Jay Gruden Press Conference 11-19-2014
Quotes:
On the injury report:
“Did not participate today was Chris Baker; Shawn Lauvao, concussion; Jordan Reed, hamstring; and Trent Williams. And then limited was Trent Murphy.”
On the status of tackle Trent Williams:
“Like I said, it was not good enough for him to practice today, so we will see how he’s doing tomorrow, but he’s pretty sore. It’ll be a long road for him. But we’ll see. He’s a tough guy.”
On quarterback Robert Griffin III’s media session:
“I didn’t hear what he said, but … yeah, what the team needs is to focus on the team and focus on who we’re playing and not focus on this other stuff. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to put everything behind us. Early on in the season when I first got the job, I knew there was going to be a lot of questions about Robert, but I wanted to try to make this thing about the Redskins and not about him, and somehow we’ve made it more about him than about the team. That’s my fault. So the big thing moving forward is let’s correct everybody, not single anybody out and move on and do what we can do to beat San Francisco.”
On why he made his comments public on Monday:
“I think it was a mistake on my part. After a loss like that, we were very disappointed in the way we played and the question came up about how he played and all that stuff and I just answered it first thing that came to my mind. And sometimes the first thing that comes to your mind isn’t the smartest thing. It wasn’t the right thing to do on my part. Corrections should be made in-house with everybody involved. The play speaks for itself. The production on the field spoke for itself. I didn’t have to really elaborate on any individual fundamental things other than the team was not good enough, was not prepared enough, was not coached well – good enough – to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lovie [Smith] had their team ready to play more than I had my team ready to play and that’s a direct reflection on me. The whole production of the game – offense, defense, special teams, the blown assignments, the false starts, lining up wrong – that is a direct reflection on myself and the coaching staff and I’ve got to take responsibility for that.”
On Griffin III’s performance:
“It wasn’t great by any stretch by anybody, like I said. There were some things that I know Robert wished he could have done better. I wish I would have coached him up better, and there’s some things that we just have to figure out why he’s struggling with certain things and then figure it out and coach him up and get him ready because offensively, to score seven points any week with the offensive talent that we have is not good by any stretch. The first guy that gets looked at is the quarterback and the second guy is the offensive coordinator and of course the head coach. Both of us should be questioned equally. It takes everybody on a team to lay that goose egg and play as poorly as we did. And there are some things he can clean up and will clean up, but we have to get it done. We don’t have a lot of time and he’s at a stage right now in his career where we need to see improvements.”
On if tight end Jordan Reed injured the same hamstring as earlier in the season:
“No, it’s a different one.”
On long term planning at quarterback:
“I’ve said it before and it’s not just coach speak, but honestly we are planning on San Francisco right now. Once the season is over, we’ll take a long look at where we are as a football team at every position, not just the quarterback. And then we’ll make our decisions in-house and talk about them, but right now our only focal point can be on Coach [Jim] Harbaugh’s very tough San Francisco football team because [if] you start looking past anybody and thinking about 2016… The coaches have been let go after one year, two years, four years, you know? I’m not worried about that. I’m just trying to put a product on the field that this city, this team can be proud of and something that we feel like we can build off of for future years if I am here.”
On if he addresses his concerns with Griffin III and if Griffin III was recepetive:
“He’s receptive. Everything I say up here I’ve said to them before. I don’t drop any bombs, you know what I mean? I try to make sure that I communicate with the players before I come up here, and if I’m not happy with something and I say it up here, then the player will know about it before I come up here and speak to the media. We had just had our meeting and we went through everything, every little detail and got them corrected. So moving forward, you know we had a pretty good day of practice today and we have the future to worry about and the past is the past now. He has to be receptive of coaching. That’s what every quarterback does, every position player does. You know, our left tackle Trent Williams has to be coached. Our center has to be coached. Our outside linebackers have got to be coached on every minor detail and right now we’re not getting the results that we’re putting in for some reason. As a staff, we’ve got to make sure we give these players every bit of ammunition they need to perform on Sunday.”
On correcting mistakes as coaches:
“You talk about accountability all the time and the players have to have a sense of accountability also. They have to listen to the snap count. We have to change the snap count offensively. Gerald McCoy and Michael Johnson and those guys, if they get a bead on your snap count – and this week it’s Justin Smith and Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks – if they get a bead on your snap count, you have no chance to block them. So if we don’t change up the snap count, we’re asking our linemen to do the impossible. There is some sense of accountability we have to demand from our players and they have to demand it from themselves. Moving forward we’ve got to make sure we nip that in the bud and do the best we can to listen to the plays and listen to the snap count and avoid those silly mistakes.”
On wide receiver DeSean Jackson saying he had discussed visiting the San Francisco 49ers in free agency last offseason:
“Well, there’s a reason why we didn’t let him go. We wanted to make sure we get the deal done. Bruce Allen really had everything to do with that. The agent for DeSean [Jackson] and Bruce [Allen], they worked out the details. I had very little to do with it. The only thing I said was ‘Let’s not let him out of here because if we let him go there’s a good chance we won’t get him back.’ So Bruce did a great job of not letting him out of the restaurant or wherever they were and all the other guys that were involved did a good job.”
On the changes in Griffin III since 2012:
“Yeah, I mean back then is back then, and obviously having injuries for the type of quarterback he was might have had some impact. He had eight- or nine-hundred yards rushing in 2012. But quite frankly we haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1991 and that’s where we’re trying to get. We’re not trying to go 10-6 and get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. I don’t like to use a first round exit as a benchmark for where we need to be and where we need to get back to. So there’s still a lot of improvement we could’ve done from that season there from the film that I watched and a lot moving forward. But Robert has to continue to evolve as a quarterback. As a young quarterback, all these quarterbacks are going through it. We have such high expectations for these kids coming out of college that they should be at the same level as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers. It’s not fair. They’re going to have some growing pains, they’re going to have some struggles from time to time against good defenses, good pass rushers, and they’re just going to have to learn with the position. But it is a results-oriented league and if you don’t get the results, you’re going to be subject to criticism and subject to not playing a whole lot longer.”
On advice he has received from the front office:
“Well, we’re on the same page… Like I said, we just want what’s best for our football team moving forward, and we want to try to squash all the Twitter and all the media and all the things that got twisted around. Whatever happened, happened. I handled it the way I handled it. There’s nothing I can do about it. But we’re all together on this moving forward that we want to stay together as a team. And, like I said, I’ve made this too much about one guy, and it’s not about one guy. It’s about this team and this franchise, this organization, and that’s unfortunate. And moving forward, we’ve got to make sure we talk about us as a group – offense, defense, special teams, organization – and not make it so much about one person. But we’re on the same page right now.”
On if he is concerned his remarks could affect his relationship with Griffin III:
“You have to be coached, No. 1, and we’re going to coach them. And if you make a mistake, we’re going to coach you. We’re going to tell you about it and correct it. And, as far as the confidence is concerned, if you have a problem with being corrected and being coached, then you’re not going to gain a lot of confidence because you’re not going to be very good. The whole thing about what we do here – we want it done the right way, and we’re going to coach it the right way, and if you do it the wrong way, you’re going to be told about it. And if you can’t handle that, then you can’t handle being a pro. But he’s a pro, and he can handle the criticism. He can handle getting coached. He knows when he makes a mistake, he sees it. We communicate and we move forward. The big thing is for a quarterback is to make sure you don’t make the same ones again and put them behind you and move on.”
On if he is comfortable with the work Griffin III does to learn the position:
“He does what he’s supposed to do. He could do more probably, but, you know, with this day and age with the iPads that you have and the ability to take things home, I feel like he does a lot at home. He’s got every blitz, everything on his iPad and all the practices on his iPad, and he studies and watches himself and he comes back with some ideas the following day. Whether he’s here or not, there’s a lot of work you can do, and [offensive coordinator] Sean [McVay] sends him e-mails, and there’s a lot different ways to communicate now than it was back in the 80s when Steve [Young] played… So I really think that he works hard at it – that was not a jab at Steve [laughter] – but he puts his work in, in my opinion.”
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