [Jackson] and some of the play-action passes, two great tight ends down there. Great running game. And then defensively, [Ryan] Kerrigan, as we know, can definitely put pressure on the quarterback, which he did last year against us in both games. Josh Norman is an outstanding corner that has had really good – sort of the quiet game – but he’s kind of taken away our receivers. You got to give him his respect. We just have to learn to finish. We’ve got to execute. All part of coming to Washington is how well do teams… how well can we handle crowd noise, how well can we execute our offense and defense in the game plan. Just try to keep it simple, keep it small, focus on the details. It’s got to obviously be a great week of preparation for us and another great challenge this weekend.”



On game planning for a receiver like Josh Doctson without much film:

“Yeah, you know, it’s tough. It’s tough when there’s not a lot of tape on somebody. It’s kind of like coordinators – offense and defense – when there’s not a lot of film to really study or new head coaches, things of that nature. You just have to execute your game plan and obviously know where their playmakers are lined up and just focus on your own detail and your own assignment. That’s really all you can do. Just trust your gut, trust your instinct, and let the defense or offense unfold in those cases.”



On what kind of player he sees Doctson as:

“Again, I think he’s going to have a role. I think there’s going to be an opportunity for him to be an impact on that team and that’s something where the staff will have plays specifically for him. Whether it’s a Josh Norman or a Doctson, or in our case, Alshon [Jeffrey], or a secondary – Malcolm Jenkins or whatever – I mean there’s going to be opportunities for these guys to make plays. Again, it does take 11 guys, we know that. But, at the same time, these guys are going to be impact players on their teams.”

 

[gkekoa]

Also I really liked Josh Doctson at TCU and think he can be a good NFL receiver. But I guess we have to see how he comes back from that injury. The Eagles drafted a corner, Sydney Jones, who is recovering from an achilles injury he sustained at his pro day draft workout, so I have read a bunch about it, and it seems like it is not as hard to recover from as it was in the old days. But in the old days, some guys never regained their explosiveness after these injuries.

Yeah. You guys take risks on players like Jones. It is an idea I like myself.

You did it with Jack Ikegwuonu too. That didn't work but I still liked the pick a lot.

 

[Sportster 72]

Good to see this well thought out post. I have been watching several Eagles fans rants on YouTube & those fans are an outright embarrassment & make your fanbase look moronic. Their portrayal of the current Redskins team is not even remotely close to being accurate & most appear to portray the Eagles as SB contenders. Nice to see some balance with the opinions - thanks.

Having been born in Philly and lots with family and friends there what you see on a couple of YouTube channels does not represent the largest part of the fan base.

 

[skinsdad62]

i cant wait to see the skins open the new season , hopefully with a victory

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Having been born in Philly and lots with family and friends there what you see on a couple of YouTube channels does not represent the largest part of the fan base.

I was also born there & have plenty of family in the area. While what you say is accurate there are certainly a fair amt of Eagles fans who are similar to these guys.

 

[j_y19]

If Wentz outplays Kc Sunday there are issues

So if KC throws for 300 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT and loses the game 35-24 while Wentz goes for 400yds, 4 TDs and 1 INT, does that throw up a major red flag for KC? Because in this scenario, Wentz clearly out plays KC. If something like this happens, will you be on this board sunday night screaming at how bad KC is?

 

[skinz2winz]

So if KC throws for 300 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT and loses the game 35-24 while Wentz goes for 400yds, 4 TDs and 1 INT, does that throw up a major red flag for KC? Because in this scenario, Wentz clearly out plays KC. If something like this happens, will you be on this board sunday night screaming at how bad KC is?

LOL! No, you don't red flag KC, in this case you would fire the DC if this happens!

 

[deanpet21]

So if KC throws for 300 yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT and loses the game 35-24 while Wentz goes for 400yds, 4 TDs and 1 INT, does that throw up a major red flag for KC? Because in this scenario, Wentz clearly out plays KC. If something like this happens, will you be on this board sunday night screaming at how bad KC is?

No it goes beyond the stats like decision making.

 

[j_y19]

No it goes beyond the stats like decision making.

BS. you will be ranting how Wentz outplayed kc and he isn't worth $24M. you would completely dismiss that our defense gave up 400 yds in the air. You will formally begin the "draft Darold/Rosen/anyone" campaign.

 

[skinsdad62]

No it goes beyond the stats like decision making.

so your interpretation of decision making is the standard?

 

[skinsdad62]

we all can see whats coming

from the day you thought you would get 2 1st rounders for KC you have been on the campaign to get rid of him

and since then no matter what has been shown to you you continue this foolishness

KC will have a season comparable to his last 2 and you will still be on the get rid of KC band wagon

your own statements give you away time and time again

your assumption is he will play bad your assumption is one game is the whole season

if you can go negative you do

you bash him over fake offers that never happen and whine when he ignores a low ball insult offer and gets thrown under the bus

you were soooooo damn convinced he would get a stupendous offer and he would turn it down and the FO offered him urine and you still cant get over it

we get it

now lets get back to the eagles game and hope our team does fantastic instead of bringing up negative BS

i want a win , i think we can get one but we have to play really really well

 

[deanpet21]

BS. you will be ranting how Wentz outplayed kc and he isn't worth $24M. you would completely dismiss that our defense gave up 400 yds in the air. You will formally begin the "draft Darold/Rosen/anyone" campaign.

lol. what? The game has to be played first before I can evaluate. cmon jy

 

[skinsdad62]

• 
  
  John KeimESPN Staff Writer

• 
  

ASHBURN, Virginia -- The latest lesson occurred this week in practice, another nugget of education for Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.

During a two-minute drill in practice, Cousins called his own plays and, after one, he checked it down to the running back. It wasn't a bad decision; it's also a situation he could have handled better as coach Jay Gruden reminded him a few minutes later, providing another lesson to help a quarterback with 32 straight starts.

Gruden told him the check-down was fine, but: running back Chris Thompsonwas 'tackled' in bounds and now the clock was running and the receivers had to hustle back to the line.

"So, yes, Chris is open but in a game it's sometimes better to throw an incompletion or out of bounds or a jump ball to a guy in the end zone who's covered rather than throw to Chris for a completion," Cousins said. "As a young player, you're trying to find a completion. As a more evolved player you're thinking about the next step. It's the next step, next step, next step that you're always taking as a quarterback. That's something I will always be improving upon."

Another thing: In a game, Gruden would call the two-minute offense, something Cousins said he wants him to do.

Brian Quick aside to go over a route, walking through it to show him the way he needs it run. He showed Quick why a route he ran to 12 yards needed to be run to 15 and at a different angle.

"Three years ago, I don't think I'm doing that because I haven't been there and seen it done to know exactly what it should be like," Cousins said. "Because there's always turnover in this league, if you aren't really good at communicating what you need and coaching your teammates and leading guys, you'll never have the stability you need to be successful. That's where I'm trying to grow is in leading the guys around me."

Protection calls

Cousins has steadily grown here, one reason why he's been sacked only 49 times the past two years combined (fifth fewest among quarterbacks with 26 starts or more). During this period, his average time before throwing the ball was 2.59 seconds, eighth longest according to ESPN Stats & Information. The line protects well; Cousins helps.

"It's just more a mastery of do we want to redirect the protection or audible to a different protection," Cousins said. "If to a different protection, which protection is that? I have a better understanding of, is my tight end in the core? Is he available to use in the protection? Is he removed? Singled out to where I can't bring him in related to the play clock?

"That's an awareness level that as a young player, you're not thinking about. That's not 100-level stuff. That's further down the road. I've been trying to get better at that. Every coach has a different philosophy."

offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, to now under Gruden.

"Kyle's philosophy was don’t change the protection, just throw hot," Cousins said. "Jay's mindset is, we want to pick it up and we want to give you the ability to sit in there and throw a pass down the field."

Knowing the protection calls, and being able to perhaps get a defense to tip its hand, helps him audibilize better, too. But that process isn't yet complete.

"He can get us out of a bad play smoother than he has in the past," Gruden said. "That's the key. Pre-snap is the key, knowing where the protection is solid or weak. How we want to attack the coverage, where the routes will be and anticipation when throwing. He's not perfect by any stretch; he's still going through that. The different route concepts we like for different coverages. They might play a [coverage] where he has to reset and find someone else or pull it down and run it. That's the transition he's going through now."

Cadence

Cousins has improved with his cadence calls. He's increased the words he'll use to identify a look or change a call. He's improved his ability to go deeper in the play clock before making a final adjustment.

"He has a great handle on cadence, snap count," Gruden said, "which is a huge element that no one really talks about. He has a good gauge on that. He gets the ball snapped [fast] or he can drag it out if he needs to use every second of the play clock, to see what the coverage is doing. Or he can snap it quick and catch them off guard. He's way better there; a lot better than last year."

This allows the Redskins to use formations or strategies that in the past they could not, perhaps arming him at times with more responsibility at the line.

It also will help Cousins in various situations. Two years ago in Atlanta he made a protection call only to later realize -- too late for his comfort level -- that the blitz was coming from the other side. So he knew he had to throw "hot" to receiver Ryan Grant. Pick-six; game over.

"I can't change in the noise and say let's go to a different play," Cousins said. "So I know I'm hot and throw the ball that shouldn't have been thrown or thrown to a different spot. But to better master this on the road, in the noise, that's something I can do with hand signals or fake cadences to get them to show they’re blitzing and then we get them to show what they're doing. It's never 100 percent. But it's also nice to be on the side where you're dictating terms and you can feel what's going on and get to a better play."

Cousins said he has a greater understanding of all the factors on a play before the snap: the play clock, hand signals, audibles. He's always felt comfortable reading coverage pre-snap. But these other areas have increased what he can do before the snap.

"There’s a lot of room to grow there. But I'm trying to continue to take steps," Cousins said. "To Jay's credit, he doesn't need to have control so he is willing to give me as much as I want so this could evolve so that years from now I do have a lot of control and a lot of say. Right now we have a good give and take. He'll say, 'What are your thoughts?' But I'm saying, 'Well, what are your thoughts?' That's been good for me to grow. He's given me that extra responsibility when I think I can take it or want to try it.

another evolution of his game he is working on

 

[deanpet21]

we all can see whats coming

from the day you thought you would get 2 1st rounders for KC you have been on the campaign to get rid of him

and since then no matter what has been shown to you you continue this foolishness

KC will have a season comparable to his last 2 and you will still be on the get rid of KC band wagon

your own statements give you away time and time again

your assumption is he will play bad your assumption is one game is the whole season

if you can go negative you do

you bash him over fake offers that never happen and whine when he ignores a low ball insult offer and gets thrown under the bus

you were soooooo damn convinced he would get a stupendous offer and he would turn it down and the FO offered him urine and you still cant get over it

we get it

now lets get back to the eagles game and hope our team does fantastic instead of bringing up negative BS

i want a win , i think we can get one but we have to play really really well

You are all about negative BS by posting negative articles about this team. Im not bashing him. The games haven't been played yet. Im not like you by giving him a free pass on everything. Being paid 24M this season puts him at a higher standard. Not some average Joe.

 

[skinsdad62]

You are all about negative BS by posting negative articles about this team. Im not bashing him. The games haven't been played yet. Im not like you by giving him a free pass on everything. Being paid 24M this season puts him at a higher standard. Not some average Joe.

what negative articles ? oh you mean the truth you dont want to hear because it destroys your narrative

 

[deanpet21]

what negative articles ? oh you mean the truth you dont want to hear because it destroys your narrative

doenst destroy anything. you already posted one from a writer. not Kiem. To this day you make people who want to wait and see on KC your enemy.

 

[skinsdad62]

doenst destroy anything. you already posted one from a writer. not Kiem. To this day you make people who want to wait and see on KC your enemy.

when wait and see is a cover for BS i will call them out

you change shit so much its hard to keep up

 

[j_y19]

lol. what? The game has to be played first before I can evaluate. cmon jy

Dude, you've already evaluated. Now you're just hoping your guess comes true so you can say "I told you so". This notion of Wentz outplaying KC in one game is a huge one for you. Not sure why or how you define outplaying, however.