Jay Gruden Post Game Press Conference 12-7-2014
On the injury report:
“[Quarterback] Colt McCoy sprained his neck. We’ll get an X-ray, see how he’s doing and then [running back] Roy Helu [Jr.] has a great toe sprain.”
On if he thinks he has lost the team:
“Lost it? No, they’re playing hard. We just didn’t have anything good happening to us today. Didn’t make any plays really, offensively, and defensively, we tried to hang around there and then gave up a lead late – 17- nothing. It turned us into a one-dimensional football team and we’re not very good when that happens. I think for the most part these guys are trying, just got out-coached and out-played today.”
On why he didn’t play quarterback Robert Griffin III prior to the injury to McCoy:
“You know what, it’s no fun. I think when you start a game and there’s five minutes to go in the game and you’re playing against the Rams and it’s 24-0, I don’t think it’s right to throw another quarterback in there and throw him to the wolves. I think Colt wanted us to finish the drive and try to get something going positively at the end of the game – try to get a touchdown there at the end – and then he got hurt, but we’ll see where he stands next week… Third quarter, it was 6-0 at the half and then we gave up the eight-minute drive. They got a field goal and then we went three-and-out and punted and then they scored again to make it 17-0. We were trying to get some drives together and nothing really happened, unfortunately. We’ll relive the situation and look at the tape and see what went wrong.”
On how bad the loss is:
“You go on to next week is all you can do – continue to coach our players off this tape, find out something we can sink our teeth into offensively because today was not very good. We tried to get the running game going and we lost yardage and once again in the first half we stayed into a lot of third-and-longs and couldn’t finish anything. We just have to take a look at ourselves and try to get better. We have three division games left and we’ve got to finish out strong with our three division games is all we can do.”
On if he has an idea of who will start at quarterback next week:
“Well, we’ve got to look at Colt and see how his neck is doing and then look at the tape and see what happened as far as the production is concerned. You know, one of the reasons we took out Robert in the first place is lack of production on offense. We brought Colt in here and he did some good things last week and this week, same thing. No production, so to speak, but I’ve got to look at the film and try to make a judgment on the quarterback situation. All we’re trying to do… We’re all searching for answers in this building. We’re trying to find out who can lead us to victories and who can get this offense on a roll. That obviously is still to be determined.”
On if he feels like he is coaching for his job:
“I don’t. We took over this football team, and did the best we could in the offseason, I tried to get some holes filled and [we are] working hard to try to get some wins together here, but it hasn’t worked out very well. Obviously, we are 3-10. As a coach, you are judged on wins and losses and you know that going in. Whenever you sign a contract, you know that going in, that you are judged on wins and losses. All you can do is do what you believe in, try to motivate the guys and try to figure out a way to get victories in the NFL, and if you don’t, obviously, you are always subject to the owners making a change. That’s their right; they have that right. I’m just going to keep coaching the way I know how and not worry about it and do the best I can.”
On how he will individually move forward:
“We have to challenge our guys to compete. You know, last year was very similar when you watch the tape. As the season went on, things just got worse and worse. You go into the offseason and you have a lot of questions. I feel like we are… Obviously, we are going down instead of raising our level of play. That’s not good. We have to figure out a way to stop the downfall and figure out a way to raise, somehow, these last three games – try to get something positive going into next year. That’s all we can do as far as the coaching staff is concerned.”
On former Redskins linebacker London Fletcher’s pregame comments:
“I just got wind of that today. That’s unfortunate. I know that Coach [Defensive Coordinator Jim] Haslett has a ot of respect for London Fletcher, as we all do, as a football player and a person. That’s unfortunate it came out like that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. When you lose, you open yourself up to all kinds of scrutiny – Twitter, newspaper, whatever it is. You get what you deserve in football. When you lose, you deserve some of this. We put a lot of work into this game, a lot of effort, but it doesn’t show on gameday sometimes. You can never get too low in this game, I’ve learned, and you can never get too high. We’ve got to stay the course and do what we believe in – coach the way we want to coach and try to get these players better the last three weeks. That’s all we can do.”
On his assessment of the offensive line:
“Well, it’s a team game and it’s not just the offensive line. I know our backs gave up a couple more [sacks] and our tight ends gave up a couple more. And sometimes in the running game, it’s a point of attack with different people, and the backside guy. The thing that kills you on offensive is the negative plays. It’s one thing to gain a yard or two, but we’re losing four or we’re losing five and we’re losing seven and putting us in dang-near impossible down and distances for any quarterback. I don’t care who it is. We’ve got to figure out a way to eliminate these negative plays. Then, the third down-and- long, the stunts and all that stuff… It’s tough on any lineman, but there is no question from an offensive standpoint, there really isn’t a lot of positive we can pull out from this performance. Obviously, the line didn’t do great, our quarterback struggled, the receivers had a couple drops and we missed a couple protections with our backs. It’s back to the drawing board and we’ve got to figure out something that we do well, very well. Right now, that’s a struggle. [We were] trying to get the running game going and couldn’t do it, trying to get the quick passing game going and [had] balls batted. And obviously, we get third-and-long and try to get something going down the field and didn’t protect. [It was] tough calling plays out there today.”
On if he thought about putting Griffin III in the game early:
“The issue the first half was negative plays and we had so many third-and-longs, I didn’t think that [would] help there. Then, the second half came and then the flood gates opened. As a coach, you don’t want to be wishy- washy. When a guy has a bad game, you don’t just want to take him out and throw him under. You like to see guys finish what they started and see if they can turn it around. That’s the point about playing the [quarterback] position and [you] hope they [turn it around and] get something positive next week. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Colt hurt his neck and now we are back to the drawing board.”
On motivating the team for the final three games:
“They are pro football players. Anytime you get to face the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, you should be motivated. For a pro football player, it is exciting – a privilege to play this game. So if I have to motivate a pro football player to play football, then we need to get new football players. This is a great opportunity to turn it around, to get this terrible taste out of our mouth and move forward. That is the only spin I can put on this. We can’t dwell on the negative energy around us. We are going to focus on the New York Giants.”
On what fell apart for the team today:
“Third-and-long. We got down after the field goal and we started going three-and-out. By then, it was 17-0. We tried to pick up the tempo but the [Rams’ defense] rushed us pretty good. The Rams are a tough team and any team in the league is a tough team to be down [to] 17-0 at the half. We tried to get the passing game going but they do a pretty good job of rushing the passer. That is where is went wrong. This is a team you want to stay close to, where you have all your packages in – your play action, your boots, your running game. You get one dimensional against this team or any team, it’s going to be a struggle.”
On changing the culture in the locker room:
“That is something we are working towards every day – teach a sense of pride and work ethic to our players. We know this is not going to change overnight or tomorrow. We know this is going to be a process. Good draft, good free agents, getting the players in here, getting young players to talk well, learn how to study the verbiage, getting them to learn how to play, how to finish right. It’s a process and that is something we are going through right now and we are trying to change it. We try to stay consistent, stay demanding and to require more.”
On his optimism that he can turn the team into a winning team:
“Obviously, before the season started we had high hopes and then things happened to us. Now, we are where we are. I’m never going to lose confidence in what I am doing and what we are doing as a team and as a staff to get this team back on track. You’ve got to stick with the plan. Things happen in pro football and it’s going to be some rocky times. How we handle the rocky times is how we are going to get out of this faster. You will see how guys handle it today and tomorrow and the next day. You will see the guys who love football and who want to be here tomorrow. We want to find the guys who want to play and want to prepare. Not just when you are 13-0, but when you are 3-10. I find out a lot about people I work with when this happen. You’ve just got to continue to add people who want to play, want to prepare and [are] good people.”
On the fake punt by Tress Way:
“Yeah, he is not a running back but we tried to take a shot. We tried to get something going. It was fourth down-and-five and [Special Teams Coordinator] Ben [Kotwica] saw something where he thought the fake would be there. It was worth the shot and this was one Tress didn’t get. One of the few things he has [not] done all year.”
