Press Release: #Redskins Quotes- Gruden, Manusky

[TK]

May 29, 2019

Head Coach Jay Gruden

 

 

 

 

 On CB Jimmy Moreland:

"Yeah, he’s a fun guy to watch. He’s always around the ball, excellent ball skills, that’s what drew us to him and he’s proven to be quite the athlete. He’s picked up the system very well. He's playing inside and outside. I’ve been very impressed with him."

 

On Moreland's interceptions:

"He got one the first day. We shut them out the next couple of days. He has made his presence felt, without a doubt. He has a great idea of route concepts and breaking on the ball, obviously the ball skills. When the balls in the air, certain guys can bat them down, but not necessarily catch it. He has some great ball skills and can catch it. When you see him run it with the ball in his hands, there’s a chance he could be a good punter returner too by the way he runs with the ball in space."

 

On how he determines the reps for the quarterbacks:

"Yeah it's a 16-play period. We will probably go seven, seven and two, something like that. Try to split them up equally."

 

On his impressions of the quarterbacks:

"The defense is pretty good right now, they’re at full strength. Offensively, we are not quite at full strength. Our offensive line group just added two new tackles today, so it’s been a struggle. Coach Rauscher (Assistant Offensive Line, Phil Rauscher) and Coach Callahan (Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line, Bill Callahan) are trying to get these guys up to speed, but when your blocking [Ryan] Kerrigan, [Montez] Sweat and some of these other guys coming off the edge, it’s going to be a little bit cloudy in the team period. For seven-on-seven, that drill we are getting a good feel for route concepts and making good throws. When we get into team periods, it is kind of been a little tough, defense is doing very well. I think they are just progressing nicely, both of them, all three of them, really. Josh [Woodrum] is doing some good things too. Just have to keep at it, keeping throwing things at them. Coach Manusky (Defensive Coordinator, Greg Manusky), Coach Horton (Defensive Backs Coach, Ray Horton) and these guys are doing a great job defensively of giving us looks. Challenging them and they are making plays."

 

On G Wes Martin playing left guard:

"Right now, [Ereck] Flowers just played tackle because we don’t have any. We have some obviously that just got here. Timon [Parris] has been here a little bit, but he is coming back from an injury. He’s [Flowers] playing some tackle right now. We are just putting him out there. He will still be our swing tackle. We envision moving him back [guard] once we get Morgan [Moses] back, Trent [Williams] back, Geron Christian Sr. back. Right now we are very light. It is good for him. Keep his mind fresh with tackle, but we will get him plenty of reps at guard as well."

 

On LB Jordan Brailford and G Wes Martin:

"Yeah, both feeling their way, I think Brailford has shown excellent athletic ability, quickness off the edge. He plays with good length, but again, we’re shuffling tackles in and out of here, so we expect them to have some success but I’ve been impressed with Jordan. His athletic ability, his mental ability to pick up the defense up;[he's doing a good job. Then Wes, you know the same thing. We’re trying to teach him the fundamentals. It’s at the early stages, but for offensive linemen, you know it’s not easy. We’re doing inside-zone, outside-zone, mid-zone, some double teams, pass blocking, pass protections; we’re throwing a lot at them. I think mentally he’s a very, very bright guy. I just think he has to continue to work on his fundamentals and he’ll be fine. I like where he’s at."

 

On when S Landon Collins began practicing:

"Yeah, this week, we’re still very cautious with his shoulder coming back from the shoulder. But, he feels good. We’re trying to get him in some seven-on-seven drills. I want to get him lined up when we have walk through so we can communicate the defense, get lined up and then. At his own discretion with the trainers, he’ll do some team periods every now and then just to make sure he’s careful. He understands his importance to this football team. It's fun to look at him over there instead of playing against him with the NY Giants all the time. He’s a good guy to have out there. He’s a communicator. It’s hard to tell how his presence is felt in shorts, but when the pads are on that’s when you feel Landon."

 

On CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie:

"He’s a veteran guy that can run. He’s played with Landon before, and you know he’s a smart guy. He communicates. He can play man-to-man. He can play off. Just another security blanket to have out there that gets you some leadership with some depth. When you have a guy that’s six-foot-two that can run like he can, with the experience that he has, the plays that he’s made in big games in his career, I mean, what the heck? It’s a great add for us."

 

On Rodgers-Cromartie retirement concerns last season:

"Well, we had concerns that maybe football wasn’t very important to him but when we had a chance to meet with him in the offseason, he was passionate about his return and wanted to play and that’s all we had to hear. I can imagine why he’d want to quit from the Raiders, right? (Laughter) [Head Coach Jon Gruden] will do that to people. No, I’m just kidding. That’s not a headline. You know I think sometimes as a veteran guy, if you’re not getting the reps, the work you think you should get, sometimes you’ve had enough. You know, then you sit out sometimes and you’re like ‘wait, I still can play. I still can help a football team,’ and that football team shows interest, you can maybe get them back to speed and get them ready to play."

 

On QB Dwayne Haskins’s performance today:

"I think a couple times we just might’ve just told him the formation wrong, or the run to the wrong side or what have you. Dwayne’s still processing everything, so everything’s coming in fast and he’s trying to process the formation, the run concept or the pass concept, protection. So, it’s all really new to him as far as transferring what I say or what Coach [Kevin] O’Connell says to the huddle. There might be one key word that he might mess up, which is a critical word - 14 instead of 15 - so it’s a big word. So, we have to just clean him up a little bit, slow him down, be patient, but it will come for him. It’ll come soon."

 

On WR Josh Doctson:

"Yeah, I’ve been impressed with Josh. Really, he’s come out. He’s come to work every day. He’s been in all the meetings. He’s running. I think when the ball’s in the air he’s been making plays left and right. I’m Josh’s biggest supporter up here and I’m really, really hopeful that he comes through in a big way this year. It’s a big year for him, we all know contractually, but for this football team for us to have success we need his input. We need his production. I think this is going to be a big year for him. If he has the year that I think he should have, then our offense should really take the next step."

 

On if he wants the Washington Redskins featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks:

"Well, it’s not up to me. If we’re forced to do it, then obviously we’ll have to make it work. You know, it’s a process that can be distracting at times, but, really they do an excellent job as far as keeping out of your business. So, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I think our guys would probably have fun with it at the end of the day. Initially, it’d be a distraction so to speak but I think really, if they were smart I think they’d go to Oakland. (Laughter) I mean, seriously, what an entertainment value that would be – Antonio Brown, Jon Gruden, [Defensive Coordinator] Paul Guenther, Vontaze Burfict, [Richie] Incognito – I mean, you guys have got to be crazy not to go to Oakland. They can do us next year maybe. [Reporter: ‘not if you make the playoffs’] Well, if we don’t make the playoffs I probably won’t be here anyways. (Laughter) They can come here and do it all they want."

 

On if he values selecting DL Matt Ioannidis:

"Not really. You know, I take pride in doing the work in the offseason, both free agency and in the draft. Sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re not so right, but with Matt it was an easy decision for us. He was right there in the fifth round (2016 NFL Draft)) for us, and the way he played at Temple, it’s just carried over. It was an easy pick."

 

On the wide receivers being an unsettled unit:

"Yeah, you could say that, but I think based on what I’ve seen out here it’s the most exciting group to me. Really, I think the rookies have come in here, not just the draft picks but some of the free agents, WR Steven Sims has come in and shown flashes. WR T.J. [Rahming]’s done a good job. WR Cam Sims coming off the injury has proven that’s why we’ve kept him around and he’s going to make our team because of his size and athletic ability and Josh Doctson like I mentioned I think is going to have a big year. WR Trey Quinn has taken over the inside slot role. He’s confident, he’s quick, he’s got strong hands, he’s physical, [and] he’s tough. Obviously WR Brian Quick with some veteran experience. Obviously WR Paul Richardson’s not even out here yet with his speed. But, WR Terry [McLaurin] and WR Kelvin [Harmon] are – knocking on wood right now – are very good."

 

On running blitzes with LB Jon Bostic:

"We’re doing a little bit of everything right now. We try to mix in our blitzes in our temp on a week-to-week basis. Sometimes it’ll be a safety, sometimes it’ll be a linebacker, sometimes it’ll be nobody. So, just a matter of what [defensive coordinator] Coach Manusky, [defensive backs] Coach Horton, obviously [inside linebackers] Coach Ryan now with his expertise, and [defensive line] Coach Tomsula with what they come up with. I totally trust the fact they’ll come up with a good plan each week."

On the status of S Montae Nicholson:

"Yeah, he was out here practicing today so I assume he is."

 

On the arm pad he uses to practice:

"I might have to put the arm pad to bed, yeah. (Laughter) I might have an issue, I can’t stand there. I have to be actively involved someway, somehow. The arm pad’s probably a bad idea, yeah. I’ll stick to clapping my hands."

 

Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky

 

On his early impressions of S Landon Collin:

"Especially from the meeting rooms, just trying to learn the system and get through it and understand all the different nuances that we have. He asks a lot of questions, does a great job of trying to figure out exactly what we're doing and his vision points and stuff on the field. But overall, we're excited to have him out on the field and actually practicing."

 

On the status of LB Ryan Anderson:

"I don't know exactly what is going on with Ryan. You have to ask the medical department, but I think overall right now he's been doing a great job. I'm looking forward to him doing great things for us."

 

On the excitement of having Anderson, LB Montez Sweat and LB Ryan Kerrigan on the edge:

"It's exciting to have a big, long guy that can actually run real well. I think with Sweat, he is doing a great job of trying to pick up the system like young defensive linemen are. Across the board, I thought the last couple days,he just keeps on getting better at his craft and hopefully he will just continue to do that."

 

On the benefits of having inside linebackers coach Rob Ryan and secondary coach Ray Horton on staff:

"I think it's the old over 50 gang, you know pretty much all of us – a lot of old guys. Pretty much the best thing about it is just shooting ideas back and forth with what Ray has done in the past and the same thing with Rob, going back and forth on certain situations. It could be in a two-minute situation, it could be in red zone, but just going back and forth just shooting what they've done in the past, what we do here and it has been pretty cool sitting down and talking with them."

 

On if he has made changes to defense based on conversations with Horton and Ryan:

"Yeah, pretty much I think overall from a learning standpoint, we made it a little bit easier for the players. So if the players have to come in and learn a new system, it is not as hard. I used to do that back in San Francisco [49ers] when I was there, so it wasn't that major of a deal for [me], but we changed a little bit of things here and there."

 

On the wide receivers and defensive backs' matchups:

"Jimmy Moreland had a hat trick today, so he had three interceptions, which I have never seen over my career actually in practice. That was great for him. Young nickel back corner that has been playing is Jimmy – wide-receiver wise? – I don't know. I don't really care exactly. I don't really deal with that side of the ball and I'm not saying that in a bad way. I do care, but I don't really focus on that. Overall, I think our DBs with the communication standpoint – I think 'Trap' [S Troy Apke] shows up, I think Deshazor [Everett] shows up and it's great to have Landon [Collins] back there. It's a nice little group showing up."

 

On what CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie adds to the defense:

"To tell you the truth, just an older guy that understands football, understands schemes, knows route recognitions, knows exactly what's coming and has been productive over the last couple of weeks that he's been here. He's picked up the system. It's kind of easy for him which is pretty cool from my standpoint."

 

On if Moreland's success in the offseason program has been a surprise:

"I definitely knew that when we drafted him, no I had no idea. Just overall, just a smart – even Ray [Horton] was telling me he went back to see his notes and stuff on Jimmy. Just a smart football player and knows exactly what he's supposed to do, understands the game very well. It reminds me a little bit of a Kendall Fuller [DB Kansas City Chiefs] type of player that we have and I'm excited for him. Right now it's early. He made a couple of picks so far, but I'm just saying overall he's performing very well."

 

On developing S Troy Apke:

"I think any rookie that comes into the league, it's hard. I remember even when I first came in, you know exactly what you're supposed to do and I think last year I remember telling him, 'I want you in those meetings every week just to get the concepts and understand exactly where your eyes are supposed to be and where everybody is supposed to be because you're actually the signal caller on the back end.' And he was in every one of the meetings and he took note of it and it started to show up on the field. He understands coverages now. He understands [offensive formations] what teams are going to do against us. So, I think every year that you grow in the NFL; I think that first year you're going to learn what you're supposed to do. Second year you start to learn the defense and what guys are doing around you and then the third year you usually say, 'Okay, this is how the offense is attacking us.' So I think he's in that second and third-year transition." 

 

On what he has seen from Apke:

"They call them safeties for a reason, right? They're the safety valve. If something breaks through you've got to make those plays on the back end and I think he's one of those players that can make plays in space when the running back is coming, breaks through the line if we do have a mishap up front. But overall from a coverage standpoint as well, they're going to cover those main tight ends or he's in the post depending upon where we think we see him as. Right now we're still judging every player, but overall I like where 'Traps' [Troy Apke] is at."

 

On how much changes next week with mandatory mini-camp and CB Josh Norman being at practice:

"Yeah, I think it's important to get everybody in here to train and perform at a high fashion and just from the communicational standpoint, we changed it a little bit so I think Josh has to turnover and study a little bit more and understand exactly how the calls are being called now compared to how they were last year."

 

On the competition between the defensive backs:

"Yeah, I think everybody from that standpoint, 'Dunny' [CB Quinton Dunbar] has been a little bit banged up, still hasn't practiced and stuff and then Josh hasn't been around. I think it's important they have those guys around to understand the system, but for those young guys they just have to keep on battling. Some days you're going to have some bad days and then some days you're going to have some great days. So, you have to keep on struggling through the decent amount of installs that we're putting on them and starting to learn the defense which the majority of them have."