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July 28, 2019
Head Coach Jay Gruden
On T Donald Penn:
"No he's not here right now. No update."
On the team's progress over the first four days of training camp:
"Yeah it's been a great four days. We've got the bulk of our installs in – both offensively and defensively and special teams, so having the day off is good. Then we'll come back on Tuesday and have a nice review of some of the things we've hit on and then be able to add some more on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I think it's been a pretty successful start so far as far as implement what we want to implement and getting a look at some guys."
On the status of LB Reuben Foster:
"Yeah he had a successful surgery. That's all I know. Then he's wearing something for his foot a little bit, but he's walking around great – great energy – he's helping out in drills here and there, sitting in meetings. He's still a big part of this football team he's just going to have to rehab and it's going to be a long road for him, but he's the type of guy that will put the work in."
On the benefit of a satellite training camp in Richmond:
"None really. It's just practice and meetings no matter where you do it – on a parking lot, on a field, in Richmond, back home, in California, wherever you want to do it. You still have to go through training camp and really hone in on football. The dedication that you have to have to this sport and the meeting time and the focus that you have to have to maintain a focus throughout meetings, practice, walkthroughs. It's all the same thing. Richmond's a nice place. It's a great field for us. But, at the end of the day it's all about getting our players ready in the meeting room and out here on the practice field."
On if there is a specific position group battle that he is looking forward to watching at camp:
"No, not really. All of them, really. I can go through every position and it's fun to watch. It's great competition at every position. So, the most important thing is to really get the work in and try to get these guys enough reps where some of the guys who haven't gotten a lot of reps can get more and more throughout the camp so they're ready for the preseason game where they can show us what they have. Special teams is obviously a big part of it, but the position battles are fun to watch."
On the quarterback play from the group as a whole:
"I think they're all coming along. They've all made their share of mistakes, which every quarterback has done in the NFL. They've made their share of good plays, but the most important thing is for them to continue to learn and build upon what they've learned each day and focus in on the situations that we're trying to preach upon. Big thing is also making sure they protect themselves in the protections. We've had a couple of protection assignment errors, but the quarterback can fix them and those are the big things I'm worried about. Then obviously getting used to the terminology and the structure of each play."
On if the protection assignment errors have happened with all four of the quarterbacks:
"I mean it's happened a little bit. Everything has happened a little bit, both positively and there has been some things that we can coach on. Sometimes we have seen a look that we haven't coached on or prepared for, so to speak. It's great to see all these looks. (Defensive Coordinator, Greg Manusky) Coach Manusky is doing a great job of mixing it up. Especially in their sub packages with all their different fronts and backer-jams, double A's, and all that stuff. It's really early in camp. We have a new linemen coming in here, quarterbacks are getting used to them and centers, and backs got to get used to seeing it too, so it's just a process, but they're all doing just fine."
On QB Alex Smith's presence in the QB meeting room:
"Yeah, I think he's just a calming influence for them. He's very supportive for each individual guy, he'll get on them when he needs to get on them a little bit, in a fun loving kind of way but he's just a great presence to have in the quarterback room and we obviously welcome it whenever he wants to come in here. He's been in every quarterback meeting so far."
On if Smith spends extra time with Haskins in the meeting room:
"Right now were in the – adding the plays right now so there is not a whole lot of extra time. We have to install plays and we have to watch the practice tape and we have to make the corrections and then install them and prepare them for the walkthroughs and prepare them for practice and all that. So, there's not a whole lot of individual time that he has, but there will be."
On teaching veteran QB Case Keenum:
"Well, he's got his own style, that's for sure. There's not a lot you can do to change a quarterback's style this late in his career, but there are some fundamental things that we can work on as far as what we try to do with footwork and timing, anticipation, reads – all that stuff. So, we do have some things we have to clean up for what we do, but for the most part, when it's all said and done and the ball's snapped, there are parts of his game that he's comfortable with doing and he probably won't change, and some of them are very good."
On OL Geron Christian's status and QB Colt McCoy's day-off yesterday:
"Yeah, we try not to get them to go four days in a row, you know, so we're going to try to get him a day off every third day, or what have you, so he'll go today. Geron won't go today; we're trying to get him and Chase [Roullier] ready for Tuesday. So, hopefully that'll be the case. And, you know, there will be an occasional player here or there that might sit out a day or two just depending on how they're feeling or if they ran a lot the day before. We may take some reps off of him, so to speak."
On CB Fabian Moreau's improvement in the offseason:
"I think it's confidence in his technique. He's got great speed and he knows it, and sometimes these guys with great speed, they tend to play further off then they probably should. But, Fabian is starting to challenge receivers a lot more, getting his hands on them – he's really good with his hands right now. But, with all the defensive backs, the way the rules are, we have to really work on getting their hands off after five yards and that's been a challenge for everybody, for every DB in the league I think that'll be a challenge, so. He's doing great. He's playing inside, he's playing outside – obviously [Quinton] Dunbar had a great day yesterday, had three or four picks, so the secondary is starting to shape up pretty good."
On scouting LB Cole Holcomb before the draft:
"We all had Cole Holcomb. He probably had a little bit lower grade than I would like to have seen, but the guy can run. His pro day he ran a 4.47 [seconds], and at the end of the day, when you're trying to get linebackers, we're trying to improve the speed of our football team. He had over 100 tackle three years in a row at North Carolina and watching him on tape, I thought he ran sideline-to-sideline, he had great instincts, played smart, finished tackles, I thought was a very good player. And he's proven us right so far, but we still have to get in the game and see him tackle. The same thing I mentioned with [Jimmy] Moreland yesterday, they're doing great in thud periods and all that stuff. But when it comes down to it, it's all about tackling for these defensive players. We've got to make sure he can tackle. He's a great kid, very smart, very diligent, he's up early studying, stays late studying, he's going to be a good player for us."
On his scouting strategy and how that impacted him watching tape on Holcomb :
"I was watching North Carolina defense. They had a defensive end and outside linebacker, I was watching as well as Holcomb. I ended up watching about and eight or nine games on him and was very impressed with the way he played."
On if he spends equal time with all the quarterbacks:
All of them. We talk to one, we talk to them all. We have to speak the same language to all of them – very, very important. So, Tim Rattay (Quarterbacks Coach) speaking the same language as Coach [Matt] Cavanaugh (Senior Offensive Assistant) and Coach [Kevin] O'Connell (Offensive Coordinator) and myself. So, when they are talking to Tim Rattay in the quarterback room, it's an extension of what I want. So, as a quarterback position, they all have to hear the same thing. They're all coached the same. Nobody's coached any different. Now, we may have a group of plays that might be specific for one quarterback, but for the most part when we're installing our offense, everybody is spoke to the same way."
On the linebacker battle between Montez Sweat and Ryan Anderson:
"I think when you're talking about outside linebacker and defensive line I think the rotation's going to be big for us; we have to stay fresh. Ryan Anderson is doing a great job. He can set the edge and he's getting much better in his pass rush, you can see he's worked on it. He's picked up a little bit of speed it looks like – lost a few pounds – but he's done well. And then Montez is a freak. But to keep those guys fresh with [Ryan] Kerrigan and Cassanova McKinzy, they're doing a good job; he's doing a good job. And Brailford's not here but he had a great promising OTA session. Once he get's back from injury, he's in the mix as well. As well as [Marcus] Smith [II], he's doing a good job too. All these outside linebackers – that's another interesting position battle to watch. Special teams will come down to it, but when you're talking about game day, it's going to be important to keep these guys fresh because we've got to get after the quarterback and stop the run obviously."
On evaluating tackling without live reps in practice:
"We might have a period here or there, a live period here, maybe next week or so but then it comes down to preseason games and get them in there and see what happens. I don't anticipate any issues with any of those guys I've talked about, but still we'll come up with somebody on our football team that may not be as physical as we want them to be. But, by the looks of it so far I think all our guys and all the research we've done on them, they wouldn't be here if they couldn't tackle but still they're going to have to show us that they're physical and make some plays."
On the wide receiver position group:
"Yeah, it's a good group. Cam Sims has come back from the injury and made some big-time splash plays. Rob Davis, watching him come back off his injury, he's starting to get more and more. You can see him getting more and more confident with his leg and his movement. He's doing pretty good. Obviously [Kevin] Harmon and Terry [McLaurin], they're doing a great job. Paul Richardson's feeling his way back in, and then Josh [Doctson] is making some plays. Trey Quinn's got the inside spot pretty much locked down – [Darvin] Kidsy [Jr.] and Sims, they're competing for the backup role probably – but we'll wait and see. But it's a good group. They all bring something different to the table. I like the fact that we have a number of guys that can also go in there and block and are physical that help our running game out and we have some speed, we have some size. We have a little bit of variety there. It's a good group."
On TE Jordan Reed's 2018 Season:
"Jordan Reed, he missed the last few games because of his injury obviously, which hurt his stats. And then we had the quarterback issues there for a little while, which probably hurt his numbers. But, I think Jordan had a pretty good year. [He] didn't get as many touches because of the situation that we were in at quarterback probably, and then his injury at the end of the year, but you can talk to anybody in the league, he's as good a tight end as there is running routes and catching the football."
On the PUP List:
"Yeah, they're coming along fine. Obviously, NFI is [Bryce] Love, it'll be a while for him probably, but the other guys, you know, Alex [Smith], he's coming along fine. Who else do we have on there I forgot? Oh yeah I mentioned [Jordan] Brailford. He's hopefully a couple weeks out maybe, we will wait and see. Danny [Johnson] is getting close as well."
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