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Skins Quotes 12/27/17: Gruden, Cousins, Spagnuolo

Boone

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December 27, 2017

Head Coach Jay Gruden

On injuries:
“Did not participate was [Martrell] Spaight with an illness, ankle; [Brian] Quick was also sick. [Ziggy] Hood, elbow; Robert Davis is in concussion protocol; Zach Brown, knee, Achilles, he's also sick; and Ryan Anderson, knee. Limited were Maurice Harris, back; Morgan Moses, ankle; Terrell McClain, toe; and [Kyle] Kalis sprained his ankle a little bit today.”

On if there is a chance that LB Zach Brown or LB Ryan Anderson could play Sunday:
“I would probably say Ryan, yeah, maybe. Zach, probably not.”

On Anderson's rookie year:
“Well, he's played behind, like I said, that whole rotation, that whole group. From a rotation standpoint, he's probably got the bare bones as far as reps being behind Ryan [Kerrigan] and Preston [Smith] and Junior [Galette] – obviously him being the fourth guy or third guy, however you want to spin it. I think overall, just learning the game and the grind of a 16-week season has been good for him. I just talked to him today and I really expect guys from year one to year two to make the significant jump. Get their feet wet year one, understand what it's all about, what the season's like, what they need to do with their body in the offseason to get ready for the second year. So, I think it's been a good experience for him.”

On if he has a strong enough assessment of the rookies to be able to project for next year:
“Yes… [Laughter] Yeah, I think with all the rookies that played, I think we saw obviously some good, some things we can coach up and make them better, but also getting to know them as people and what they can expect coming into next year and getting their body stronger, like I said, get themselves mentally ready and physically ready to play in the offseason. But we do have great evaluation on all of them. All of them got a chance to play, for the most part. Moving forward, we know what we have in the building and know what we have to work with and know what we need to work with them with – the skill set, strength and just their mental awareness of what's going on in the NFL and what the NFL season is all about because it's a heck of a lot harder.”

On evaluating the 2017 draft class as a whole:
“Yeah, it was good. They produced and they were fine, it's just a matter of draft classes usually shouldn't be judged until two, three, four, five, six years down the line, you know what I mean? So we'll see how they do next year. Like I said, these rookie players, the ones that make the significant jump from year one to two to three, then you know you really have something there. That's important.”

On how he's conveyed to QB Kirk Cousins that he wants him to return:
“Well, I'm sure he knows. I mean, he should know. I've made it clear. I've been working with him for a long time now and we've put a lot of time and a lot of work together with one another trying to get him better, and he's made me better. So that's worked out very well. Of course, he knows that we want him back, but at the end of the day, like I said, agents, everybody gets involved and he's got to make a decision for himself.”

On changes to today's practice:
“We just combined… Usually we'll have walkthrough then break for lunch and go back out to practice. Today we just went walkthrough right into practice. I wanted to give the coaches a little bit more time for third down and red zone and get the players out of the building about an hour earlier. That's all.”

On if it would “make [Gruden's] life easier” if there weren't questions about Cousins' return every year:
“It would not make my life easier. My life is only easier when you win a lot of games and Super Bowls. Until that happens, my life will never be easy. I'm going to coach the players that are here and just go from there. But every year, there's change in the NFL and it's something you have to expect and understand as a head coach. And you have to adjust with the players that you have and the coaches that you have in the building. We intend on doing that and hopefully it won't be wholesale changes, but sometimes that's necessary also.”

On if Cousins owes him anything:
“He doesn't owe me anything. Why would he owe me something? Kirk doesn't owe anybody… Kirk's done a lot on his own. You know, as a professional quarterback, they work extremely hard and what you put into it is what you're going to get out of it. And he's put a lot into it. Some players put less into it and you see they get less out of it. But Kirk's put so much into making himself a great player that he's made himself who he is. We just try to give him information to help him succeed along the way and surround him with good people. And he's made people around him better in turn and made me better, made other coaches better, and also made some players around him better. It's worked hand in hand.”

QB Kirk Cousins

On how he feels about his future with the organization with the year almost being over:
“Yeah, I think that the key is that the year is ‘almost' over. The year is not over. So my focus is on the Giants, just as it has been every single week all season long. Nothing has changed. Part of the reason that I am doing that event in Fairfax January 5 is to take the necessary time to answer these kinds of questions, talk through it and give it its due diligence. Until we finish with the Giants, I don't really feel a need to go there. I think that we can focus on – as we have all season –the next opponent and beating the Giants and try to finish right. And then there will be plenty of time to go through all those different angles.”

On if he looks at the future of the Redskins differently than he did at the beginning of the season:
“I think, again, I'm looking at the future as Sunday against the New York Giants. That's really where my future is right now and when we finish that game, get on the flight home, have a chance to decompress and have conversations, then we will be able to talk. That's where Friday, January 5's opportunity should be more helpful for all of you to hear insight and what I'm thinking and where my mind is at. We have got enough to focus on with the Giants this week, as we have every week all season long. We do that and it will be a much better feeling coming away from the season winning the final three games, but if you lose the last game, it stings for a while.”

On the balance of being honest and trying to say the right thing:
“Yeah, it is a tricky balance to walk. That's a great question. I think for the most part though there is a way to communicate effectively and clearly while still being careful. I think for the most part we have been able to do that. As I've said many of times, this league changes so quickly, circumstances change, that it can be hard to ever be held to something that you say because things change, opinions change and you never know what the next week or month may bring. But I do desire… You know, the fans are what this league what it is. If we didn't have the fan support, it wouldn't be what it is, so I want to make sure there is direct engagement there with our fan base as opposed to being from a distance, having a middleman or never really engaging them. I think it's just a unique, cool opportunity and I want to take advantage of it.”

On if he believes the job requires acting like a politician:
“I think everybody has to be a bit of one in all their jobs just to manage their role. But, no, I think everything I say I stand behind and I mean it. Why would you not want to be a part of a winning brand? Why would you not build for the future? In any place you are, why would you not think ahead and think about, ‘If I'm here, what do I want? The future that I am going to live into, what do I want that to look like?' So I think we all live in the present and we also look to the future at the same time trying to build a better place for whatever we are doing. But I want to be associated with winning and I think that is what it's about, is building that. I've talked about that going back – I think it was two training camps ago – talking about comparing it to the San Antonio Spurs and how that is really the goal. I don't need to be flashy. I don't need to be someone with a lot of hype. I don't need to be someone who gets a lot of articles written about them in August. I want to be somebody who has substance and who has a lot to him and people see say, ‘He does things the right way and ultimately he wins.' That's what matters to me [rather] than just being a flash in a pan or having some initial excitement. I want to be somebody who lasts for the long haul.”

On if he will be “somebody who lasts” in Washington:
“[Laughter] We will see. I think that's where, again, this offseason we will have plenty of time to talk through it all. Hopefully in slower time of year when it comes to the NFL, you guys will have some content to cover as we go through.”

On what this game means:
“Well, if we lose it, it ruins my next two weeks. I want to enjoy those two weeks. I haven't been a part of a season yet where we won the last game. We made the playoffs [then] we lost. Then we went 3-13, 4-12 and last year lost in the last game. So I want to walk away from a season with a win, that way I can drive home, go back to west Michigan or Atlanta or wherever we are going and at least just feel good for a couple weeks before we then look at the big picture and move on. I think it makes a big difference. I think that flight home and the initial exit meetings in the next week or two, I think it makes a big difference in how you feel. Who would have thought that winning these last two games when, quote-unquote, we were done or it was meaningless, I mean emotionally around the building it makes a big difference. Coaches and players are all in a better mood. So that's why you want to win first and foremost. Then we want to get to 8-8, and I talked about that on Sunday, the importance of that.”

On being process-oriented and if he believes his process has improved this year:
“I do. Yeah, I do. I feel like I played really good football this year. Again, I don't know that I want to get into the big picture and summarizing the season. There will be plenty of time to do that in the winter, so we've got to still finish strong against the Giants. I think I improved with making plays off-schedule, moving in the pocket, finding ways to use my legs to get first downs, getting guys involved working with a different supporting cast this year – one with less familiarity going into the season than I'd had in previous years. I think all that, I was pleased that we were able to do it. A lot of that goes back to our coaches and their ability to game plan and scheme. A lot of it goes back to our scouting staff. As we had injuries, they brought in players who could play – who weren't just wearing a jersey, but they could actually help us. All those people made a big difference in my ability to still have a productive season.”

On if there was a point when he thought he would never start in Washington:
“I don't know that as it got closer to 2015 , I don't know that I said that. But at the end of 2012, that was my opinion, was ‘I'm never going to play here.' Robert [Griffin III] was a Pro Bowler. We won the division. He was Rookie of the Year and I think at that time, I said my best case scenario was to play really well in the preseason and then be traded and maybe get a chance somewhere else – much like a Matt Schaub had done behind a Michael Vick in Atlanta. That was where my mind was at the time, but then as we moved from there, then you never knew what could happen. Just stay the course and there's a lot of circumstances that you have no control over that end up impacting how your career goes.”

On the point when he realized he was capable of being the quarterback for this team:
“That's a great question. Again, maybe it's better on January 5 to talk through it a little more and tell my story a little more. The short answer would be that I had to convince myself that I could play. I wasn't a guy who walked in here and said, ‘I deserve to be a starter.' I think this was a unique situation, but I knew no matter where I was drafted, I probably was going to have to sit for a while and learn and I understood that. I think that's where having coaches that really communicated belief, told me to set my sights a little higher and even playing in ‘15 and ‘16 I think helped convince me of maybe what I was capable of or the direction my career could go. I've just never been a guy who had a lot of hype, had a lot of flash, going back to high school recruiting. People just – even my hometown, I don't think people said, ‘He's going to the NFL. He's going to Michigan State.' It was kind of like a, ‘Oh, wow. He got a scholarship to Michigan State. That's surprising,' or, ‘Oh, wow. He got drafted. Good for him. We'll see what he can do.' The expectations were always kind of less than what ended up happening and I think that's also created in me maybe not the highest of expectations for myself. As a result, I always say I'm living a dream and I feel very fortunate to be where I am because it certainly wasn't the expectation when I entered the league.”

New York Giants Interim Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo

On preparing for the Redskins' offense and QB Kirk Cousins:
“He's a headache. I say that as a compliment. Kirk's a terrific quarterback. I was just talking about him here with one of our people in the building and what makes it so difficult is not only is he talented, but he can get his offense in and out of a bad play and what happens then is that, you know, that's a quarterback that has the last say on a down. We make a call, he sees it, he can get out of something and get his team in a good play and he's done that to us a lot. I thought he had a really good game against us last time we played him and we've just got to try to find a way to make that not happen again.”

On if the Redskins' injuries at running back make them difficult to prepare for:
“In some ways, yes, but not really. We defend the scheme and I think that Jay [Gruden] does a great job in scheming, in developing schemed runs. And by that I mean, I'm sure he'll look at our defense and attack what he sees as a weakness. And I think he's got good enough quality backs to do that. If I go back to the last game we played… Am I saying it right when I say Perine? I wanted to make sure I pronounced it right. I was really impressed with him. Now I thought we did a good job in the first half but they found ways to hit the ball north and south in the second half and kind of caught us for a few runs – it was like four in a row or four in a series that really hurt us and got a drive going, I think resulting in a score. We have a great deal of respect for their run game. We know that they've faced some injuries. I am impressed with the [Kapri] Bibbs kid, coming in on third down, the way he catches the ball, I think he's pretty nifty and can make you miss. We've got to be concerned about that. And anytime you have a quality tight end and a number of quality wideouts, but a guy like [Jamison] Crowder, I think it can get very taxing for us as far as what we're going to call, who we're going to double and what we're going to do. Those guys are real weapons.”

On the situation with S Landon Collins and CB Eli Apple:
“The three of us had a great conversation this morning and it was productive and we're moving on. That's really about where it's at and I feel very comfortable about it.”

On if his time as interim head coach is like an “audition” to become an NFL head coach:
“You know, that question has been asked before. I'll be honest with you, I don't… I'm not trying to impress anybody, I'm not trying to politic, I'm not trying to audition. What I'm trying to do is coach a football team, win a game. I take it week by week, that's what I've learned in this business. I've worked for some great coaches in Tom Coughlin and Andy Reid and that's how they operated. They let the rest of it take care of itself, and quite honestly, I'm a man of faith, and I'm just leaving the rest of what happens after this season in God's hands.”

On if he thinks he would feel differently if he did not have previous head coaching experience:
“You're probably right. I haven't thought about that, but you're probably right. I mean, the experience of having been a head coach for three years and, you know, your eyes are open to more, you've kind of done it before – some of the ebbs and flows during the week of a head coach and what you have to be available for and to. I always used to. And all of that's been a blessing. I'm honored to be talking to you on the phone and be the head coach of the New York Giants right now going into the 16th game. I'd feel a lot better if we could've found a couple of wins in these past weeks but the goal doesn't change. We're just chasing that feeling of being in the locker room at the end of the game, an NFL game, and enjoying each other.”

On if he's given any consideration to starting QB Davis Webb this week:
“No, we're not going to start Davis Webb. He will be the two. I just talked to our press about that. Eli Manning is our starting quarterback and he will be. We will go into this game and try to win the game with Eli Manning.”




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