Redskins Park: Quotes - Mike Shanahan, Rex Grossman, and Seahawks Conference Calls

November 23, 2011

Redskins Park

On if wide receiver Santana Moss will play this weekend:

“He was full practice today, so I believe he will unless there is a setback.”

On Moss’ return to practice:

“It feels great to have him back.”

On safety LaRon Landry practicing fully today:

“It was good. It was good to have him back – looked like he was moving pretty good. Hopefully, there is no setback.”

On what type of football shape Moss is in:

“He’s been working out pretty good. He couldn’t do everything with his hand the last couple of weeks, but he’s been getting a lot of running in and he’s been running around. [He] just hasn’t caught the ball and he was able to do that today, so that’s a good sign.”

On the decision to waive running back Tashard Choice:

“Well, we had him for three weeks and got a chance to watch him practice for a couple weeks. We just thought in the best interest of our team to give [Evan] Royster a chance and see what he could do. We decided to move him up and kind of go in a different direction.”

On what running back Evan Royster has shown in practice for him to believe he was ready to be on the active roster:

“You just kind of watch him every day - with his pass protection, with the way he runs against our defense. When you’re running against the defense on the scout team, you get to see somebody’s toughness and see if they’re ready to kind of hit the hole at the right speed. We feel like he deserves a chance and one of the reasons we drafted him was to give him an opportunity and we’re going to give him an opportunity this weekend.”

On the team’s 2011 draft class:

“I feel very good about the class as well as the free agents. We got the nucleus that you’re looking for. We’re getting some of these young players a chance to play [and] hopefully it will help us down the line.”

On helping top college running backs like Royster adjust to the NFL:

“Well, we kind of talked a little bit about it with [Roy] Helu. You kind of put guys in certain situations that they’re ready for. Sometimes, it’s nickel situations, sometimes it’s base situations. Maybe they’re not ready for both, so you try to pick your spots and get them some playing experience, but not expose them too much. Other times, you have to throw a guy right in the fire, saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got to learn by experience.’ Royster’s in a situation that we’ll get a chance to see what he can do. Hopefully, he’ll take advantage of it.”

On if cornerback DeAngelo Hall has been controversial in his tenure in Washington:

“Well, if you’re talking about the comment he made after the game where he called himself out [and was] disappointed in himself, I like that. He has a lot of emotion, wanted to make the play, put the blame on himself. I think that’s what winners do. Hey, you have to be accountable, but you have 24 hours to wipe it too. You’re disappointed, you didn’t do something that you wanted to get done. Now, you get ready for the next week and put it behind you and I think he’ll be able to do that. He’s a guy that has done a lot of good things. He disappointed in a couple of plays during the game and I like the way he handled himself.”

On Royster’s comfort in this system:

“If we didn’t feel comfortable with him, we wouldn’t have put him in there. He’s very sharp. He picks things up very quickly. Even though you’re on the scout team, you’re in all the meetings, you see all the different game plans. He’s done a great job mentally since he’s been here relative to his test and how he handled himself in preseason. Now, he gets the chance to do it in a live situation.”

On when safety DeJon Gomes turned the corner with his comfort of the system:

“He’s a guy that picks things up very quickly. He’s a guy that, when he came in, he was probably a little bit out of shape - not having the OTAs, not having the chance to be with us at those practices before camp. But you could see him work himself into football shape. He picked up football very quickly. He’s got one of those innate abilities to go out there. He seems to be in the right place at the right time. He’s very sharp and hopefully he just keeps on getting better.”

On how much more he had to project Gomes’ ability since Gomes attended junior college before playing at Nebraska:

“Well, the reason we drafted him is because we thought he played the game so well. He’s the inside guy in the nickel situation. He seemed to be in the right place at the right time and it’s carried over to pro football. He’s been doing the same thing with us.”

On Gomes’ performance against the Cowboys:

“Good…Everything [stood out] – run support, pass defense. They did a lot of different things with formations – two tight ends. Mentally, a lot of rookies make mistakes [and] he had a couple of mistakes, but overall he played well.”

On dealing with the noise level at CenturyLink Field:

“Yeah, I’ve been there before. I thought the dome was much louder. Even though it’s a great venue, the Seahawks are excellent there and it’s very loud. You have to remind your team how loud it is. Compared to the indoor stadium, I think it’s a little easier.”

On if punter Sav Rocca has been the team’s best player this season:

“I mean, he’s been consistent. Any time you have a guy that can turn the field consistently and kick inside the 20 as much as he has, you have to take your hat off to him. He’s playing at a Pro Bowl level. He’s doing a great job holding as well. I like what we got. He handles himself like a pro every day. The game’s not too big and he’s pretty relaxed on the sideline. He was a big addition for us.”

On Rocca’s tackling:

“Yeah, if he has a punt that he’s not proud of, he’ll go down there and make the tackle. Not too many guys cover and there’s not too many punters who are 265 pounds, that’s for sure.”

On if Rocca has exceeded his expectations:

“Oh yeah, he’s as good as I’ve ever been around. Yeah, he’s much better than I expected.”

On if kicker Graham Gano is fighting for his job more than other players:

“Yes, I think that’s the nature of everybody having a good game or a bad game. It goes with the territory. Like I said, you’ve got to be able to wipe it out as a kicker. You’re always judging your consistency and hopefully he can wipe it out and finish the season strong.”

On veteran receivers getting more catches in the game against the Cowboys:

“A lot of times those were the only two guys [Jabar Gaffney and Donté Stallworth] out there, so I don’t know. I’m not looking at one specific guy, I’m looking at the defense trying throw it or not… You see somebody getting hot and you kind of look for them if you have options where you got like same routes on both sides and same looks if you’ve got somebody that’s making a lot of plays. That’s a scenario where maybe you pick that guy, but a lot of our routes and things and concepts where there’s a true progression and you go through your progression and see the defense and you make your reads. Throwing to somebody is kind of rare, maybe it happens four or five times a game. I trust everybody. I like all of our receivers. Like I said before, usually it’s not my choice.”

On the momentum built in the second quarter when the offense scored on back-to-back drives:

“The pass to David Anderson was kind of our only play there up until that point in the first half and we ended up scoring a touchdown. Any time you have something positive happen, usually it builds momentum.”

On executing two-minute drives in the Cowboys game:

“There’s a lot of things that we can build on from that game. We’re in that situation now where we put ourselves in a 3-7 record. Our backs are up against it to say the least, but we’ve got to get a victory. We have to use some of the positives out of the game, build on them and be consistent. That’s our goal. That’s our job - to score at least 24 points on offense or more every single game. If we do that, it’ll be easier for the defense. Just be productive. There’s some momentum we can build on.”

On if there were things happening on offense against the Cowboys that weren’t happening before:

“We’ll see. Right now, it’s just one game, but, until we prove otherwise, it was just one game. I’ve got a lot of confidence [and] I feel like something clicked. It’s just a gut feeling. Our offense has maybe finally turned the corner, but you can’t say that until you go out and prove it week-in and week-out.”

On how tough it is to execute a fade route in the corner of the end zone:

“A lot of practice and a lot of it is getting the right look as well. I had one to Anthony [Armstrong] against the Giants. You get the right look, it’s about timing, accuracy and the receiver doing a hell of a job of getting to that spot, beating his guy, catching the ball and getting his feet down. It’s a precise route. I think we do it well. We just need to get down there more and you can see more of those type of plays. If we get ourselves on the five-yard line, we should score. You’ve got third-and-goal from the 10, there’s not a lot of plays. You can’t throw that fade third-and-goal from the 10. Third-and-goal from the four or five, we have a lot more options on offense. It opens up things. Third down has been our struggle in the red zone because we’ve been third-and-long. They drop eight guys into coverage and they take those routes away.”

On Donté Stallworth not being the first read on the option, but he still went to him right away:

“Kyle [shanahan] and I saw something earlier in the game on our first trip into the red zone that we liked that fade route in that formation. We had talked about that previously and I thought I told Donté to be ready, but he was.”

On the possibility of getting wide receiver Santana Moss back this week:

“Any time you’ve got a guy of his caliber coming back, if he does come back, it’s a huge boost because he can do things that not many people in the NFL can do. With his skill set, his speed, his route running, his quickness and overall knowledge of how to beat man-to-man coverage is huge, especially when teams do play a lot of man and he’s in the slot and he’s got their nickel guy, which usually isn’t their best corner. It’s good to have. I thought David Anderson did a good job the last couple weeks and, if David is still up, I have a lot of confidence that he can do that as well.”

On the Seahawks:

“I see a lot of sound football. There’s not a lot of missed assignments on defense. They’re well coached [and] they put their team in good situations to succeed with help with the safeties. They do a good job of dropping into zones and they’re very sound in running all of the different defenses that they run. You see some defenses have missed assignments and missed coverages, but it’s very rare that Seattle is out of position.”

On Seahawks safety Earl Thomas:

“When you’re talking about that type of speed at safety, he can cover a lot of ground. I think he’s a 4.3 forty guy at safety. His range is something you’ve got to be aware of because some safeties you don’t have to look off as much, so you’ve got to be aware of his range.”

On having to play from behind because of slow starts:

“It’s extremely important to get a lead, because we haven’t really had a lead early in this losing streak. It’s very important for your defense to get a lead, but if we are behind, we just need to go out and execute and take the lead and take control of it. I think it’s very important for the flow of the game to have a lead.”

On if he is renewed by a second chance at starting:

“All you want is an opportunity, an opportunity to go out and play and put some good tape out there and lead your team to victory. However it comes, it comes. Anytime you get a chance to play, it’s fun. I mean, it’s fun to play quarterback in the NFL and to do well. It’s another opportunity to go out there and do it and get a victory in a hostile environment and see if we can put some victories together… I enjoy playing. You get the opportunity to go out and play in the NFL, it’s something I don’t take for granted.”

On his goal for the rest of this season:

“I’m playing to have a winning record this season. That’s all that we can control. It’s another cliché but it’s true. I just want to go out and beat Seattle and play well. I can start worrying about other things later. You want to play well for yourself, obviously, but in this situation, we are totally committed to just thinking about one thing, ‘Break this losing streak. Beat Seattle.’ There’s no room for any other thoughts.”

On establishing the run against Seattle:

“I think that this week is no different than any other week. You have to run the ball well to open up everything. The best things we do on offense are predicated off the run, whether it’s keepers or play action passes. And, not only that, but keeping the third downs manageable - third-and-five or less. The more we can do that, the easier it is to convert obviously, to keep drives alive and get opportunities to score. So, the running game? I have a lot of confidence that we’re going to be fine there. We just need to stick with it. We had some opportunities in the game that we took advantage of and then there were some opportunities we didn’t. I feel like as long as we stick with it, it’s going to turn around.”

On his first season in Seattle:

“It’s been a different transition for me, but we’ve started to get better. We’ve got a couple wins in a row, so that makes everything better. But we know we’ve got a long way to go. We’re still working and just trying to get there.”

On his transition:

“Along with the familiar faces that I have here, it’s helped a lot. My teammates, though, they welcomed me with open arms, so that helps a lot, too. would have liked to have gotten off to a better start than we did, but we’re still working. It’s been a transition for me, but… I’m sure there’s a lot harder transitions to make than coming out here, but it was pretty smooth.”

On the 49ers being able to win the division this weekend:

“I really haven’t thought about it. I mean, obviously they’re playing great right now, playing pretty good. We’d like for them to not lock it up, but we’ve just got to take care of our part and try to be the best that we can be. You know, we put ourselves in this position. So our best bet right now is to focus on us, just try to be the best we can be and let that take care of itself.”

On being ‘the guy’ in Seattle after never having that title in Minnesota:

“It’s a load off my shoulders. I always wanted a chance again, and I got the opportunity here. I’m just trying to make the best of it. You know, it hasn’t been the best, but we’re trying to build something here and we’ve got a lot of young guys. And we’ve got the right personnel. Like I said, we’re still trying to get everybody going the same direction. But for the most part, we’ve got a great group of guys here, and we’re just trying to build on that and try to take it from there, just try to get better as a team.”

On the members of the Redskins defense for whom he must account:

“First of all, you want to start up front. You want to make sure we can block those guys up front. With [brian] Orakpo outside — those two outside linebackers are guys who are tough players — they’re pretty good pass rushers. You want to make sure that we’re able to take care of those guys. Everybody knows about London Fletcher. [He’s] been playing in the league a long time and been playing at a high level for a long time. So we want to make sure we know where those guys [are]. You’ve got DeAngelo Hall in the back end. You’ve got LaRon Landry back there, so you make sure you keep an eye on those guys too, because those guys can disrupt your offense. So we’re just going to make sure we keep our eyes up on most of those guys, but you know you have other players as well that can make plays too.”

On joining the Seahawks after free agency prior to the 2010 season:

“We were so busy that if you check our history, we did so many things. We did everything we could think of to try and get the roster as competitive as possible. I don’t know. I’m not looking back and saying that there’s any reason to say that would have changed things. We continue to look at every opportunity along the way to just make our roster as competitive as can be, and so we did whatever we could and we continue to. This offseason was much more of a factor, I would think, than the one before, just in general. I don’t think that was a big issue to us two years ago.”

On what he thought of Redskins tight end Fred Davis’ draft prospects while coaching him at USC:

“When we were recruiting him, we thought he was going to be a No. 1 draft pick. When we saw him and looked at his potential, that’s why we went after him. Really, when we recruited guys out-of-state, in those days that was our criteria. We want to anticipate a guy could be a No. 1 draft pick. If that was the kind of guy, then we’d go after him. Freddy was like that. He had a very good career for us. He was one of the best tight ends in the country coming out. Big, strong, fast, tough, all of that stuff. I think it’s marvelous that he’s been able to transition into this kind of a player. I mean, he’s a focal point player on an NFL team. I think it’s awesome. I’m laughing — we’re game planning for Freddy. ‘Where is he? He’s over here. He’s doing this. He’s doing that.’ They’re doing a fantastic job of utilizing him. It’s a credit to him. I don’t think that there was any expectation you couldn’t hold for him. He’s coming through in great fashion.”

On defensive end Chris Clemons:

“Shoot, Chris has been a tremendous acquisition for us, probably the most obvious upside trade we’ve made in the first year for sure. Chris had 10 or 11 sacks last year, and he’s off to another good season now. He’s been a big factor for us. He’s been a tough guy in the program. His attitude’s been a factor. We love him. So he’s been a big deal to us.”

On what has allowed Clemons to excel in Seattle as opposed to other stops in his career:

“I think opportunities. He had a great chance here. We brought him in here to play the spot he’s playing and hoped that he could fill that spot. He had a real opportunity. We went after him to get him and so we gave him that great chance and he just took off with it. I think he’s always been a really good player. He’s a little bit of an in-between guy, because he really could be an outside linebacker in 3-4 systems, for sure. That’s how we play him. He plays just like when we were in college, we had Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing, they both played that same spot that he plays for us now. Those guys are outside ‘backers in 3-4 systems. He’s the same. He’s got that kind of versatility. I just think it’s been opportunity that’s really given him the chance and he’s jumped at it.”

On the Redskins’ pass rush:

“Haz [Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett] has done a great job of scheming with really good players. He puts them in good positions. They show a tremendous attack attitude, their willingness to come after you anywhere on the field. The variety of things they choose are really as good as you can get — the style, the pressures, the coverages behind it, his willingness to go from the rush zone stuff to man-to-man stuff to no safety in the hole, full-on blitz. That’s everything that you can throw at people. He does it really well. And it’s probably as aggressive an attack as anybody in the league right now.”

On offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus:

“He’s a really good, versatile football player. He can play four spots on the offensive line. He doesn’t play center but he can play both sides, guard and tackle. We liked him. He started games for us and we just got in a situation where we had to put him out there. We would have taken him back if we could have gotten him back. So I think they got a good football player in him and I understand he had his chance to play a lot this week.”

On cornerback Josh Wilson:

“Josh is a really good football player. We liked him. He’s a terrific athlete. He’d shown that before we got here and after. We just had an opportunity trying to make headway with the upcoming draft, we had the chance to get a draft pick and just looking to the future, that’s [safety] Kam Chancellor on our team right now, you know? We’re just trying to make moves. It wasn’t anything… He’s just a good, effective player that makes a lot of things happen, and he’s obviously done that since he’s left us.”

On Redskins defensive players the Seahawks are keying on this week:

“There’s a lot of them. There’s 11 guys out there that are pretty good at all the spots. You can’t help but look at the outside ‘backers. They’re both really good and effective and they’re getting sacks and doing all the right stuff. London Fletcher is a guy that we know is such a savvy football player and runs the whole show. He going to make a bunch of tackles in this game. [stephen] Bowen is a stud up front. It just goes all across the board. They’ve got corners — DeAngelo [Hall] can make all kinds of plays for them. So we’ve got problems at all spots there and they’ve caused a lot of problems for everybody they’ve played and we don’t expect it to be any different for us.”

These comments are not in the park quotes but thought it was worth posting. I've cleaned it up. Danny Smith has a mouth on him.

@Russellmania980 Chris Russell

For full effect of #Redskins ST Coor Danny Smith's hilarious spin on Terrence Austin's clipping last Sun, check out

Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith on Terrence Austin clip on Banks return. "It was a bad call. I don't know if I'll get fined for stuff like that." Danny said officials "they know the rules" but 'it is the way guys fall sometimes.' but "Terrence Austin does not touch him on the tape. Terrence was livid on the sidelines. There are certain guys that I trust. Certain guys I don't trust. Some guys will rant and rave and that, and they are full of stuff. You know they are full of stuff. Some guys I really trust. I play the guys I trust the most. I trust him. I'm going to play him because I trust him."

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Meanwhile, this quote from Carroll makes me think they'll be picking on DHall..."They’ve got corners — DeAngelo [Hall] can make all kinds of plays for them."