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Skins Quotes 7/29/18: Jay Gruden

Boone

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July 29, 2018

Head Coach Jay Gruden


On LB Josh Harvey-Clemons' ability to take on blockers:
"Yeah, we'll— of course – we'll continue to look at that. Once we get the pads on, play against other teams we'll see. But he is very long and very slippery – so to speak. He's about 230 pounds right now, he's losing a little bit of weight out here [in] the heat but he's doing a pretty good job. And, really, with the defensive line we have in front of him, they are doing a great job keeping the blockers off of him also, so that is very important, works hand to hand so those linebackers can flow sideline to sideline without getting guards up them right now. Playing against a team with a fullback, sometimes we'll have to take on a fullback, obviously, but for the most part our defensive line is doing a good job keeping them off."

On DT Jonathan Allen:
"Yeah, I think he is very comfortable with his weight, with his stamina, with his movement so, I think he is in a great spot. You know really, he is a very confident player, a very skilled player, he's got great hands, great strength, very hard to block in the running game, with any movement on him. He's is one of the reasons why Josh Harvey-Clemons and those guys can roam freely, because him and [Daron] Payne, [Matt] Ioannidis, and Ziggy Hood, and Phil Taylor [Sr.], those guys are doing a great job in the middle."

On CB Fabian Moreau playing cornerback position:
"We practiced him a little bit last year, tried to get him going to backup Kendall [Fuller] but now we have Orlando [Scandrick] here, Orlando [Scandrick] is regulated in that role. We obviously need somebody else in that role, [Greg] Stroman is getting a little bit of it, Danny [Johnson] is getting a little bit of it, Fabian is getting a little bit of it. So were working different guys in there and Fabian is one of them. The more versatility you can have at the cornerback position obviously the better chances you have to get on the field. Fabian knows that, even though he has only played defensive back for a short period in his career he is doing a great job as far as learning what we want to do and how we to do it."

On WR Paul Richardson, Jr. and Jamison Crowder's impact on the offense:
"Well those two guys are major contributors to our offense, Paul is our starting Z right now, that guy is a very important player, obviously in the passing game when taking the top off without a doubt, but he can run all types of routes. He and Alex [Smith] are just starting their process of getting to know each other. Jamison is a quarterback's dream as far of getting open in the slot and being a great target for him, a friendly target. He plays a lot bigger than his size. He has very long arms, very athletic. Those two guys are very important parts of the offense they all have their roles. Each play, each concept has its role. [The] Z, has a role, the zebra has a role, the X, the Y, the fullback, the halfback, whoever is in there they have their roles. We anticipate those guys doing a good job, Jamison always has, he is a great slot."

On T Morgan Moses and TE Jordan Reed :
"I'm very impressed with Moran. Morgan came out there and did a couple things, ran out there on a screen pass and had great movement. He looks in good shape. You know, I think, he feels good with his weight. He might be a few pounds here and there, but I think he'll lose that the more he practices. But he looks great to me. Jordan Reed is in and out of his cuts like he hasn't lost anything. I think it's just a matter of maintaining his strength and getting stronger and stronger where he feels absolutely 100 percentsure he can make cuts to his left, cuts to his right effortlessly without having to worry or think about it. I think he is well on his way. I think we could probably practice him now full go if we wanted to, but we just want to try to gradually build him up to where we're for sure he's ready to roll."

On C Chase Roullier's development:
"I was impressed with Chase last year. You know, you're not sure what you're going to get from a sixth-round draft pick, you know, from Wyoming. When Spencer [Long] went down, I think Chase had to fill that void, and he did a great job. You know, he broke his hand there for a little while missed some time too. You know, the center position is one of my biggest issues on this football [team] - I can never have too many centers. You know, because you can't function without one. Chase came in here and was a very important player for us, and he's learning. Coach [Bill] Callahan (Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line) has done a great job with him, and he's just going to continue to get better. You know, he's only in his second year, very limited playing time. I think with all these reps he's getting out here leading up to game day, I think he'll be a solid player for us."

On wide receiver reactions when he drops into zone coverage:
"They're scared [laughter]. I just try to give then looks. [It's] really for the quarterbacks' ball location really, inside, outside leverage is very important for the ball location. Receivers aren't that worried about me. I don't think. It's just fun to get out there and get a little exercise and try to challenge them, talk a little trash - that's my specialty."

On S D.J. Swearinger's role:
"Yeah, I think moving him around, once we lost Montae [Nicholson], he kind of - we had a defined role for him, and we still do - it's just losing Montae kind of hurt a little bit, you know. Because the experience those two were getting, the rapport together but D.J.'s role is defined without a doubt. I think he is doing a great job. He's a great communicator, very emotional player you know. Talk about talking trash, this guy is one of the best that I have ever seen. Pulling his helmet, yelling, ticking off the offense you know. He plays with great energy, knows the system very well. It's very important for him, Orlando [Scandrick], obviously Josh [Norman], Fabian, or [Quinton] Dunbar, whoever is out there they have to - along with the linebackers - we have to get the communication going. That's the one thing that can slow us up is lack of communication. That's the most important thing a defense can have. They have to be fundamentally sound, know where they're going, and D.J. is a big part of that for us to have success."

On T Trent Williams' knee injury last season:
"That was a bad injury, it was, and hats off to him for fighting through it because he saw what kind of injuries we had on the line and if we took him off the line for some of those games I don't know who would have played quite frankly. So, really just shows what kind of leader and what kind of toughness he has and still playing with that one leg, basically, he was still probably as effective or more effective than any tackle in the league. So, to get that thing fixed and to watch him rehab and get himself ready to play is just a testament to why he is the best tackle in the NFL."

On coaching QB Alex Smith:
"Oh, I think everything is what we thought, you know he's a great leader, he's receptive to any type of coaching you want positive, negative. He just goes with flow and does what he's asked to do. He's very good at what he does, very accurate with the football and makes good, sound decisions. He's just getting to know the offense, the terminology and getting to know the players around him right now. But, he's fun to work with, he and Colt [McCoy] are doing a great job, and Kevin [Hogan]. So, it's a great quarterback room, we're excited to have him and that position we know that is very, very important to the success of a football team and obviously over the last five years nobody has won more games than Alex other than [Tom] Brady, I think. So, it's a treat to have him."

On Reed's value to the offense:
"I think statistically you have to look at the games that he's in there compared to when he's not - I think it's probably different. But, he is a difference maker without a doubt to our football team. Tight ends and running backs are critical in the passing game if you want to have success. You can double receivers all you want too but it's very hard to double tight ends and hard to double backs and still have a run fit mentality and stopping the run. Jordan Reed is a dynamic player. He can run any route from anywhere, in the slot, in the corner, outside, split outside, creates matchup problems, gives us man-zone tips, and he can beat corners, he can beat linebackers, and he can beat safeties. So, it's hard not to throw him the ball when he's in there. That's how good he is."

On if there is clarity on the new rule about lowering the helmet:
"I don't know if an actual rule has been written. I know we've had a lot of talks about - we don't want to use that thing as a weapon without a doubt and I think that's pretty clear cut, you know. But, there are going to be circumstances where 'bang-bang' type plays, DB goes up, receiver goes down and tries to dip his head for contact and there's 'bang-bang' I'm concerned about. You know, Montae [Nicholson] is six foot three and it's going to be hard for him, sometimes, to lower his target that low without leaning with his head if you lower your shoulder. So there's going to be some issues there that I'm concerned about but, obviously were in the right direction as far as making an emphasis on using the helmet as a weapon and I think that were trying to teach that here and we've got a lot of video footage to show them. But at the end of the day I just hope that some of those plays that aren't intended for lowering your head as a target or a weapon are called and can cost you a game so hopefully, we just slow our roll and our clear with that rule."

On possibly starting the season with the same pair of safeties from the previous year:
"Very exciting, we've had a tough time here finding the safeties. You know, when I first got here we tried to get a veteran guy leader back there, I think it was Ryan Clark, and then the next year we tried to get Dashon Goldson, a guy that's played a lot and we tried to move DeAngelo Hall back there to try to get some kind of veteran leadership back there with the guys that can play. But now with D.J. coming back for his second year, Montae coming back for his second year, Deshazor [Everett] been here now two or three years so he's got some great experience with going out there. We drafted [Troy] Apke to develop into another safety. It's a great thing to have, you know, some experienced safeties back there. Now you can draft like Apke he can develop, be a great special teams core player for us also learning the system. [Kenny] Ladler is doing a good job. Fish [Smithson] is still doing a good job. So the safety position we feel pretty good about as opposed to years past where like, you know, we're holding on."

On playing quarterback in practice:
"Not anymore. I can't throw a ball from me to you right now with all the shoulder injuries [laughter] - and that's the truth."

On the depth at the center position:
"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do. Tony Bergstrom is a veteran guy that's played center and guard, and you know I think that back-up center has gotta be able to play multiple spot - center and both guards, you know. Because, if you dress seven on game day, that guy gotta be - obviously play both spots. Tony is a great guy to have because he can do that. [Casey] Dunn's undrafted free agent we talked about yesterday, he's one of those guys that showing up and done some good things. [Demetrius] Rhaney he can play center we're trying to school him to guard. I know he feels like he's a true center, but it's important for those guys to play both guard spots. So, we're working through it, and that's a very important position. That guy is gonna play a lot [positions] as we learned last year."




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