Redskins head coach Jay Gruden spoke to the media following Thursday’s practice. Below is a transcript from the press conference.
On the injury report:
“Barry Cofield went full today. He’s recovered from the illness. Jason Hatcher did not participate. Roy Helu was limited with his toe. [Brandon] Meriweather did not participate. Keenan Robinson did not participate. Kedric Golston was limited. DeSean Jackson was limited. Colt McCoy was limited. Morgan Moses, we had to put him on IR, Lisfranc injury to his foot. Will Compton was full. Chris Baker was limited. He hurt his toe a little bit today in individual period.”
On the latest at the quarterback position:
“Well, we are still waiting on full clearance for Colt [McCoy]. Colt had a good day today and so long as he goes through the proper, necessary precautions to make sure he gets cleared, Colt will be the starter. But he still has the process that he has to go through.”
On if wanting to evaluate a quarterback factors into the decision about which player will start:
“Yeah, we’ve had looks at all three quarterbacks and based on what we have seen out at practice for the whole training camp and offseason and the game situations, right now we feel like Colt is in the lead. So if he’s healthy and gets a full clean bill of health then he will be our starter Sunday.”
On if the decision about Colt McCoy will be made today:
“Tomorrow he is going to see a doctor, one more doctor and hopefully he will be cleared up.”
On the plan if McCoy isn’t cleared:
“Robert [Griffin III].”
On when McCoy will see the doctor:
“Tomorrow, just a precautionary thing to make sure everything is good and there is no risk of any injury, but it looks pretty positive right now.”
On when he will know who will start:
“I’m saying right now so long as he gets what we think is going to happen, it’ll be Colt.”
On if the mobility of McCoy’s neck looked better today:
“Yeah, he looks good today. He looked fine today.”
On if he has to do anything to prevent players from not playing their hardest:
“I really don’t think it’s an issue in pro football, I really don’t. It’s such a competitive game. There’re so many things that are on the line, not just for this year, for next year, for players’ contracts for future stability as far as the player is concerned. I don’t think there’s any way a player can walk out on a football field with a helmet on, have a guy line up against you and pack it in. I think the competitive spirit comes out in the players and you have got to compete. The Giants, a similar situation. They’re not playing for the playoffs. Both of us are in the same boat and I think both teams are going to go out there and compete against one another. That’s what football is all about, and that’s the only way you can play it.”
On if he should play Robert Griffin III “to see where he’s at”:
“He’s right here. I know where he’s at. He’s right here [laughter]. We’ve seen a lot of him, and if he gets another opportunity to play – which could happen; it could happen as soon as the first quarter of this game, it could happen next week, I don’t know – but our decision is to go with Colt and see how he does. The rest of it will take care of itself.”
On the importance of getting the running game going Sunday:
“That’s going to be very important. Like I said before, the negative plays. Eliminate the negative plays. Far too many negative plays on first down, the penalties – all that – then we have got to convert on third down. So, if we can maintain a couple drives… when you go three, four and out, it puts the defense in a bind and it doesn’t give you the chance to run some plays. I think we only had the ball for 20 plays in the first half against the Rams, which really didn’t allow us to get anything going. Then the third quarter, we had the ball for three plays, and then we were down 17-0 next time we got the ball. There was really no chance for us to get the ball, the running game going because of our inability to A) convert on third down, and B) have successful plays on first and second down.”
On if he is hopeful about getting injured starters back this week:
“Yeah, I’m hopeful. I hope for a lot of things around here. These injuries, man, it’s a tough deal, man. I have every bit of trust these players are doing everything in their power to get themselves ready to go. But, if they can’t go – I know Keenan’s working very hard in the training room to try and get going. Same thing with DeSean and same thing with all these guys – Brandon Meriweather and Roy Helu. They’re doing everything they can to get ready, and they want to play. But, if their bodies won’t let them, they won’t let them.”
On how he would describe the team’s current state:
“3-10. That’s a big mess, no matter where you are – Washington or all the other teams that are having losing records right now. It’s not a good situation. Coaches put a lot of time and effort into this thing – GMs and all that. You want to see success and we haven’t witnessed a lot of success here lately. But, it’s our job to keep coaching, try to get this thing turned around, and try to create a stable environment here, an environment that is conducive to working and learning and trying to get the best out of our players. Results may not show right now but hopefully in the future with hard work and preparation they will.”
On what wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. adds to the Giants’ offense:
“Well, he’s just a weapon that you have to deal with all the time. He’s got a lot of targets after him. He’s excellent obviously when the ball is in the air and can make acrobatic catches. He can run, and he’s one of the top rookie receivers – one of the top receivers in the league right now. So he has to be dealt with. So, that just opens up things for their tight end and their other receivers who are pretty good too – Rueben Randle – then you start clouding him and putting people over the top and they hand the ball off and try to pound you. So they have a good combination going right now in New York on offense where if you play two safeties and protect against the big plays, they’re able to run the ball with their running back, and they do a good job of that. So, it’s going to be important for us to be able to stop the run with two-safety looks and be able to stop the pass with a one-safety look because Eli does a good job of recognizing defenses and getting them in good plays.”
On if he looks back on the offense gaining 500 yards at Philadelphia in Week 3:
“We have seen glimpses of what this offense can be. We really have, and that is what’s most frustrating about it. When you put up 500 yards against a good defense on the road and you’re able to be a Top 5or Top 6 offense over the first nine or 10 weeks, you know you have the capabilities to make big plays. But what really shot us in the foot was self-inflicted interceptions or what have you – drive-stopping penalties. It’s just frustrating, and we just have got to keep coaching up and believing in what we do and try to get our players to execute at a high level. When plays are there to be made, we’ve got to make them. We have got to do a good job as coaches to try to get our players in those positions, and just keep working.”
On tackle Morgan Moses’ injury:
“It was just a fluke thing. He was just pass setting in one on ones and he said he thought he felt his shoe come off his foot and, you know, he tore it.”
On when the injury occurred:
“Yesterday.”
On how disappointing it is to lose Moses during his rookie season:
“Yeah, very disappointed. We wanted to see a lot of him here the last three weeks but you know he’s still got a bright future obviously. I think it was a good learning experience for him this year. He was able to get a good start against San Francisco. He played some minutes here and there. I think the thing moving forward with him is try to get him on one side and let him play. He just has got to get healthy first.”
On if there is a corresponding roster move for Moses:
“Not yet. We will do that here shortly.”
On if Moses’ injury will require surgery:
“Yes.”
On how he divided the reps between the quarterbacks:
“Colt took the majority of them and then Robert got the rest and Kirk [Cousins] kind of switched up the rest. But we got a lot of good quality offensive reps today. We did a very similar practice to yesterday where we did a lot of ones versus ones today. So, we were able to – instead of doing cards, we were able to run our offense against their defense. So it was good work for everybody.”
On if he saw any signs from McCoy that might indicate there is an issue with his neck:
“No.”
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