Skins Quotes 8/13/19: Jay Gruden

August 13, 2019
Head Coach Jay Gruden

On QB Colt McCoy:
“We kept him out today, little sore from our last day of practice. We'll see how he's doing tomorrow.”

On Colt McCoy's progress in regards to his injury:
“It's progressed, yes. I think it's just something he's got to get used to a little bit. It's not quite where it was when he was 100 percent without the injury. It's something he's still dealing with and will have to deal with. Main thing is to make sure he's comfortable back there and has enough strength to push off and throw and feels good about if he does get hit, that it's healthy and stable, which it is.”

On an injury update for wide receivers Trey Quinn and Paul Richardson Jr.:
“Quinn's got a thumb and then Richardson has a little bit of a quad, so they were both held out today.”

On Richardson's timetable to return to the field:
“I don't think it's a long-term thing. If anything, it might be this week and then we'll hopefully get him out the following week.”

On being cautious with Richardson returning:
“Well, we need the work. He can get used to the quarterbacks and what we're doing. But if you have a pulled hamstring or quad, which he has a quad – it's very hard for a speed receiver to get what we want out of him. So, the main thing for him is to get healthy as well.”

On Shaun Dion Hamilton status for Thursday's game:
“I doubt it, but we'll see, unless there's major recovery by tomorrow. But, he will probably be held out.”

On how much the first team will play Thursday and if WR Terry McLaurin and LB Montez Sweat will play:
“Yeah we should see them. We should see the starters a little bit. I don't know how much yet. Make sure everyone comes out clean today and have a good walkthrough tomorrow. Then Thursday morning we'll have a walkthrough again, see where everyone is at and make our determination.”

On DL Caleb Brantley's status:
“He's just got a sore foot; he's getting better. I don't know the timetable though.”

On the current quarterback situation:
“Like I said before, the most important thing is to get him [McCoy] where he's stable mentally and physically. That's the most important thing and while he's figuring that out and getting better, it's a good chance for those other two guys to get a lot of reps, so they're taking advantage of those.”

On what he wants to see QB Dwayne Haskins improve on going into his second preseason game:
“I think the big thing is just getting him in and out of the huddle, getting the plays called and then obviously, playing with what he sees, making the necessary adjustments and working on his fundamentals. But, he did some really good things for his first game. We asked a lot of him, probably more so than a lot of the other quarterbacks in their first year. We did a lot of different things – protections and different route concepts. I thought he handled it pretty well. Obviously, with Case [Keenum] and with Dwayne, there's things we can coach off of and improve – with every position really.

On how the quarterback rotation will change if McCoy isn't cleared to play on Thursday:
“Yeah, that would have an effect.”

On if Case or Dwayne would play more in that scenario:
"Could be. I don't know yet. We'll figure that out."

On if he plans on having Keenum start on Thursday:
"I'll let them know when I let them know. They might already know. I don't know. I do have a plan; everybody knows the plan. We're just trying to keep it in house here and make that sure everything goes as planned by the time things start Thursday because things can change as we all know."

On the development of the left side of the offensive line:
"We'll see. That's exactly what they're doing, there're developing. We've just got to do a good job of mixing and matching guys and get them all equal opportunities against different people and see how they do and then play the best one."

On not having continuity on the offensive line as they have in past seasons:
"Your starters are starters, but otherwise everybody else is shuffling all throughout camp and all that. They have to learn multiple positions and we have to figure out the best spots for them. [Donald] Penn's played both left and right in his career, we're trying him mainly at left [tackle]. Geron's {Christian Sr.] going to have to play some right tackle, so that's just the way it is."

On RB Derrius Guice and balance of easing him back into things while also trying to get him reps:
"Yeah, the first and foremost thing is when the doctors and trainers say he can go full contact he'll go and until I get that OK, we'll make that decision. But he looks good out there now, you see him running around and cutting and running fast and catching the ball and pass protecting. He looks good right now, but until I get the thumbs up, he'll be next to me."

On how RB Adrian Peterson has looked during training camp:
“He's not out of shape. He's still big and fast, so he's looked good.”

On if Peterson looks different running this season compared to last:
“His strength is after contact as we all know. Right now, we're just tagging off, so we haven't really seen the true Adrian, the burst and speed through the hole and the fire that he runs with. Hopefully we'll see that this week or next week.”

On if Guice has been cleared:
“It means he has not played yet. Until I get the full clearance he will not [play].”

On if there is an update on LB Jordan Brailford's status:
“No update.”

On CB Danny Johnson's status:
“He's progressing.”

Our holdover wide receivers Doctson, Quinn and Richardson have a history of injury that is very concerning if you are going to depend up on them to fill 3 of the 5 or 6 slots at that position come the September opener.

I hope the 2019 draft picks and Cam Sims are ready to see some action.

Can Sims has an injury history

I wouldn't compare Quinn and Sims to the other two just yet. Every NFL player has an ‘injury history' - it's about whether they are chronically unavailable like Jordan Reed that's the issue. I'm not ready to attach that label to any of our youngsters yet.

But yeah - we have more than our share of chronically unavailable offensive players - Doctson, Richardson, Reed, and Chris Thompson, all have struggled to stay on the field.


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This franchise wastes too much time on Colt McCoy.

Tre Quinn has a jammed thumb. He could have played if this game meant anything.

But we do have some starting WRs that are mostly healthy but are in bubble wrap.

After putting guys on the shelf the past 2-3 years here you would think the Redskins would question whether that strategy got guys ready for the season and kept them from getting more injuries.