Press Release: #Redskins Quotes- Gruden

[TK]

December 31, 2018

 

Head Coach Jay Gruden

 

On if he has an update on staff changes:

"No. I really don’t know why I’m up here to be honest with you. We just finished last night, yesterday and we’re in the process of getting some player evaluations done, nothing new."

 

On QB Alex Smith and how he envisions the quarterback situation playing out:

"Yeah, I haven’t talked to Alex in a few days. I texted with his wife once, but he's recovering that’s all I can say. I know it's going to be a long process for him. We're obviously hopeful he can turn a corner and start the rehab process and possibly get back on the field. That’s all we can hope for right now. In the meantime, we still have Coly [McCoy] and Josh [Johnson] and [Mark] Sanchez – got a good look at those two guys. So, that’s where we're at."

 

On the importance of CB Josh Norman with all the other question variables in the secondary:

"Yeah, we got a look at some young guys, which was good. Adonis [Alexander] got a little bit more yesterday and [Greg] Stroman, Fabian [Moreau], Danny Johnson all did some good things from time to time. Fabian is still a young, developing player. Obviously, [Quinton] Dunbar hurt us a little bit but I talked to him today. He's recovering nicely from his leg. It looks like he's going to have total strength here pretty soon back to his leg so that's important. It's a good, young secondary. As for Josh, we know we have him for another year. He did some great things this year. Obviously, probably his numbers weren’t where he wanted them to be – interception-wise or forced fumble-wise or what have you – but he's still a solid player for us and a great option."

 

On meeting with ownership and player evaluations:

"Yeah, we're intending on doing player evaluations at the end of this week, give them time to look at their guys and write some things up. As far as I'm concerned, I don’t know. I just wait by the phone and when I get the call, I go. I don’t know yet."

 

On if the season changes the decision to have three quarterbacks in the building:

"It could, yeah. Every year is different. Like I said before, the numbers are very thin, especially when you have injuries. Guys have three, four week injuries and they're on your 53 but they're not playing and those guys add up. It's hard to keep a third quarterback just to sit around and hold a clipboard, but that would be a luxury we'd like to have. We've never really wanted to hold just two quarterbacks. We want to hold two quarterbacks and maybe one on the practice squad. With all the injuries we had, we were forced to bring practice squad linemen in. We were heavy on the offensive line on the practice squad because we were light offensive line-wise, wide receiver for obvious reasons. In a perfect world, you'd like to have two on the active and one on the practice squad at least."

 

On S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix:

"Well, he's a quality person number one, which is good. He's played a lot of football. He knows what it takes to be a good football player and a good safety so experience in that room is critical with all the young guys. Josh [Norman] is kind of a veteran now I guess. But adding a safety with a voice like Ha Ha, people will listen and his work ethic is outstanding. From a leadership standpoint, he's top notch, great kid, love to have him back. But obviously, he's a free agent and we know how that works."

 

On if the need for leadership in the secondary increases with the release of S D.J. Swearinger:

"You're always looking for great leaders and Ha Ha is one of those guys. He's a great leader without a doubt. He probably wasn’t quite as vocal as he would have been had he been here all year. Since he just got here, he was feeling his way with the guys. As he got more acclimated with the players and the system, you could see him start to branch off a little bit. It's more of a positive energy that he brings to the group, which is good."

 

On S Montae Nicholson:

"No, no update right now."

 

On LB Reuben Foster:

"Yeah, no update on Reuben at all."

 

On his high point and low point of the season:

"I think the positive memory, I think getting to know each individual player is always fun. As a coach, you get to know these guys and what makes them tick. We have a lot of good young guys, some veteran guys, the leadership that they possess was great to watch. Watch some guys develop throughout the course of the season. Being able to coach a guy like Adrian Peterson – a Hall of Fame type guy – was actually one of the highpoints in my career personally. There are a lot to things to go back and look at from each individual player, what they did well, how they developed as players and as people, which was kind of fun to watch. Low point, obviously, when you're done, when the season is over, that's always a low point. But the injuries, Alex [Smith] was a major low point, Brandon Scherff, all the injuries in general were bad. I'm not going to say one is worse than the other. They all hurt us. But when you lose two quarterbacks, Alex number one and then Colt [McCoy] when he was ready and finally got his opportunity to show what he had and he snaps his leg. I'd say for sure that was a low point."

 

On if he thinks inside linebacker is a position of need going into the offseason:

"Yeah, we'll see. We'll have to evaluate that again. I think Shaun Dion [Hamilton] did some good things. I liked the way he developed as a player. He started playing more first and second downs. Zach Brown played more sub defense. His ability to run. It's not like we're totally down on Zach Brown. He missed just a little bit of time here in OTAs and training camp with his oblique and just opened the door for Shaun Dion to get more and more reps. We liked what we saw, so he played more and more. Josh Harvey-Clemons has a role in the dime packages. He can run and cover backs and tight ends. Zach Vigil does some good things on special teams. Obviously, Mason Foster I think led our team in tackles this year. There's people in that room that are good, but you're always looking to improve your team."

 

On the possibility utilizing RBs Adrian Peterson, Derrius Guice and Chris Thompson:

"Yeah you could do that for sure. That wouldn't be a bad thing to have. You still have Bryon Marshall too and Samaje Perine, so I think the stable of backs are very interesting here once everybody is healthy. I would love to see Adrian come back healthy. He was banged up the whole second half of the season and he played through it and still played pretty good. That is something that we'll have to talk about. Obviously Adrian is a free agent and he is probably going to look at his options also, but all good players."

 

On the injury to G Brandon Scherff is:

"Yeah, Scherff will be ready quicker than anybody probably in the history of that injury. So, I'm not even concerned about Brandon. He is already probably doing push-ups, the weirdo. But he will be fine. I don't have an exact time table for you."

 

On what he thought the team missed after Scherff was injured:

"What do you miss when you lose a Pro Bowler at guard? Well, you miss a lot. You miss a lot in the running game for sure, the pass protection is key, the screen game suffered drastically with him out of the game because he is one of the best guys out in space that there is in the National Football League as far as guards are concerned. His leadership, his work ethic, his tenacity, you just can't put one word on what you miss when you lose a guy like Brandon Scherff. It is an entire package of the player and the person."

 

On assessing the season without examining the injuries:

"It's impossible, really. It's hard because you're talking about really, really good players that didn't play, especially at the quarterback position. How do you evaluate your team when your two starting quarterbacks that you worked the entire season with are out? Nothing against Josh [Johnson] or Mark [Sanchez], they came in and did the best they could, but they didn't have the luxury of having OTA practices and meetings and training camp practices and meetings and preseason games – it's a big deal for a quarterback, you need the reps. Then offensive line wise it is hard to say what we would have been with Brandon Scherff at right guard and Shawn Lauvao or Jonathan Cooper or Arie Kouandjio or Tyler Catalina, whoever, all of these guys that went down. It is difficult or Paul Richardson full time at receiver with the speed that he has or Jamison Crowder all year or Chris Thompson all year or Jordan Reed all year. We just never got everybody together all at once, so it's hard to really say, 'This is where we are.' Because we don't really know how good we can be with everybody in the lineup at the same time."

 

On OLB Preston Smith:

 "Yeah, he's a free agent for sure. I had a nice talk with him today and I think we would obviously welcome him back, but like you said he's earned the right to test the market out a bit. Hopefully we can get something done for him. I think he's still a young, developing player. I think if we're fortunate enough to get him back there are ways to utilize him a little bit more. I think he can play more spots than just outside linebacker and defensive end. I think he can play inside over the center and just do different things in the pass rush that we really haven't asked him to do yet. I still think his future is very bright in the National Football League. He is young, he is strong, he is long, he is smart. Obviously from a production standpoint, he only had four sacks this year and that's low for a guy like that. But, I think he will get more and more the more he plays."

 

On if he intends to do more self-scouting in regards to the injuries:

"It's really hard. Everybody is pointing the finger at the training staff or the strength staff. We have the best strength staff in football and I feel really good about them. The training staff is just trying to manage injuries and try to get people back on the field as quickly as they can. They have nothing to do with a blown out knee or a torn pec or a pulled hamstring or an oblique or a foot or a toe. I mean we had every body part covered this year and it is nobody's fault, but we will do our due diligence and try to figure out why it's happening to us two years in a row. But, with the amount of different types of injuries, I really don't think there will be a reason. I think it's just bad luck, they land funny, they got something torn or broken and that is pro football."

 

On conversations with the front office or ownership in regards to his future with the team:

"I haven't had any talks yet. I have no idea when they will take place, but I know they will take place. I just have to wait and kind of see what happens. It is a tough business. A lot of good coaches have been let go already and there will be a lot more I'm sure here in the next couple days and weeks. So, moving forward if I am fortunate enough to be here I feel really good about the nucleus of players that we have. We do have to address some things without a doubt. When you are 7-9, whether you have injuries or not it is not good enough for this franchise. I know Mr. Snyder demands greatness from him staff and his players and we didn't deliver this year, so we have to figure out ways to get better from a coaching staff standpoint first and then from a player's standpoint."

 

On the one thing he feels needs to change the most going forward:

"It is hard to say. It is really hard to say. There are a lot of things that probably need to change, but I think just moving forward we all have to be on the same page as far as personnel, coaching and all that stuff. But, we have a good communication system, a good system in place right now, but with all the injuries that we had it's just hard to gauge, 'Would we have been better with this guy here?' And all of our healthy guys it is just hard to gauge. We adjusted pretty well, I thought as a staff and got as many guys ready to play as we could -- some young guys off the streets on a Tuesday that started on a Sunday in the National Football League, it's not easy to do. I think staff-wise we did some good things, but not good enough. That evaluation process, I will have to do a lot of listening first if I'm still here, will see what they see, what their vision is and then I have to adapt to what they see and try to do the best I can to make it work."

 

On TE Jordan Reed: 

 "Yeah, I like Jordan a lot. I think he is an excellent player, he is a difference maker on offense. Tight ends that can win in zone and man coverage are hard to find. When you get that matchup, it is very easy for a quarterback to find. The passes that don't have to be 35 yards down the field, they can be eight-to-10 yard intermediate-type passes that he can run after the catch, his blocking has improved and is going to continue to get better the stronger that he gets. We just have to get him healthy, but he is a dynamic player, a great athlete, works extremely hard, a great kid, never late and he's a big part of the success of this football team moving forward in my opinion."

 

On the importance of getting WR Jamison Crowder back on the team next season:

 "Yeah, Jamison is a lot like Preston [Smith]. He is a very young player, developing and his best years are in front of him without a doubt. I feel the same way about Preston. I think they're going to explode on the scene here very shortly. He's got great quickness in intermediate routes, can separate, has good hands, he's tough, he's physical in the running game. There is really not anything that Jamison can't do. You look at his size and say he's little, but he plays big, so we have to try and get him back for sure."

 

On improving communications between the coaching staff and front office regarding current roles:

"Oh yeah it is possible. It starts with once I get the word I have to pass it along and we have to do a better job of executing the plan and we've tried to do that. We just have not done a very good job obviously. Seven and nine the past two years. We understand what we have to do to improve. We just have to do a good job of executing the plan."

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

 

 

It doesn’t sound like he hasn’t heard from ownership to me. Interesting. 

 

No. I really don’t know why I’m up here to be honest with you.

 

we don’t know either, jay.... 

 

As far as I'm concerned, I don’t know. I just wait by the phone and when I get the call, I go. I don’t know yet

 

i don’t know, waiting for a call, yep, sounds like Snyder was a little busy enjoying his holiday.

 

 

 

(Derp, he Says he didn’t meet yet)

 

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

1 minute ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

i don’t know, waiting for a call, yep, sounds like Snyder was a little busy enjoying his holiday.

That’s not how I read it.  

 

I read jt as Snyder has no idea what to do with Bruce and is trying to figure out how to appease the fans while not firing Bruce and he’s stuck.  He’s probabl locked in his office panicking trying to figure out what to do not having any answers, so he’ll end up doing nothing.  

[Wildbunny]

1 minute ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

That’s not how I read it.  

 

I read jt as Snyder has no idea what to do with Bruce and is trying to figure out how to appease the fans while not firing Bruce and he’s stuck.  He’s probabl locked in his office panicking trying to figure out what to do not having any answers, so he’ll end up doing nothing.  

If Snyder's office is named Bahamas that would explain lots of things!

Or is it his secretary?

[CousinsCowgirl84]

For all the areas that needed improvement after this year that was a whole lot “I don’t know” in that.... I thought coaches get paid to know...

[Voice_of_Reason]

4 minutes ago, Wildbunny said:

If Snyder's office is named Bahamas that would explain lots of things!

Or is it his secretary?

I’m late to the party on that.  I didn’t see the news Dan has fled the country.

 

Sigh.  Oh well. 

[tshile]

2 hours ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

For all the areas that needed improvement after this year that was a whole lot “I don’t know” in that.... I thought coaches get paid to know...

 

Hes not going to throw people under the bus.  It was a pointless press conference.

[skinny21]

He doesn’t know why he was up there?  That’s strange...

Either it’s a routine, end of year type thing (in which case Gruden should know why), or he was directed to but not told why.  Huh.  

 

I too was interested in his comments about meeting with the FO/Snyder.  You’d think they would have plans set in place already.  Almost seemed like Jay was taking a passive aggressive shot with the “I’ll just be waiting by the phone”, but who knows.  Also interesting about needing to make sure he passes on what his assistants want (their vision) to the FO, and “we have to do a better job executing the plan”...

 

On Preston Smith - “He’s a FA for sure”... interesting choice of words, especially compared with what he said about Crowder.  On the flip side - thought he could be utilized more, which is interesting.  

 

Thinking he’s going to push for Reed to return, which, while I understand, wouldn’t be a good thing, IMO.  

 

Brandon “the weirdo” Scherff, lol.  

[Malapropismic Depository]

3 hours ago, TK said:

On if he intends to do more self-scouting in regards to the injuries:

I think it's just bad luck, they land funny, they got something torn or broken and that is pro football."

 

 

Dang, that's a few more options that coulda gone on the Injury Poll Thread

5 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

Brandon “the weirdo” Scherff, lol.  

 

If I had to pick one player on the Skins that it might be too scary to make a joke towards, he would be the one.

[tshile]

42 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

He doesn’t know why he was up there?  That’s strange...

I think the point was he talked to them last night and there wasn’t anything that’s changed since then. 

 

Seemed like a dumb presser. 

[TK]

Quote

On the one thing he feels needs to change the most going forward:

"It is hard to say. It is really hard to say. There are a lot of things that probably need to change, but I think just moving forward we all have to be on the same page as far as personnel, coaching and all that stuff. But, we have a good communication system, a good system in place right now, but with all the injuries that we had it's just hard to gauge, 'Would we have been better with this guy here?' And all of our healthy guys it is just hard to gauge. We adjusted pretty well, I thought as a staff and got as many guys ready to play as we could -- some young guys off the streets on a Tuesday that started on a Sunday in the National Football League, it's not easy to do. I think staff-wise we did some good things, but not good enough. That evaluation process, I will have to do a lot of listening first if I'm still here, will see what they see, what their vision is and then I have to adapt to what they see and try to do the best I can to make it work."

Translation: #FireBruceAllen    

[Poindexter]

I think if they were to fire Jay it would have happened today.   No chance you wait and wait and wait with fresh new coaches on the wire.  We all know something has to change and I would assume a few assistant coaches will be released tomorrow and Bruce should be on his way out as well.

 

Dan so-called going to the Bahamas doesn't bode well with me.  Seems like he has already made a decision to sit back and trust Bruce with the decision making or he's just going to leave things as is. 

 

Wishful thinking would indicate that he sold the team to Joe Gibbs and he's off to the Bahamas to celebrate....time will tell.

[CousinsCowgirl84]

2 hours ago, Poindexter said:

I think if they were to fire Jay it would have happened today.   No chance you wait and wait and wait with fresh new coaches on the wire.  We all know something has to change and I would assume a few assistant coaches will be released tomorrow and Bruce should be on his way out as well.

 

 

Its the redskins were talking about bro

 

 

2 hours ago, Poindexter said:

 

Dan so-called going to the Bahamas doesn't bode well with me.  Seems like he has already made a decision to sit back and trust Bruce with the decision making or he's just going to leave things as is.

 

 

Hands off approach 

 

 

2 hours ago, Poindexter said:

Wishful thinking would indicate that he sold the team to Joe Gibbs and he's off to the Bahamas to celebrate....time will tell.

 

 

Lol. Joe Gibbs Jan from a different era. His prior glory is irrelevant to today’s nfl I think.

Jay don’t want to be here with Bruce 

[Wildbunny]

8 hours ago, TK said:

Translation: #FireBruceAllen    

That meeting with Dan, Bruce and Jay will be heated.

I would love it if it was mic'ed up somehow

[kleese]

That presser indicates one of three things to me:

 

A. A guy that doesn’t think he will be back 

 

B. A guy that doesn’t want to be back 

 

C. A guy that doesn’t want to be back unless other guys aren’t back 

 

I don’t think there is a D 

 

I guess it’s possible he’s just bummed about how the season ended and a little grumpy over having to do another presser and deep down he is happy and wants to give it another go as-is, but I don’t think that’s likely. Almost came off as a guy hoping someone puts him out of his misery. If so, well, welcome to the club Jay. 

[Mr. Sinister]

My translation lol :

 

 

 

[Wildbunny]

39 minutes ago, kleese said:

That presser indicates one of three things to me:

 

A. A guy that doesn’t think he will be back 

 

B. A guy that doesn’t want to be back 

 

C. A guy that doesn’t want to be back unless other guys aren’t back 

 

I don’t think there is a D 

 

I guess it’s possible he’s just bummed about how the season ended and a little grumpy over having to do another presser and deep down he is happy and wants to give it another go as-is, but I don’t think that’s likely. Almost came off as a guy hoping someone puts him out of his misery. If so, well, welcome to the club Jay. 

I believe the right answer here is C.

 

It's been obvious since Reuben Foster.

I'm pretty sure even if he had nothing against Alex he didn't really like the trade happening behind his back also.

The fact that they didn't went after a healthy good LG probably upsetted him as well... And  I don't believe he really thinks it's bad luck when Lauvao got injured again, because that's where Lauvao usually ends up...

 

And IMHO, if they force him to go for one year again with Bruce at the helm, it might really get ugly between the two. Jay doesn't look like a guy that would be able to sustain this crap one more year.

[Est.1974]

Gruden trying his best to be politically correct all the way through that by the looks of things. 

 

Could get interesting, I think there is a twist coming in this story.....

[Mr. Sinister]

11 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

 

Dang, that's a few more options that coulda gone on the Injury Poll Thread

 

If I had to pick one player on the Skins that it might be too scary to make a joke towards, he would be the one.

 

Didn't he  post a pic of himself after he probably bare hand killed a wild turkey? There are wild turkeys where I live (big enough to sate everyone at Plymouth Rock 3 times over) and I want no parts of them. Like damn velociraptors. And all he probably did was grab one and powerbomb it to death.

[Die Hard]

Who cares about coaching changes?! Gruden has shown complete incompetency when it comes to hiring coaches on his staff. He inherited McVay. Callahan is the most over-rated coach in the NFL. Yes, he works them hard.. and they love. The result show... they’re F***** terrible in run blocking.... and lack any consistency in pass blocking. Tomsula is the only coach earning his keep here. And Gruden is too loyal a human to let go of anybody... unless there has been 10 consecutive years of extreme under-performance.

 

Hey Gruden... what went wrong? “I dunno.”

What can you do different? “I dunno.”

 

That about sums up his approach to games and in-game adjustments. He goes in with a singular focus (plan)... and if it fails because nothing goes exactly right... his teams are doomed and can’t counter-attack. Go after the other team’s weaknesses.

 

Just completely useless.

 

 

[TheBlueIndian]

8 hours ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

Lol. Joe Gibbs Jan from a different era. His prior glory is irrelevant to today’s nfl I think.

Jay don’t want to be here with Bruce 

Agreed, but if there  is one guy who knows how to build a champion from the ground up it is JJG.

 

He is also way too smart to take on this disaster.

[Darrell Green Fan]

So Snyder leaves the head coach dangling as he vacations when everyone knew Grudon's job was not secure.   I  mean his comments made it perfectly clear that he feels as if he is still not safe.   What a swell guy that Danny Snyder is.

 

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

I believe the right answer here is C.

 

It's been obvious since Reuben Foster.

I still say he should have sacked up and tried to nuke the Reuben Foster thing if he truely was against it.  If he was unhappy about it, don’t go along with it.  The reporting is he, Dan and Bruce were on board, and he has spoken glowingly about Foster in the past.  So I’m not sure if he was against it, but if he was, he should have tried REALLY hard to kill it.  I think Dan would have listened if he had said he wants no part of Foster. Just a hunch.  It’s ok to disagree with Bruce.  Make dan pick.  If he picks Bruce, fine.  But that’s not what it sounded like. 

 

The reporting i remember is that there were assistants and FO personnel who were unhappy about the move but Jay, Bruce ans Dan were on board. 

 

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

I'm pretty sure even if he had nothing against Alex he didn't really like the trade happening behind his back also

That would piss me off also.  I think he wanted Colt.  I don’t think he wanted Kirk. I think he was fine with Alex but it meant he had to teach the offense to a new QB.  Though both are off the Andy Reid tree, so there are probably some similarities in language.

 

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

 

The fact that they didn't went after a healthy good LG probably upsetted him as well...

Nah.  He LOVES Luavao.  That’s his guy.  Also they had 2 guards go down before training camp. Ari and somebody else. I think the plan was Arie starts and Luavao backs him up. 

 

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

 

And  I don't believe he really thinks it's bad luck when Lauvao got injured again, because that's where Lauvao usually ends up...

I disagree.  I think they’ve all convinced themselves that all the injuries are bad luck.  

 

 

2 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

And IMHO, if they force him to go for one year again with Bruce at the helm, it might really get ugly between the two. Jay doesn't look like a guy that would be able to sustain this crap one more year.

That would be fine with me and I’d give him massive kudos if he told Bruce to shove it.

 

Jay has $10,000,000 of leverage he’s never tried to use as far as I can see.  

 

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

12 minutes ago, Darrell Green Fan said:

So Snyder leaves the head coach dangling as he vacations when everyone knew Grudon's job was not secure.   I  mean his comments made it perfectly clear that he feels as if he is still not safe.   What a swell guy that Danny Snyder is.

 

 

It’s a tacit acceptance of the situation.  

 

I’m willing to bet Dan WANTS to fire everybody.  That’s his natural instinct.  But he’s doimg what he’s advised by Bruce and just holding his water.  He’s not happy about it, so instead of really confirming it, he’s just not addressing it at all.

 

Dan has never let a coach dangle he knew he was going to fire.  Marty, (spurrier quit and Gibbs retired), Zorn ans Shanahan were all gone the next day.

 

If Dan was going to fire Jay it would have been done by now.  I actually think Dan would be surprised to learn there is some question about Jay’s job security I’m sure he thinks that by not firing Jay it’s assumed he’s coming back. 

[Wildbunny]

5 minutes ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

Nah.  He LOVES Luavao.  That’s his guy.  Also they had 2 guards go down before training camp. Ari and somebody else. I think the plan was Arie starts and Luavao backs him up. 

Jay can loves Lauvao and still acknowledge that the guy has a long injury history and not be surprised about it.

And I don't believe the narrative that Jay wanted to start with Kouandjio. They cut him from the 53 in 2017. He wasn't the coaches plans at LG initially.

And they waited 3/4 months to resign Lauvao...

 

5 minutes ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

That would be fine with me and I’d give him massive kudos if he told Bruce to shove it. 

I would love him to do that, but Jay definately is not that king of guy. In public at least.