Press Release: #REDSKINS QUOTES - Gruden, Manusky

[TK]

September 19, 2019

Head Coach Jay Gruden

 

 

 

 

 

Opening statement:

“Did not participate were [CB Quinton] Dunbar, knee, [DL Jonathan] Allen, knee, [TE Jordan] Reed, concussion, [QB Colt] McCoy, leg, [LB] Cassanova McKinzy, hip. Limited were [T Morgan] Moses, knee and [CB Fabian] Moreau, ankle.”

 

On if Allen suffered a setback during his recovery process:

“No, no setback. Just thought it was better for him to stay in today and rest it and see how it is tomorrow.”

 

On Reed’s status:

“This is all a part of the process of recovering from this ordeal. We’re just taking it very slowly, making sure he goes through the right process to make sure it’s right, before he goes back on the field.”

 

On if Allen had the day off because the team is playing on Monday night:

“No, he had a significant injury. We’re making sure he’s going to be O.K. before he starts individual drills in practice. We thought today, another day of rest for him would be better suited for him than going out and practicing.”

 

On his impressions of Chicago’s offense:

“They’re versatile. You go back to last year and they’re very effective in what they did. They have some good playmakers on the outside. [WR] Allen Robinson obviously and then they have [WR] Cordarrelle [Patterson] who is a very explosive guys, can line him up in the back field with jet sweeps. Obviously, [RB] Tarik Cohen is a heck of a player. The quarterback can move, run zone reads. [RB David] Montgomery is a heck of a rookie from Iowa State. Very solid football team. They can hit you in a lot of different ways. That’s why they are effective.”

 

On if CB Aaron Colvin will play in CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie’s place:

“Could be, yeah. We’re hoping Fabian [Moreau] can get better and be a part of that as well.”

 

On who will play the outside cornerback position opposite Norman:

“Fabian [Moreau] most likely, we’ll see. [CB] Jimmy [Moreland] played outside as well last week.”

 

On Moreau’s growth:

“We think he’s ready, he played a lot last year as a starter. He did a good job. We think he’s a developing prospect, got a great skill set. He can run, he’s physical, he’s learning the defense. I think he’s more comfortable with terminology and the adjustments that we have to make, but the most important thing is [that] he can get in your face and can run with you. It’s hard to find that type of player. He’s got a lot of confidence, just got to get his ankle healthy and hopefully it’ll be ready Monday night. If not it’ll be ready the following week.”

 

On Moreau’s time table:

“No, nope. No long-term. Just limited today.”

 

On what stands out about Chicago’s defense:

“I think they’re the total package. I think their base defense is solid, they are big up the middle, speed on the outside and obviously their linebackers can really run and like I mentioned before, their safeties are pretty good as well. They don’t really have any glaring weakness. You can’t just say, ‘Oh let’s go attack this.’ [You can] throw the ball down field, but you have to have time and they have great pass rushers. They held Green Bay to one touchdown on a free play where [QB] Aaron [Rodgers] just kinda threw it up for grabs because they knew [Chicago] had 12 guys on the field. Basically just threw a Hail Mary to [TE Jimmy] Graham and scores a touchdown. Last week against the Broncos they played some pretty good defense as well. So we’ll go out and challenge them for sure and see how we do.”

 

On how LB Noah Spence looks:

“We’ve put him out there on scout team a little bit, done some one-on-ones with him. He can rush the passer for sure and now it’s a matter of, can we find package for him if ‘Cass’ [Cassanova McKinzy] can’t go. We’ll find a package for him on third down possibly. He does have skill as a pass rusher without a doubt, he was a first rounder, I believe, in Tampa or a low second, late first. He definitely has a skillset to rush the passer and now it’s a matter of, can we get him in on first or second down at times? Can we teach him a role on special teams? Just find a good role for him where he can feel good about playing on Monday night.”

 

On Spence’s playing time being dependent on McKinzy:

“Pretty much, yeah.”

 

On how the Bears defensive scheme impacts the offensive game plan:

“I think we have to still try to do what we do, without a doubt. Our plan will be altered a little bit based on who they have up front and on the outside, but still we have some run concepts that we like and we’re comfortable with, and we’re going to try and get by with them.”

 

On getting more out of WR Steve Sims Jr.:

“A little bit more, for sure. He’s an explosive guy. The problem is you take [WR] Trey Quinn out and Trey’s playing very well in the slot as well. You can put him outside at Z a little bit, but you’ve got [WR] Paul [Richardson Jr.] and [WR Kelvin] Harmon out there, you put him at X and you’ve got [WR] Terry [McLaurin] out there. So we don’t want to overload him right now. I think this is going to be a building process for him. Each week I think we’ll try and give him a little bit more and more, see how much he can learn as far as position flex. But right now I think you’ll see him staggered in and out of there.”

 

On Sims returning punts:

“Not right now, no. Yeah, he can do it.”

 

On if Dunbar will practice this week:

 “I don’t know. That’s up to [Quinton] Dunbar and the trainers.”

 

Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky

 

On the defensive struggles in the first two weeks:

“We’re coming out good and playing good and then all of a sudden we lag off. We need to play better each and every week. I think we have a lot of young players and I think, overall, just playing together is the biggest thing. We’ve got to coach better, we’ve got to play better and I think that’s the best thing that I could say.”

 

On what he can do as a coach to improve pressure:

“I think we have to get after the quarterback better, of course, with a 4-man rush, a 5-man rush, or a zero. From my standpoint, I think overall we’ve got to get into positions where we’re able to rush the quarterback in third down situations, especially third-and-seven-plus. We’ve got to get in those situations. It’s hard in third-and-one and third-and-twos to call a pressure because the ball is coming out so quick. So, across the board we’ve got to do a better job of getting after the passer with a little bit of pressure here and there and then ultimately trying to sack the quarterback.”

 

On issues concerning the cutback lanes in the run defense:

“I just think the linebackers have got to wobble a little bit back and forth. From our standpoint, we’ve got to coach it better and we’ve got to play it better because we knew what they were doing.”

 

On DL Jonathan Allen’s injury:

“It was a big loss. One of our starters, the captain of basically the defense, as well with [LB] Ryan Kerrigan. A guy that’s out there every day giving all his might every single play, playing hard. Even this past Sunday, I know we had three starters out, but I’m just saying we’ve got to play with the guys that we have. So, it’s important that we get him back and hopefully we will this week.”

 

On if he is surprised by the drop off without Allen:

“He is a big player from Alabama that has played in a lot of games and hopefully he’s up this week.”

 

On if having a lot of rookies and new players on the defense has limited his scheme:

“Overall, I think going through training camp, going through OTAs and going through all those periods that we went through and especially during practices for the first couple of weeks, we’re trying to get them in the basic defenses that we normally play. But then we throw a couple things that you actually want to get to and some of those guys are new, then all of a sudden they have to be put in a position where they actually have to play. So you have to cut back a little bit.”

 

On LB Montez Sweat:

“With [DL] Montez [Sweat], I think any young guy that comes into the league, they’re used to offensive tackles – they’re not used to Pro Bowl tackles. From that standpoint, he’s got to get off the ball, he’s got to make sure that he has a great angle to the quarterback and then try to defeat the tackles that he has. Overall, he’s got to get better, I’ve got to coach him better, [Outside Linebackers Coach] Chad [Grimm] has to coach him better, so we’ll see where it goes.”

 

On whether there's anything specific Sweat can improve on:

"I think that's the most important thing, getting off the ball. See the ball snap and then let it fly."

 

On whether S Landon Collins' skillset is more instinctual versus coachable:

"I think more than anything, Landon's an instinctual guy. He knows exactly where things are going, he has a feel for the game which is outstanding. I’ve got to put him into positions where he excels. I think across the board, I have not. I think we have to do a little bit of a job of trying to get him in those positions to excel."

 

On whether Collins' skillset is teachable to other players:

"Yeah, of course.”

 

On if he's surprised by the performance of defense in the second half of the first two games:

"Yeah, I think we start off good and then all of the sudden we kind of taper off. Each week it's always a different game. I always tell the guys we gotta play 60 minutes. It’s not 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, it’s 60 minutes and that's the way we’ve got to play. From the start to the finish, we’ve got to play that way."