Press Release: #REDSKINS POST GAME QUOTES

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REDSKINS HEAD COACH JAY GRUDEN

 

On what he saw from QB Case Keenum and the first team offense:

"Yeah, I thought the tempo was OK there. The big offensive PI [pass interference] – need an explanation for that one. But overall, the tempo was still pretty good. Still the penalties, it's the same old tune right now and something we have to get cleaned up. They're calling these games pretty tight, so we have to make sure we do a better job of avoiding these penalties somehow."

 

On the offensive pass interference call on WR Kelvin Harmon:

"I don't know. All is know is I want Kelvin Harmon to do that every time the ball is in the air. That's why we drafted him because he is aggressive when the ball is in the air. If he can't do what he did in this game, then I don't know what he can do. I am going to continue to coach Kelvin Harmon to go up and go get the ball like he did tonight and good things will happen for him. We'll get the explanation hopefully tomorrow or the next day, but I applaud Kelvin for his effort going out and attacking the ball."

 

On the first team defense's performance:

"Yeah, those penalties? Yeah. I think they did good, man. I liked the way they rebounded from the penalties. Josh Norman tried to catch the ball and he got illegal contact. Jonathan [Allen], the whistle blew and he, you know, probably needed to use better judgement there. But to recover from those penalties – I think four on the first drive – and to get the pick-six by Montae [Nicholson] was big time. I liked to see them respond, and then the next two drives, they were pretty successful."

 

On the touchdown pass from QB Dwayne Haskins Jr. to WR Robert Davis:

"Yeah, I liked it. The best part I liked was Dwayne handling the protection. He did a great job. Challenged him, gave him some different looks and he addressed the protection to give himself just that extra beat of time where he could look down field, step into the throw and throw a perfect ball to Rob Davis. Rob did a great job tracking it and making the catch. But it starts upfront, you know, they're going to blitz you. They're going to blitz us week in and week out on third down and six to eight. The Bengals did, and we picked it up pretty well. Dwayne did a great job with the protection and standing in there. It's not easy to stand in there, stick your foot in the ground and throw a 55-yard pass with people coming at you. I was impressed by that."

 

On T Morgan Moses, RB Shaun Wilson and DL Tim Settle:

"Yeah, Shaun hurt his ankle there late on the punt return. Settle just has a sore knee; I think he'll be OK. And Morgan has a slight hamstring pull, but he'll be fine."

 

On WR Terry McLaurin not playing tonight:

"McLaurin, he went up for a ball last week, landed on his tailbone – the back area. It was a little sore. He probably could have gone today, but we kept him out."

 

On if the injury to McLaurin occurred before the Cleveland Browns game:

"No, the Cleveland game was a healthy scratch. This game was just a bit of a soreness. Nothing major at all. He’s going to be fine."

 

On QB Dwayne Haskins Jr.'s performance:

"I mean, Dwayne showed flashes. There are a couple balls he rushed a bit. He missed a couple shots, he rushed a little bit, didn’t put enough air under there. This is all a process for him. It's good to see him get out there and take hits here and there. Have him do the protections, get the running game going and calling the plays. The presentation that I’m interested in right now is how he handles himself, how he controls the players in the huddle with the leadership qualities that he has. It's fun to watch him right now. He’s a work in progress, and he’s going to continue getting better and better."

 

On LB Cole Holcomb not playing:

"He had a little bit of an AC-joint injury. That’s one of those things that if you just keep pounding, it's just going to continue to be there. We want to make sure we get that thing full strength before he goes out there. Hopefully, he’ll be ready for Atlanta [Falcons] next week."

 

On the challenge on the offensive pass interference call:

"I think I would have challenged them both again. The first one, offensive pass interference, the one on Cam [Sims], he was getting a bump and run. When you’re pressed, you are allowed to release. Trying to get an inside release is legal. They didn’t see it that way. The second one on Kelvin [Harmon], they called a push off on Kelvin. When it was in the air, I thought it was defensive pass interference which they did not believe that was. Like I said, that’s something we’ll have to talk about upstairs. I thought it was clear on the sideline. I saw it, so it was easy to see. I didn’t have to have a lot of discussion with people upstairs on that one. Unfortunately, I was wrong. We just have to be very careful because they won’t overturn it if it's not clear. The one to Kelvin – the last one – I didn’t think was that clear, so we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s a tough deal."

 

On QB Colt McCoy:

"With Colt it's all dependent on his leg. Starting isn’t even in the equation right now until he’s healthy. Once I get the word that he is one hundred percent healthy, then we’ll start talking about the competition and he’ll have to get back in there. I know what Colt is and what he is all about. He knows the offense, but let's get him healthy."

 

On how Haskins Jr. handled the mechanics:                                                                       

"Good, things to clean up. There are some things that we just got beat in protection. Their defensive end made a good play on him on the sack fumble. It was a good rush. He was early on the ball and our tackle Donald Penn and the cadence got kind of messed up a bit. But overall, there’s a lot to like and a lot to clean up as it is every week."

 

On if Haskins Jr. is making similar mistakes to last week:

"These are different plays and different defenses, so you’ll never make the same mistake twice. You might overthrow a ball since things happen, but for the most part, I don’t think there’s anything scheme-related that he messed up. So we’ve got to get him protected better, and we have to be in better down and distance for goodness sake. We had second and 20 again about 13 times. There’s no quarterback that has a chance in those down and distances. So hopefully next week, we’ll get him in there and get a good drive together and get some positive down and distances and friendly for the play caller."

 

On his comfort level with the quarterback situation:

"I’m good right now. I think we have a lot of time still to get these guys back and recover. We'll come back Sunday ready to roll – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. And then we still have another few days before our last preseason game. I like where we’re at and where we’re headed. We're in good shape. We just have to get some things shored up with the offensive line for sure. You know, get Jordan Reed back out there, get Terry [McLaurin] back out there. I think offensively we'll be OK."

 

On LB Montez Sweat playing his first game and playing with the first team: 

"Well, it’s a rotation. I think all those defensive ends, outside linebackers, they're outside linebackers in base and then they're defensive ends in the sub defense. So they’ll continue to rotate – [Ryan] Kerrigan, Sweat, Ryan [Anderson], [Cassanova] McKinzy. That's the way you have to do it to keep them fresh. Same with the defensive line."

 

On Sweat's performance:

"I have to watch the film. I didn’t totally watch him. I watched the big picture – offense and defense – but I saw a couple good get-offs. I think he probably needs to get in a little bit better shape. He missed some time there with his calf injury. It think that's one thing he'll probably have to get working on. I think for his first game, he did pretty good."

 

On WR Robert Davis:

"Robert’s a hard worker. He's strong and physical. We liked what we saw last year before his injury. Then he came back and worked extremely hard to get himself ready for this year. He's competing his tail off with those other big guys [Kelvin] Harmon and obviously [Brian] Quick and Cam Sims. It's a heck of a battle."

 

On giving up a punt return touchdown for the second straight week:

"We have to look at the punt number one. How was it? Was there any hang time? Was it just a line drive to [Alex] Erickson, who is a heck of a punt returner. Then we have to get off blocks and we have to spread the field out and pursue and make somebody make a tackle. Tress [Way] was in position to make a tackle, but I told him if he tries to make a tackle and gets hurt, we're going to have a problem. So, he ran out of the way by my orders. We have to look at everything. The coaches do a great job out there. [Special Teams Coordinator] Nate [Kaczor] will do a good job of checking it out and getting them better."

 

 

 

 

REDSKINS QUARTERBACK CASE KEENUM

 

On the team's performance:

"I thought we did some good things. Again, I think there were some negative plays that kind of stopped our drives. There are always going to be some plays I want back and there's a few plays that I definitely want back, but I thought we did well. We popped some runs, got Adrian [Peterson] loose there early and then I think a few plays that we were close to kind of getting in a rhythm and that's just kind of preseason. You get to that point where you're almost there and then you're out of the game, so it's tough. You kind of get left wanting more, but I'm excited. I think we're better than last week and I'm looking to be better next week."

 

On his comfort level in the offense:

"I feel really good. I really do. I think it's been really good with [Head Coach] Jay [Gruden] and [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin [O'Connell] and just the communication there. It has continued to get better and better and we're past certain points and we're able to talk more in-depth on certain plays and I love the way they look at defenses and I love their philosophy. So, I think the more on the same page I can get as them, the better and I think every day we're taking steps in the right direction."

 

On how much easier it makes his job when the team has speed at the tight end position:

"Guys like that, it's matchup nightmares for guys on the other team. Just finding ways to get those guys in space, mismatches and finding the right leverage in man coverage, finding the weaknesses in zone, the coaches are doing a great job of doing that and we haven't really gotten into any real game planning yet. It's just kind of putting some stuff together on the fly and I thought tonight we did some good stuff and put some good stuff on film, but I think we got some good stuff to learn from as well."

 

On playing with RB Adrian Peterson: 

"I've handed off a lot in my career to a lot of great backs and it is different, it is a different feeling when you hand it off to him. I'm going to have to get used to it, I'm going to have to get on my horse because he is on his horse early. That's all I have to say about that."

 

On if his progress thus far gives him optimism about where he can get between now and Week 1 of the regular season:

"I think so, yeah. We don't want to be at our best right now. Going into games I want to be perfect and I want to make all the right checks and all the right reads and all the throws and go score touchdowns every time, but this is a process. That's what training camp is about, it's about learning, learning your guys and we've got a lot of guys that can do some special things. I feel like we haven't even tapped into even a portion of our potential that we have as an offense."

 

REDSKINS QUARTERBACK DWAYNE HASKINS JR.

 

On his first NFL touchdown:

"It was exhilarating. I enjoyed it. It was fun. I will never forget it. It was exciting for me."

 

On what stood out about the touchdown play:

"I was more proud of what happened pre-snap than anything. I did a hard count, had rotation late and flipped the protection. I still got hit but Rob [Davis] did a great job of getting open. The corner and cover safety was low. I saw him back pedaling pretty slow and told him that I was throwing deep. He caught it and scored a touchdown. I wasn’t worried about getting hit. After he scored, I was excited."

 

On how that play works in practice:

"We have tried it but I don’t think we have hit on it yet, at least I have not hit on it yet. I know Case threw a couple of them. I haven’t gotten that play too much but I am glad that I got it."

 

On the rest of his night aside from the touchdown pass:

"It was good. I was just trying to move the ball and make smart decisions. Don’t put the ball in harm's way. I did great with my protections today and didn’t miss at all. I’m just trying to put it all together and get better every day."

 

On avoiding mistakes:

"No, I just play. I am not really conscious on making the same mistakes twice. Before the game I am like, ‘Alright, I am not going to throw two picks again.’ That is what I thought and I didn’t, so that was good. When I play, I just play. I don’t think about making the same mistakes twice or just missing a throw. I just let it go and move on to the next one."

 

On the improved protections:

"I think I was a little more settled down this week than I was last week. Just the first time playing in the NFL and that stuff. I felt like I was more in my element today."

 

On playing in FedExField for the first time:

"It was good. There was a lot of sevens [jerseys]. Might have been [Joe] Theismann, I don’t know [Laughs]. It was good to be home. My parents came to the game and it was good to see them. It is great to be back."

 

On the reaction after the TD:

"I was hyped. I don’t really get too excited too often but when I throw a touchdown pass I like to go off a little bit."

 

On if practice helped him make adjustments tonight:

"The reason why I did that was because I wanted to be closer to what the coaches were looking at. I play quarterback, I love the position and I felt that me sitting behind the quarterback during practice made it more realistic for me to get my own mental rep. That is what I learned at Ohio State. Just from listening to the play, watching the play, knowing what I am reading and where the ball should go each play. It is just like getting the aspects of it. That is probably why I threw a touchdown to Rob [Davis] today because Case got the play in practice, I saw it, took the mental rep down and executed it myself."

 

REDSKINS WIDE RECIEVER ROBERT DAVIS

 

On the touchdown he scored: 

"Honestly my read on that was to clear out the deepest defender, if I run past him he throws up the ball, if he stays over the top, we got other reads that we go to. He did a good job of giving me a chance to make a play for the team."

 

On the offensive pass interference calls: 

"The refs made the call, we just got to continue to play. I feel like Kelvin did a great job battling for the football today. Calls are calls. We move on and go to the next play."

 

On scoring two touchdowns in two weeks:

"It is a blessing from God man, can’t even explain it. I am firm believer that Christ can work miracles and I feel like He’s really got His hands on me right now. I am just excited to be out here playing with my boys again and continuing to try and get better every week."

 

REDSKINS CORNER BACK JOSH NORMAN

 

On defense’s energy and communication:

"We were flying around, guys out there making plays. They’re hungry, you can see it. First day out."

 

On encouraging signs from the defense:

"Yeah, guys flying to the ball, 93 [Allen] was everywhere, shoot. As soon as I looked up he was there. Look around 94 [Payne] is there. Shoot, they lost weight."

 

On the defense meeting expectations:

"Guys first day out, fresh out. Like for real for real, they were hungry, you could tell. They were tired of going against our offense, granted, they wanted to come and make their presence felt. Today, they really did that and they showed what we can become. We always say we want to attack the ball. We want to attack whoever has that ball and go straight for them, no matter if it’s in the air or on the ground. With guys running to the ball, great things happen." 

 

 

 

 

POOL REPORT

 

Q: Can you walk me through what exactly was the reason for the offensive pass interference call on Kelvin Harmon? What constituted the pass interference there?

Answer: Well, we're not going to talk about what constituted it, because what happens here is the ruling on the field was offensive pass interference. And remember in replay, we start with the premise that the call on the field is correct. And unless we have clear and obvious visual evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, we will not do that. In this situation, there was not clear and obvious visual evidence to overturn it, so we let the ruling on the field stand.

 

Q: What exactly did you all see to call the pass interference? What constituted pass interference on that particular play?

A: So in this situation, the ruling on the field was that the offensive player comes up with a reception. That's your ruling on the field. We look at the ruling on the field, and then the defense challenges that there was offensive pass interference. We look at the play, we look at all the TV angles, and we ruled that the offensive player significantly hindered the defensive player in his attempt to get to the football. Therefore, we put a flag on the ground for offensive pass interference.

 

Q: How did you guys determine that the offensive player hindered the defensive player on that play?

A: There was clear and obvious visual evidence that he pulls him to the ground and significantly hinders him. There's clear and obvious evidence that he pulls him back, and he significantly hinders the opponent's opportunity to make a play on the football.