Skins Quotes 9/27/19: Gruden, O’Connell

September 27, 2019

Head Coach Jay Gruden

On the Injury Report:
"Out will be [TE] [Jordan] Reed, concussion, [C Chase] Roullier, knee. Questionable will be [G Brandon] Scherff, ankle and [WR Terry] McLaurin, hamstring. Everybody else is good to go."

On if he thinks McLaurin will play and what the backup plan will be if he is not available on Sunday:
"I think Terry and Brandon will both probably come down to an hour before the game, see how they're doing. We'll get a good workout in before the game and see where they're at. If Terry can't go, obviously we have [WR] Robert Davis here. He can play some spilt end. We can move [WR] Trey Quinn out there a little bit and move [WR Steven] Sims [Jr.] inside. We can do a lot of different things. Those guys are pretty versatile. [WR Kelvin] Harmon's got some outside receiver work as well on both sides. They'll be called to duty and expected to perform."

On his concern level that Roullier's injury will cause him to miss multiple weeks:
"I'm a day-to-day basis guy – week-to-week. This week obviously he's not quite ready, but I'll be hopeful for the following game whoever that is."

On WR Kelvin Harmon's development over the first three weeks:
"Pretty good, pretty good. He's starting to branch off and learn both spots, outside spots. He's doing a good job. He's been really strong in the running game. Made a couple plays for us and I think he'll be asked to do a lot more as the season goes on. I think he'll be ready to go."

On if OL Tony Bergstrom and G Wes Martin will be active if Roullier and Scherff don't play:
"Yeah, yeah and [C Ross] Pierschbacher will be up as well. We'll get them all up."

On if Tony Bergstrom will be at center:
"Likely."

On Wes Martin's ability to play on the right side:
"We shall find out. We have a couple different options there if [G Brandon] Scherff can't go. Nobody's going to try and get himself ready quicker and better than Brandon Scherff will. I'm still holding out hope for Brandon. "

On if he anticipates Colt being inactive on Sunday:
"Yeah, that'll probably be the case. Give him another week to get ready. Practice and see where we're at."

On QB Case Keenum's injury:
"Yeah, [QB] Case [Keenum] is fine."

Offensive Coordinator Kevin O'Connell

On the importance of timing on running the jet sweep:
“That's a really good question. There's about five variations to it, sometimes we want to snap it and it's the primary location we want to snap it on. Sometimes we want him to go past then come back. But the penalty was very, very unfortunate. We've talked a lot to your guys this week about the importance of tempo coming out of the huddle and getting set, getting their alignments, knowing where to line up every single time. It's been documented we can line up a lot of different ways and sometimes that puts some stress on players to know exactly where to line up. We put a lot on them for a reason, we expect them to handle it. But that play, we weren't all set, there was a little pre-snap movement. We started [WR] Steven [Sims Jr.]'s motion and they flagged us for it. We gotta make sure all 11 guys break the huddle with emergency and purpose and we get that ball snapped with great timing, which leads to a great play normally.”

On if he feels they could use the jet motion too much:
“I don't think so. I think the more you can make things look the same while doing multiple things after the ball has been snapped the better. I know it gives defenses trouble, especially when you get a guy like [WR Steven] Sims or [WR] Trey Quinn flying across there. The biggest thing, without question though, all those motions and shifts, all comes back to our process breaking the huddle. First of all, calling the play, breaking the huddle, everybody getting set, lined up and then we can legally start our motions and make sure our motions and shifts are legal before we snap the ball. That's the biggest thing is the procedural side of those things.”

On one of the penalties being caused by the motion:
“That one we had a little confusion there. [WR] Steven [Sims] wasn't quite sure when based on the call that he got, when that ball was going to be snapped and that's my fault. I gotta make sure those guys have a very, very clear picture of anything we call in the game. I think we got that cleaned up. I believe that was the completion to [WR] Terry [McLaurin] that got called back, if I remember right. We want to make sure those are all timed up. And every once in a while, you want to make it look like a fly sweep motion, but we're just maybe sending that guy over to the other side. Depending on whether defenses run with that motion or just bump their defense over, we look at those things and that's kinda why we have the little nuances to it. It's a big part of our package.”

On the adjustments he makes with the injuries on the offensive line:
“Well really for us, we have next man up mentality for it. Those guys, [Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line] Coach [Bill] Callahan and [Assistant Offensive Line Coach] Phil Rauscher really develop those guys. I can look out there right now and see those guys working as we speak and it's a ‘Fast Friday' type of practice. But we just gotta execute. We gotta make sure we cover up any advantages they may have schematically anyway we can – bangs, chips, all those things -- to try to best execute the plan we wanna have and if we gotta make adjustments versus the risk-rewards of somethings, we'll do that. I know we're all hoping [G] Brandon [Scherff] still has a chance to go.”

On what he needs to see from QB Dwayne Haskins to show he is ready:
“I think it's hard to really put specific thing, specific detail. I think he starts to feel it. I think he starts to feel the way he carries himself in meetings and his ownership of the information. His ownership of fundamentals on the practice field. Taking those scout team reps and converting it. It's crazy to see, there's so much carryover in the NFL. Those scout team reps are mirrored reps from our offense in a lot of ways. There's ways to look at a [play] card and say, ‘Hey, that's just this, this and this. I should have made that protection call or I should have recognized that coverage and thrown that ball over here.' Very rarely do the defensive coaches say, ‘Hey, we want you to throw the ball to this guy.' They want to see a real look as well. So those reps are so valuable that when he starts really taking advantage of those reps in a way where we're like, ‘Man, did you see him throw this pass or that pass or that play.' And it's a carded period, you start to see some carryover. And he's done that. There's been times, we watch him very closely, we kind of switch from offense to defense and we're constantly taking our turns with [QB] Dwayne [Haskins] as far as the information. You don't want to overload him with five voices at once. And [Quarterback Coach] Tim [Rattay] does a great job, [Senior Offensive Assistant Matt Cavanaugh] ‘Cav', they do a great job with him. But there's no doubt, you'll start just things click. You'll start to see the carryover of information from week to week and the ownership of the offense I think is the biggest thing. As far as one specific thing, i can't really put my finger on that.”

On developing his confidence:
“Well I see him as a confident player right now, so that's the good thing. I know he's not the starter the moment, but we prepare all of our guys. If they're in that quarterback room, they're preparing to play. [QB] Dwayne [Haskins] has been one snap away all season. Obviously, he's gotten some reps this week. I told him earlier in the week, take advantage of preparing like you're going to play. It's just another step in your process to be able to understand what it's going to be like when you are the guy and I think he's done a good job doing that. But absolutely, I think from day one when we got him in here, we're trying not to miss very many details when it comes to his development. It's very, very important.”

On how the receiver rotation adjusts without McLaurin:
“Obviously, [WR] Robert Davis would have a bigger role, but we still have those core four as well. But obviously [WR] Terry [McLaurin] is a big part of what we do, we're hoping to have him. It's just a matter of figuring out kind of how that next group of guys how it slots when we have our two-receiver sets, our three-receiver sets, potentially four-receiver sets, all those things where you at and say, ‘Ok, maybe [WR] Trey Quinn needs to be here or [WR] Paul Richardson [Jr.] needs to be there.' Maybe we try to work something with [Running Back] Chris [Thompson] or [TE] Vernon [Davis], however it may be. That's the luxury of having the group we have that we've talked a lot about is the skill group and the versatility and the skill sets of all those guys when you throw them in a grouping, you can versatility on game day if you need it.”






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For the love of God will someone put Reed on IR and get rid of him next year?

Add Colt, for other reasons 😎

I'll never understand what Jay's infatuation with Colt McCoy is.

Colt McCoy was the anti- RGIII and Kirk Cousins.

Dan and Bruce loved RGIII, the Shanahans loved Kirk Cousins.

Colt McCoy is Jay Gruden's player.

He committed himself to Gruden's system and is an overachiever in the NFL.

Without Gruden Colt would likely be out of the NFL at age 32/33 and a record of starting few games and holding a clipboard most of the time.

Like McCoy, Gruden was a college quarterback that lacked the size and arm strength to be an NFL player so he identifies with him.

DieselPwr44 said:

I'll never understand what Jay's infatuation with Colt McCoy is.

Click to expand...

McCoy has always been a gamer and is more talented than he ever gets credit for. The problem is, he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. When you aren't healthy, you can't be a consistent starter. When you aren't a consistent starter, you can't develop an offensive identity or chemistry with other players, nor even keep your own skills sharp.

That's really what's doomed him. We're long past the time when we should've moved on.

BD is right that he's not got the physical skills to be a difference-making QB. But he is a smart guy and I think if he had been able to stay on the field, he would've been a better transitional QB than Case Keenum. We really got screwed when Alex had his horrific injury. Smith as a starter and Colt backing him up was a pretty solid QB combo. I believe if Smith hadn't been hurt, our situation might look very different right now. We'd almost certainly have made the playoffs in 2018 - and I think that winning expectation would've carried forward this season.

Sorry but to me while Colt has the knowledge and intelligence he lacks the physical skills to execute at a consistently high level in the NFL.

For him it's that extra second you don't get in the NFL to physically execute a throw and catch because of the heightened athleticism of the defenders.

In college his arm was adequate to lead receivers and make plays, in the NFL the lack of arm strength means interceptions or incompletions on those very same throws.

If McCoy had the kind of projected NFL talent we are talking about here there would have been more interest in him when Cleveland shopped him for a pick when he was 25 and had started a number of games for them.

The lack of interest I think spoke volumes.