Redskins.com: Joe Gibbs Media Session, June 17

[bubba9497]

Joe Gibbs Media Session, June 17

http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=7599

On Friday's Mini-Camp:

"I think we had a lot of enthusiasm today--maybe it was the fact you guys were out there for the first 30 minutes. Anyway, it was something special or different. I think we had real good work. One of the things I'm proudest of about our football team--I put on the overhead projector today for our team meeting that up until today everything has been voluntary our attendance for this whole off-season, the weight room and our conditioning program was 96 percent. That's phenomenal. It's the best I've ever had. Hopefully it's going to pay off."

On the absence of Sean Taylor:

"I think a situation when something like that occurs, rather than having all the attention and the attraction focused on Sean, I felt like it was better for him to take care of the issues that he's working on. We've had real good work. My focus has been on the guys that are here."

On the seriousness of FS Sean Taylor's situation:

"We all know that when you go through life, a lot of it is making choices. I always think back to some of the ones I made. To me, it's kind of like family. When you're in a family you try and support those in the family. Although having said that, whether it's my sons or grandbabies or anything else, the choices you make are important and nobody else can stand in there for you when you make the choices in life and you need to make good ones. We're moving ahead with our football team here. Like I said, we've had great participation."

On the return of Jon Jansen:

"I felt when that injury happened last year it took quite a bit away from us. I think we kind of went through some instability on the line there for awhile. Ray Brown kind of stabilized that for us and I'll always remember that. But we missed Jon and I think about as much as anything, you've got some real leaders on teams and people that mean a lot in the locker room and certainly Jon is one of those guys. All of a sudden you take him out of the mix. I think it was tough for him and it was tough for us. It's one of those things you have a hard time understanding, I don't think he'd ever been hurt. It's one of those things you take for granted. It's good to have him back."

On being able to get the ball downfield:

"A lot of things contribute to having a good downfield passing game. If you run the ball extremely well obviously that's going to help. That helps everything that you do. But then you also have to have the receivers, obviously you need protection and we hurt ourselves there last year. I don't think our protection the first seven or eight games was very good. I think it's because we were moving some people around on the offensive line. If you're going to be good at throwing the ball downfield, you have to be able to do everything offensively to get to that point. Certainly running the football will make everybody get closer to the line of scrimmage. I think any part of it offensively, if you're missing something, it's not going to be as effective."

On the offseason that Patrick Ramsey has had:

"I would say the thing that he's done better this off-season that I've noticed is he has passed the ball better deep. There's no question he can throw an out. He's extremely strong and has a strong arm. But then there comes a time when you have to pass it. You have to get it over the top, you have to throw it deep, you have to put air under the ball. I'd say if there's any one thing he's done a good job of I'd say it's that in this offseason."

**On the upcoming season:

"The thing about pro sports that we all appreciate and the reason why we're so attracted to it, you never know what's going to happen. Twice when I was here before we couldn't win a game in preseason and then we wind up going to the Superbowl. It's very unpredictable, every year is unpredictable. I'm always very cautious about what to expect. We just mentioned things like Jon Jansen and things that change your whole season. What you can do is make great preparation, hopefully add the right guys. I told the players today that their off-season work has been fantastic. Our job as coaches is to pick the right players. That's the single most important thing we do. And it's extremely hard to do because you can't weigh or measure anything that's in here [points to heart], that's the most important asset to any of us as individuals is what kind of heart you have and we need to get the right kind of guys. I think last year we had a tremendous amount of injuries but I think we had a good core group of guys that could bounce back from almost anything. Last year I think we had three of the toughest losses I've ever been a part of--Green Bay, Dallas, Philly. Three situations where we wind up losing games that we could have won and so my long answer is you never know, I guess that's the attraction of pro sports. Our fans do their part, we have a great place to play. They make it tough on anybody coming to play us. We want to be good at home, better than what we were last year. Obviously our offense has been a major for us because we were unproductive and as I've said many times that's my responsibility. We've got some new additions offensively that I've been real impressed with in practice. I think David (Patten) and Santana (Moss) have added a lot for us there in the passing game, and the rest of our receivers. We've added some players into the mix and it's going to be interesting to see how we play next year because of that."

On the injury status of some key players:

"I think Chris's (Cooley) injury is just a hamstring and that's really the only injury we've had in our off-season work. Last year I think we had three shoulder surgeries we were waiting to come back from. Obviously Michael Barrow is a concern to us. But it's something we just have to live through. Today's first workout, he was back. Bubba (Tyer) said he looked good. We'll continue to work him. We're going after it pretty hard with him and at some point hopefully he'll be freed up to start practicing."

On the availability of Mike Barrow:

"He won't be in any mini-camp stuff."

On the new receiving corps:

"I feel like we do have some explosive guys in here. We'll have to see how we play like can we get them the ball? I left Antonio Brown out earlier, I think he's one of the fastest players in the NFL. Our emphasis was that we'd like to be a better downfield passing football team. We need to jump in the endzone. Last year it got to a point where we couldn't make a long play. If there's one thing to pick out on offense that we'd like to do a better job of it's the deep passing game."

On the shotgun formation:

"We're going to use it all the way through and it's important for us to keep working with it. Our centers and quarterbacks seem comfortable with it. Bill (Musgrave) has done a good job with our quarterbacks. We're going to be working a lot with it."

On HB Rock Cartwright and WR Darnerian McCants:

"Obviously playing special teams is extremely important to us. I think Rock's off-season workouts have been one of the best. He's someone Danny (Smith) really counts on. And if he's someone Danny really counts on, there's a good chance he's going to make the team. I've had several long talkes with Darnerian and we told him he's a real talent. We have to find a way to get him on the football field. He needs to find a way to be one of those guys that you're counting on."

On how relaxed Patrick Ramsey has been:

"Last year in preseason I don't think Patrick was very relaxed. I think he's much more confident and relaxed in what we're doing now. Hopefully that translates to good play."

On the addition of the shotgun offense:

"Bill Walsh was never in it, I was never in it. I think what changes your thought process many times is when you're not successful. I'll try anything that I think will help us. I think Bill (Musgrave) was the perfect person to help get it installed here. Every year is a learning experience."

**Tarhogs question

[G-Town]

I love the fact that Mr. Gibbs, no longer says we have ALOT of learning to do. It sounds more like a team on the offesive. I cant wait!!!

[TK]

FYI

If you watch the video feed on redskins.com, you'll see the FedEx truck (source of the background noise) drive by when Tarhog was asking Coach Gibbs his question.

[Stone Cold]

I've had several long talkes with Darnerian and we told him he's a real talent. We have to find a way to get him on the football field. He needs to find a way to be one of those guys that you're counting on."

several indicators in this.

1. several talks. does d mac not get it? if you're borderline, the boss usually will only give you 1 second chance. (maybe a sign that gibbs recognizes the talent and really wants him here...who knows)

2. earlier in the article, he mentions patten and moss. no t jacobs. are these two the starters? if so, what's up with jacobs...was hoping he'd step up this year.

3. gibbs uses a lot of "we's" when describing players' performance. he later says that d mac "needs to find a way to be one of those guys that you're counting on"...don't be surprised to see him let go so we can keep an xtra saftey until st comes back from the suspension that gibbs hasn't yet publicized.

[stevenaa]

"We're going to use it all the way through and it's important for us to keep working with it. Our centers and quarterbacks seem comfortable with it. Bill (Musgrave) has done a good job with our quarterbacks. We're going to be working a lot with it."

This ought to silence the critics on Gibbs ability to adapt to the "new" NFL. He is the man and will figure it out. Failure is not an option.