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December 24, 2015
Redskins Park
Head Coach Jay Gruden
Opening statement:
"Did not participate was Perry Riley, foot. Limited was D-Gold [Dashon Goldson], rib, shoulder; [Jason] Hatcher, DeSean Jackson, Ryan Grant, Matt Jones, Morgan Moses and Josh LeRibeus. Then full [participation] was [Ryan] Kerrigan and everybody else."
On C Kory Lichtensteiger:
"Kory looks good. He looks like he's got the majority of his strength back. He's just now working on getting back into playing shape and all that stuff, so I would imagine by playoff time he'll be ready. We'll make that decision if it happens."
On T Morgan Moses:
"He's going to need the next couple of days. He really is. He did a limited basis today. Him and Josh [LeRibeus] both. Morgan is going to need a little bit more time, so we'll see how he does. I think he'll be good enough to dress and all that stuff, but we'll see how he does come Saturday night. Pregame warm-up and all that stuff will be a good test for him."
On Eagles QB Sam Bradford's progression:
"I think I mentioned that the other day. I think he's coming along. He’s obviously gaining a lot of confidence in what he's doing. I've said that before – it takes time and it takes repetitions for quarterbacks in new systems whether you're a veteran or not. I think he's just gaining more and more confidence. He's gaining momentum at the quarterback position as far as confidence in where to go with the ball in his receivers, his tight ends, obviously his backs. So he's playing a lot better."
On his level of confidence in T Ty Nsekhe:
"He played well in the second half of the game when came in for Morgan [Moses] last week. So we feel good about Ty. He's been here all season. He's been busting his butt and he'll have to step up if need be."
On who will play at safety if S Dashon Goldson isn’t available:
"Yeah, we'll talk about that. I think it would be a pretty significant injury for Goldson not to go, but we have [Kyshoen] Jarrett, we have [DeAngelo] Hall. Jeron Johnson has been practicing, so that's another option for us."
On if the players in the locker room are closer than they have been in the past:
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know if it’s because of the couches, but I just think it’s just the people in general. They get along pretty good down there — really overall. It’s a lot of good personalities mixed and they get along good. They have a lot of respect for one another. They play a little cards down there — whatever — but it is a close-knit group.”
On balancing mixing up coverages with making sure everyone is aligned before the snap:
“It’s a big issue is communication, and that’s going to be the most important word this week is communication – both sides of the ball, how we handle their fronts and their movement and defensively, how we get the calls and the coverages and the fronts and the blitzes, all that stuff. It’s got to happen fast. If we have to sub when they sub, we have to get in there, get lined up in there and get our calls in there, so it’s going to be very important.”
On why the team has opened up the offense in the past few weeks:
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. You know, one, depends on how the defense is playing you. If they’re loading up to stop the run then we want to try to throw the ball, obviously, and we feel pretty good about our protection plan. Obviously having DeSean Jackson back makes a big difference. Really, the big thing is trying to keep a defense off-balance and not being too predictable. I sat up here one week and answered the questions about when [Tom] Compton is in and when Ryan Grant is in, it’s 85 percent and that’s important. We have to understand what our tendencies are and we have to guard against that. We have to stay balanced and keep the defense off-balance and I think the last couple weeks have been very good in that regard. Now, it’s a matter of staying productive on first and second down. I think the most important thing that we’ve done is we’ve done very good on third down — whether it’s third and makeable, third and long — we converted a couple of them to keep drives alive and then we’ve been excellent in the red zone over the last two games. I think we’re eight-for-eight. With those two variables, I think that makes for a very good offense.”
On if there is a significance to possibly having a Week 17 game with no playoff implications:
“You know, I don’t know yet. I’ll worry about that after the game. You know, I try not to get too ahead of myself, by golly. I’m not going to even think about that. There’s a lot of issues involved there — you know, health of the football team, all that stuff you want to deal with and momentum. There are some things we’ll have to seriously think about, but let’s not put the horse before the carriage [laughter]. Is that the saying — carriage before the horse? Cart before the carriage? Something like that? You know what I meant [laughter].”
On how hard it is to avoid looking ahead:
“It’s easy. Just look at our road record the last two years, you know what I mean? We have to understand, one, we’re playing a very good football team at home. They have a very good defensive line, and offensively, they’re starting to find their way a little bit. It’s going to be a great game so it’s going to be very easy for us to stay motivated and understand the importance of each rep — each play — in this football game. These guys understand it. Nobody is looking ahead. We’re all looking at Philadelphia, no doubt. We’ve done a good job of that all year as far as staying focused on the task at hand.”
On the difference in the team’s ability to bounce back on drives that include a sack:
“I don’t know. There are less of them. We’ve had less sacks this year, obviously. I think last year we were in the fifties, which is unheard of. So I think the less sacks we have and some of the sacks they’re not as significant like eight- or nine-yard losses. Some of the sacks are like three- or four-yard losses so we’re still able to get the first down but you know, I don’t know. I just think our second down and long, if we do get sacked on first down, our second-and-long-get-back-on-track calls have been very good to get us back to third down and medium to make some plays.”
Redskins Park
Head Coach Jay Gruden
Opening statement:
"Did not participate was Perry Riley, foot. Limited was D-Gold [Dashon Goldson], rib, shoulder; [Jason] Hatcher, DeSean Jackson, Ryan Grant, Matt Jones, Morgan Moses and Josh LeRibeus. Then full [participation] was [Ryan] Kerrigan and everybody else."
On C Kory Lichtensteiger:
"Kory looks good. He looks like he's got the majority of his strength back. He's just now working on getting back into playing shape and all that stuff, so I would imagine by playoff time he'll be ready. We'll make that decision if it happens."
On T Morgan Moses:
"He's going to need the next couple of days. He really is. He did a limited basis today. Him and Josh [LeRibeus] both. Morgan is going to need a little bit more time, so we'll see how he does. I think he'll be good enough to dress and all that stuff, but we'll see how he does come Saturday night. Pregame warm-up and all that stuff will be a good test for him."
On Eagles QB Sam Bradford's progression:
"I think I mentioned that the other day. I think he's coming along. He’s obviously gaining a lot of confidence in what he's doing. I've said that before – it takes time and it takes repetitions for quarterbacks in new systems whether you're a veteran or not. I think he's just gaining more and more confidence. He's gaining momentum at the quarterback position as far as confidence in where to go with the ball in his receivers, his tight ends, obviously his backs. So he's playing a lot better."
On his level of confidence in T Ty Nsekhe:
"He played well in the second half of the game when came in for Morgan [Moses] last week. So we feel good about Ty. He's been here all season. He's been busting his butt and he'll have to step up if need be."
On who will play at safety if S Dashon Goldson isn’t available:
"Yeah, we'll talk about that. I think it would be a pretty significant injury for Goldson not to go, but we have [Kyshoen] Jarrett, we have [DeAngelo] Hall. Jeron Johnson has been practicing, so that's another option for us."
On if the players in the locker room are closer than they have been in the past:
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know if it’s because of the couches, but I just think it’s just the people in general. They get along pretty good down there — really overall. It’s a lot of good personalities mixed and they get along good. They have a lot of respect for one another. They play a little cards down there — whatever — but it is a close-knit group.”
On balancing mixing up coverages with making sure everyone is aligned before the snap:
“It’s a big issue is communication, and that’s going to be the most important word this week is communication – both sides of the ball, how we handle their fronts and their movement and defensively, how we get the calls and the coverages and the fronts and the blitzes, all that stuff. It’s got to happen fast. If we have to sub when they sub, we have to get in there, get lined up in there and get our calls in there, so it’s going to be very important.”
On why the team has opened up the offense in the past few weeks:
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. You know, one, depends on how the defense is playing you. If they’re loading up to stop the run then we want to try to throw the ball, obviously, and we feel pretty good about our protection plan. Obviously having DeSean Jackson back makes a big difference. Really, the big thing is trying to keep a defense off-balance and not being too predictable. I sat up here one week and answered the questions about when [Tom] Compton is in and when Ryan Grant is in, it’s 85 percent and that’s important. We have to understand what our tendencies are and we have to guard against that. We have to stay balanced and keep the defense off-balance and I think the last couple weeks have been very good in that regard. Now, it’s a matter of staying productive on first and second down. I think the most important thing that we’ve done is we’ve done very good on third down — whether it’s third and makeable, third and long — we converted a couple of them to keep drives alive and then we’ve been excellent in the red zone over the last two games. I think we’re eight-for-eight. With those two variables, I think that makes for a very good offense.”
On if there is a significance to possibly having a Week 17 game with no playoff implications:
“You know, I don’t know yet. I’ll worry about that after the game. You know, I try not to get too ahead of myself, by golly. I’m not going to even think about that. There’s a lot of issues involved there — you know, health of the football team, all that stuff you want to deal with and momentum. There are some things we’ll have to seriously think about, but let’s not put the horse before the carriage [laughter]. Is that the saying — carriage before the horse? Cart before the carriage? Something like that? You know what I meant [laughter].”
On how hard it is to avoid looking ahead:
“It’s easy. Just look at our road record the last two years, you know what I mean? We have to understand, one, we’re playing a very good football team at home. They have a very good defensive line, and offensively, they’re starting to find their way a little bit. It’s going to be a great game so it’s going to be very easy for us to stay motivated and understand the importance of each rep — each play — in this football game. These guys understand it. Nobody is looking ahead. We’re all looking at Philadelphia, no doubt. We’ve done a good job of that all year as far as staying focused on the task at hand.”
On the difference in the team’s ability to bounce back on drives that include a sack:
“I don’t know. There are less of them. We’ve had less sacks this year, obviously. I think last year we were in the fifties, which is unheard of. So I think the less sacks we have and some of the sacks they’re not as significant like eight- or nine-yard losses. Some of the sacks are like three- or four-yard losses so we’re still able to get the first down but you know, I don’t know. I just think our second down and long, if we do get sacked on first down, our second-and-long-get-back-on-track calls have been very good to get us back to third down and medium to make some plays.”