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Skins Quotes Post-Game 8/24/18: Redskins Players

Boone

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REDSKINS QB ALEX SMITH


On RB Adrian Peterson's performance:
"I thought he did a really nice job -- tall order. The guy just got here, got up to speed fast and all of a sudden he's getting a bunch of touches in a football game, so I thought he did a great job. Like I said, getting up to speed mentally, knowing what we're doing – and then I thought going out there and just playing – still looks pretty strong and explosive. I thought it was good to get in a rhythm to see what he can still do."

On the importance of getting Peterson reps tonight:
"Yeah the one highlight for us probably in the first half was us being able to run the football a little bit. It was nice to get into a rhythm. I thought the guys up front – get those five guys back [offensive line] together for the first time – I thought they played great and really set the tone for us, getting us going. So yeah, it was good to see."

On how he would describe his performance:
"Not where it needed to be. I would love to have come back and any time you rip off a seven-yard run on the first play, you're rolling and then all of a sudden you take a sack, put us at third-and-long and start the game with two three-and-outs. It's tough to get into a rhythm when you do that. We were able to get a little bit going there those last couple drives. Got some good situational work, got a bunch of third downs that we'll be able to learn from. Two fourth downs, we were able to convert on one. So there'll be some stuff for us to look at and I think get better at. You expect to go out and execute. I get that we're not full-strength, we're not showing everything, but at the same time, you want to go out there and play your best. So, we'll learn from it and get better."

On timing of game action after taking only a few series:
"You're able, at least in practice scenarios. Some of the guys that aren't playing in games can be out there because we aren't tackling to the ground and the risk of injury is obviously less. I've been able to take advantage of those reps when you get them with the guys at practice. I feel like last week, to get a full week of practice against the Jets, was great work for us in a real environment like that. I mean, it's our job just too kind of take advantage of the reps when you get them, whether they [are] on the side, in practice, out here in the limited reps in preseason games. Make the most of them and get yourself up to speed, that's kind of on all of us, but I do feel like we've got the majority of our work in practice."

On preseason game performance compared to the first regular season game:
"A lot there. It'd be tough for me to talk about anything that's gone on in years past. Obviously, I wasn't here so it'd purely be speculative. I think you've got to take every single year different. Rosters change, scenarios change, circumstances all change. You try to balance it out the best you can. Like I said, I feel like we've gotten great work all offseason, all camp. As good as it would feel to sit up here and play amazing and win a game, the goal is to find out about our 53 guys that are going to make the team and obviously be ready to roll come September 9th. That's the goal and I think keeping that in mind, I do feel like we're headed down that path. The proof will be in the pudding for us. We've got to be ready to roll come September 9th. For me, I feel like that's been the focus since we've started way back in April. That's all we've been talking about since the schedule came out."

On his comfort with the wide receivers:
"I feel like it's something that never ends, the work with wide outs, the perimeter and the entire route. Whether it be tight ends, running backs, quarterbacks, it's something that never ends. You're constantly working. You're constantly trying to get better. There's no place you get to where you're like all of a sudden, ‘Hey we're good now, we don't need to work anymore.' That's just not the way it is. We have a group that works really hard. We've put in a lot of work together and that's what it takes, it takes reps, it takes timing. Like I said, it just never ends, you continuously strive and can work at it. We've got a group that does that. They put in the work, they put in the time the attention to detail and like I said it doesn't stop. Next week it won't stop and in season you just continuously work on it and try to fine tune.”

On playing without WR Jamison Crowder, TE Jordan Reed and RB Chris Thompson:
"Any offense is going to be better with all the weapons out there, of course. Hopefully we'll have them all out and ready to roll, I'm hopeful for that. At the same time, whether that's the case or not, we're going to kick off and we're going to play. We have to be ready to roll. At the same time, we have a lot of depth on the team. If that's the case out there, then great, if not, then we still have to go. We still have to find a way to put points on the board and win a ball game. I guess that's my mindset to answer your question."

On if he wanted to go back in the game in the fourth quarter:
"I wasn't a part of any of those conversations. For me, obviously, just staying ready and then was told that my night was done and Colt [McCoy] was going in. So yeah, I wasn't a part of those [conversations]."

On his reaction to RB Adrian Peterson joining the Redskins:
"I knew we were bringing a bunch of guys in to work out, I knew Adrian was one of them. We're pretty banged up at the running back position right now, so again, I'm excited for him. I've known Adrian going all the way back to the Heisman ceremony we [attended] together back in college. I was excited to see what he still had. I was so excited to see it tonight a little bit – to see what was left in the tank. He's a guy that takes really good care of himself, works really hard, keeping himself in shape. He's still pretty explosive so it was nice to see here."


REDSKINS RB ADRIAN PETERSON

On facing the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1:
"It'll be pretty exciting, you know, I finished out the season there last year, but now that I've got like two and a half weeks to sharpen up, and to polish up a little more, it'll be fun."

On the reception the Washington Redskins fans gave him in his first home game:
"Oh, I definitely felt the love. I heard a little chant of ‘AP' on that fourth-and-one, and I was like, ‘I got to get this first down.' But yeah, it felt good."

On transitioning to a new team in the middle of the preseason:
"You know, it was like a roller coaster. It was up and down, you know I had my down times, but I just kept pressing and I knew it was all about, ‘What have you done for me lately?' I mean, that's the type of league we play in, so I just appreciate the grind and the process. I've seen so many guys go through it, so I just appreciate, keep pressing forward and the opportunity presented itself."

On how his body felt tonight:
"My body feels good right now. I will see how it feels in the morning. But I feel like it responded well. It felt good, didn't get tired, so cardio is where it needs to be and right now I'm looking at it as knocking a little rust off."

On if he felt like he needed the extra workload:
"Yeah I did. I was coming home, working out, training, spending time with my kids, and missing all OTAs and training camp. It was very critical especially coming into this third preseason game. You get out there to get a feel not only just for me but to get something on film so we can go back. I was communicating with the offensive line, ‘Hey we got to do a dash on this play and a different speed.' So I think we may have learned a lot from this."

On adjusting to the offense:
"I feel like I've been doing a good job. The terminology is kind of similar to what I've experienced in the past, but I still have a lot to learn. I still have two and a half weeks and I'm just going to keep my nose in the books."

On missing training camp and whether he relies on muscle memory for game situations:
"Yeah, and then you get your reps in practice that was really good as well to go out there and shock the body, because it is different from cutting in front of 300 pound guys and trying to sprint in front of them, so when I got out there, it was all about being patient and not trying to rush, just hit it when I had the opportunity."

On if it is strange playing a preseason game:
"No not at all. So many years I begged to play in preseason and I have been shut down so they didn't have to beg me at all to play this week."

On if he feels that he has made an impression so far:
"Not really, but me just taking advantage of the opportunity and coming in and then setting an example for the young guys and making the guys on the defensive side and offensive line better with how I approach practice -- that's been my mentality going on 12 years now so for me it is normal."

On if he was trying to prove anything to himself tonight:
"To kind of gauge and see where I was because I missed OTAs and training camp. [It was] my first time experiencing that. Half of the year I had my ACL, but I was still working out and I was able to run around first team a little bit with no contact, so just kind of getting out there on the field [to] see how my legs felt and to see the field with the offensive line."

On future games:
"We'll see, I'll talk to Coach [Jay Gruden] and we will go from there. I have two and a half weeks ahead of me before the season opener and based off how I felt today, I am very excited."

On developing a relationship with running backs:
"It was easy to sense that this was a tight, tight group. I just see that just by sitting back and watching how they converse with each other. But they've been very helpful as well, will kind of point out and teach me little things. Kind of help me along the process. So I feel like for us and the group, there's a lot you can expect from us this year. And you know me just being around for going on 12 years, there's things that I see and I know that I try to teach those young guys. So we're helping each other."

On playing with T Trent Williams:
"It felt good. It's something me and him have talked about for a minute now. Just to have an opportunity to be behind him and the rest of the crew. It's a blessing for me because the past couple of years, it's been kind of rough as far as offensive line goes for me. Particularly, New Orleans had a really decent offensive line. We already know how that ended but you know, it's cool, I've really enjoyed it so far."

On 15-yard carry on a 4th down conversion:
"I remember in the huddle, when Alex [Smith] called the play. I was like, ‘Dang you know. Normally I like the lead play just to kind of cram it in there to get the first down.' But then, I was like, ‘You know what? I'm sure they're going to stack players to the inside, A gaps and B gaps, trying to take it away. So when he called the play, I just kind of got it into my mind that I was to be patient and watch and see how the play developed. I actually had a two-way go. I could have took it into the C-gap and I almost did. The outside was wide open so I just kind of turned on the speed a little bit. Got around and tried to make a big play out of it. I got to the sideline and Trent embraced me. And I was like, ‘Man, I should have crossed field.' And he was like, ‘No, you did good. You did good.' But I'm always thinking that way. I'm going to the sideline, I'm asking the guys ‘Hey, what do you guys think I could have did better,' this, that and the other. And I do the same thing for those guys, you know, make sure you come ask me. I'm also going to those guys and telling them what I think they could have done better as well."

On if he believes mentoring young running backs is part of his role:
"Yes. Definitely. This week, its kind of been, you know, having [Robert] Kelley, and [Kapri] Bibbs, those guys kind of talking and I kind of catch them looking at me sometimes you know. And it's like, hearing some of the stories about who these guys were in high school and in college and how they watch film and highlights of me. That's why I play the game today, to inspire the young kids. They know me by my game but the adversity and the things we go through, just being strong. To be here and actually have those guys around, those guys that looked up to me, and be able to mentor those guys is a blessing. Everything comes around full circle."

REDSKINS WR PAUL RICHARDSON JR.

On getting in sync with the offense:
"I think it's going well right now. Everybody just feeling each other out, seeing how we can basically work together through the preseason and seeing how the season's going to go. It's going to be a little different when 80 [Jamison Crowder] gets back, so I think it was a good start."

On personal preparation for the regular season:
"Man, we just got to keep steady, and we got to know what we're doing. Like Coach [Jay Gruden] said, we got to go out, guys that have got to make plays, got to go out and be playmakers. Guys who've got to block, have to go out and block. Guys who've got to out and tackle, those guys got to tackle. If we go work on our craft this week, we'll approach Baltimore [Ravens] with the right mindset and attitude."


REDSKINS OL BRANDON SCHERFF

On the offensive line meshing with RB Adrian Peterson:
"He hits the hole hard and its nice having him back there. We've just got to focus on doing our job, and we trust him to make the right cut, and he showed that."

On the offensive line's preparation for the Baltimore Ravens and the regular season:
"Just continue to work on the details and improvements, watch some film, see what we did wrong, and work on the connections."


REDSKINS DL DARON PAYNE

On what he felt was different this week:
"I don't think anything was different. I think just the way we prepared, and just go out there next week with a better mentality and just get after it."

On the defensive unit:
"There's definitely some stuff we can improve on and just go and use this film and try to just work at it and get better."

On what the can improve following the game:
"Yeah it's definitely a wake-up for us, knowing we can play harder and just clean up [fundamentals] a whole bunch."

On how he has improved from last week:
"I just try to get in the playbook and just know the calls and perfect it that way."



REDSKINS LB RYAN KERRIGAN

On evaluating the game:
"We've got to take a look at the film and see where the errors are, but off the top of my head, some missed tackles, just not doing a good job on first and second down, made it easy for them on third down because they were in third-and-manageable in most situations. We've got to do better early in sequences."

On the defense tonight and preparing for Week 1:
"I guess time will tell. Hopefully not a lot after the way we played tonight. We've got a long time until the first game against the Cardinals so we've got a lot of opportunities to get better, a lot of practice time, which hopefully we utilize really well and have good effort, because we can't do what we did today again.”




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Jonathan Allen last night commented "We didn't practice up to our standards this week."

How many times do we have to hear players say that before we finally start putting the blame for that on Jay Gruden and his staff?
 
I don't know what Allen meant by that. You're assuming he meant that guys weren't trying, or weren't focused, or that their preparation was half-assed? Maybe that's what he meant. Or maybe he just meant that they weren't playing well in practice.

Bottom line - we still didn't have a lot of starters out there. We weren't game planning in this one. It was an off night. But it's the preseason.

Remember Osaka!
 
"It's just preseason" - The Redskins fans' mantra for the last 20 years

Jay's 0-4 in openers with the team consistently looking flat in those openers.

Meanwhile, Belichick is playing his HOF QB whole halves in preseason,trying to get him ready.

Jay Gruden treats preseason like his team is coming off a Superbowl season and they're ready to go.

Alot of us just don't see it......
 
"It's just preseason" - The Redskins fans' mantra for the last 20 years

Jay's 0-4 in openers with the team consistently looking flat in those openers.

Meanwhile, Belichick is playing his HOF QB whole halves in preseason,trying to get him ready.

Jay Gruden treats preseason like his team is coming off a Superbowl season and they're ready to go.

Alot of us just don't see it......

It's a mantra because it's true brother.

So we're coming off of the worst rash of pre-season injuries in years (and off a season where injuries crippled our chances), and you think the team should be playing more starters longer?

I don't understand that logic. Maybe we will start slow or lose a few early. But we won't win many at all if we have more starters go down.


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Jonathan Allen last night commented "We didn't practice up to our standards this week."

How many times do we have to hear players say that before we finally start putting the blame for that on Jay Gruden and his staff?

I put the onus on Jay last night on twitter and several fans were ready to murder me.

The third preseason game is when you want to be prepared the most. The team looked totally lost. The third stringers in the fourth quarter made it look respectable. I say give the starters one series next Thursday and get this stench out of their system.
 
I hear you BB.

We just have to remember that preseason stench does not historically equate to regular season stench. Preseason glory does not equate to regular season glory. There is no statistical correlation between preseason success and regular season success no matter how much we'd prefer to see our team perform well.

You could argue it may be better for starters to play poorly as it will surely raise the intensity level of preparation before the games that count. I'd prefer that than overconfidence.




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I hear you BB.

We just have to remember that preseason stench does not historically equate to regular season stench.

While I mostly agree with this, I have to state that Gruden's history suggests otherwise without a single win to open the season.

Preseason glory does not equate to regular season glory. There is no statistical correlation between preseason success and regular season success no matter how much we'd prefer to see our team perform well.

But what determines pre-season success? We all know wins means little, but in the 3rd pre-season game which is a marker for the progress of your starters historically, when you're 1st team performs as poorly as our's did except a few good runs by a veteran who had something to prove, there is cause for some concern.
 
I'd sure as hell like to see us play well and, yes, Gruden's teams haven't started like gangbusters, which needs to improve. I'm not sure preseason effort is the defacto cause though. Bottom line for last night though is that we have a ton of key players sitting and that definitely had an impact, especially on offense.

Just out of curiousity, I looked at our head coaching win records for the first 6 games back to the Gibbs II era:

Gibbs
2-4
4-2
2-4
4-2

Zorn
4-2
2-4

Shanahan
3-3
3-3
3-3
2-4

Gruden
1-5
2-4
4-2
3-3

That sort of belies the conventional wisdom that Gruden teams aren't ready to play early, doesn't it? His numbers look remarkably similiar to every other head coach we've had in the last decade. In fact, the last 2 seasons, he's won more games early than any of them in 2 consecutive seasons. Hell - Jim Zorn won 4 out his first 6 the first year. That doesn't make him a future HOFer.

#moremeaninglessstats
 
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:instigate:


Come on John, we've agreed with you all pre-season about the importance of winning pre-season games and how much many of the mistakes throughout mean little, except the 1st half of the 3rd pre-season game. It is generally used as a marker for how prepared your starters are. We looked poor. And for the 1st game of every season he's been our HC, it's carried into the season.

2 seasons ago, that one win meant a playoff birth.

You use our other mediocre coaches to compare, when the real comparison should be what winning NFL coaches have done.
 
I have a problem with 'conventional wisdom'. People hear a fact, and then go about repeating it incessantly, without ever taking the time to see if it's even correct. Social media has increased this bad habit exponentially.

With just a casual look, I've shown that Gruden's teams don't start any slower than any other Redskins coaches have. That's not the same as saying 'We're good to go!' - I get that. But people who constantly say that Gruden's teams aren't ready for the regular season (implying he's a lot worse than previous Skins coaches' are just flat out wrong. They haven't looked at the numbers and are just repeating 'feelings'.

I'm not going to take the time to look - but I feel confident that just like there's no correlation between preseason wins and regular season ones, there's likely little correlation between 2nd to last preseason game first half performance and regular season wins. It's just more 'conventional wisdom' that since this is the half during the preseason where the most starters play against the most starters, it must be more predictive of future success.

We played like shit for the most part. I hated seeing it. But I don't believe it means much. That's just how I see it.

And I thought you would enjoy the hashtag - it was not posted with any snark :)
 
And I thought you would enjoy the hashtag - it was not posted with any snark :)

I laughed at it...I felt you were joking.

I just have a problem reverting back to the "wins v losses" argument. It's not the argument I am making. I think most of us realize the standings at the end of pre-season mean little to nothing when it comes to the regular season. It's how poorly we executed in a pre-season game that is generally used as a marker for the progress of our starters in the pre-season.

And, knowing that Gruden has lost every season opener, it looks like his lackadaisical approach to the starters play time does not bode well going into the 1st game of the season when at least one of those season opening losses have resulted in eliminating us from at least one playoff appearance.

Many go into this season with high hopes. A loss on opening day against a Cards team that is not very good is not what the doctor ordered for this team, so we need to be prepared. I think Gruden is not getting this team properly prepared for the opener.
 
He lost last year to the eventual Super Bowl champions. Year before that he lost to the AFC Conference finalist Steelers. We lost to the Dolphins in 2015 at home by a score which shouldn't have happened (they were a bad team). In his rookie year, Gruden lost on the road to the Texans (a 9-7 team).

So of the 4 season opening losses, only one was a bad one.

I think context matters. I know you'll just respond with 'it doesn't matter, he lost 4 straight season openers'. I've tried to provide context both via showing the opponents 'Gruden lost to' and also to show results of the first 6 games. Past 2 years that's 4-2 and 3-3 which is certainly not indicative of teams totally unprepared for the season.
 
He lost last year to the eventual Super Bowl champions. Year before that he lost to the AFC Conference finalist Steelers. We lost to the Dolphins in 2015 at home by a score which shouldn't have happened (they were a bad team). In his rookie year, Gruden lost on the road to the Texans (a 9-7 team).

So of the 4 season opening losses, only one was a bad one.

I think context matters. I know you'll just respond with 'it doesn't matter, he lost 4 straight season openers'. I've tried to provide context both via showing the opponents 'Gruden lost to' and also to show results of the first 6 games. Past 2 years that's 4-2 and 3-3 which is certainly not indicative of teams totally unprepared for the season.

I am stubborn, you are correct....but we should have beaten the Eagles, so Super Bowl champion or not...it was a game we led in the 4th Q with our offense driving down the field with a chance to put the game away, Cousins threw a critical interception and our defense crumbled down the stretch. I don't know if it supports my assertion we should be more prepared going into the season, but add the loss to the Dolphins and the loss to the Texans there is no reason we couldn't have won all 3, at least 2.

And the Steelers game actually does support my theory. Pittsburgh was much sharper, much more prepared, but we still remained in that game late with a 4th Q TD to pull one score back. They just took it to us in the rest of the 4th Q after we came close...being the much more prepared team.

Remember, we were the defending NFCE champs reported to be competitive in the NFC that season.

So let's look at the context you provide.

1. 9-7 Texans - OK, I will give you a push with this one since we were bogged down by the QB controversy, and it was Gruden's first game as a HC going into an away game.

2. Dolphins - why did we lose to a team that was so bad?

3. Pittsburgh - we lost a game we were in until the 4th Q to a team far more prepared than we, who made far fewer mistakes than we did.


4. Eagles - We blew a 4th Q lead, and the Eagles took over the game.
 
I respect your opinion brother. As you took the time to highlight, lots of reasons we lost those games. Whether or not they are things that, if only we had the best preseason and preparation humanly possible, would have been avoided - not so sure I'm convinced.

I'm not deflated by a bad preseason game or two, because I know that our talent is on the rise, and I think Gruden while not perfect is a competent coach. I think the next 2 seasons we're finally going to turn the corner.
 
I respect your opinion brother. As you took the time to highlight, lots of reasons we lost those games. Whether or not they are things that, if only we had the best preseason and preparation humanly possible, would have been avoided - not so sure I'm convinced.

I'm not deflated by a bad preseason game or two, because I know that our talent is on the rise, and I think Gruden while not perfect is a competent coach. I think the next 2 seasons we're finally going to turn the corner.

But it's not about haviung the best ever, it's about getting players ready and Gruden seems to have lacked that ability for 5 years now. He calls one helluva offense, but he does not even come close to getting the best out of his players. He's just not a leader of men.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TomBrady?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TomBrady</a> has 44 pass attempts over two preseason games. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlexSmith?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlexSmith</a> has 14 pass attempts over two preseason games. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Redskins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Redskins</a></p>— Al Galdi (@AlGaldi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlGaldi/status/1033177473020829698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One coach has five rings and the other can't win a season opener.

Just saying but......damn.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TomBrady?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TomBrady</a> has 44 pass attempts over two preseason games. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlexSmith?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlexSmith</a> has 14 pass attempts over two preseason games. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Redskins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Redskins</a></p>— Al Galdi (@AlGaldi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlGaldi/status/1033177473020829698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One coach has five rings and the other can't win a season opener.

Just saying but......damn.

So let's say Smith threw it 60 times in preseason, and got his ACL torn or his shoulder separated doing so leaving us to rely on Colt and he-who-cannot-throw as starter and backup... would you still be posting that tweet and snarking on Gruden? I'm just asking, because that's exactly the kind of thing that has and can happen.

I get that there are several ways to look at things and they may all be legitimate. Smith is new to the Redskins offense. He needs time/reps to build a rapport with his WRs. We haven't won our opening game in 4 straight years with Gruden. Those are all legit issues. But really, considering last season, and having already lost major players to injury for the year, can you blame Gruden for being cautious with Smith? Maybe he feels like they can get the reps in practice and that, to a large extent given Smith's experience level, they already know what they have in him.

This feels like a 'made up issue' that someone like Grant Paulsen would throw out there to generate a squabble.
 

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