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September 9, 2013
FedExField
QB Robert Griffin III
On his assessment of the game:
“We didn’t play well in the first half at all. We had a serious case of the 'can’t-get-rights,’ just penalties, hurting ourselves – you know, I don’t throw picks, [running back] Alfred [Morris] doesn’t fumble and [kicker] Kai [Forbath] doesn’t miss field goals and all three of those happened tonight. So we’ll get better, no doubt. I’m proud of the way the team fought back. You know we can’t put our defense in those kinds of situations – having them on the field the majority of the game, but everybody fought back real hard in the second half. You know we got it within six, and that’s all you can ask for. You don’t want your team to come out in the second half and just fold, so I’m proud of the way we fought and that’s what I told them in the locker room.”
On if rust was a factor in his performance in the first three quarters:
“I think that’s an excuse. I’m responsible for the way I play. I didn’t play very well in the first half so that’s just the way it is. You move on from it. I’m not going to sit here and say I was rusty. I have to be accountable, I’m going to be accountable for that – didn’t play well in the first half. We came back and played better in the second half. We just have to do it for 60 minutes.”
On if playing in the preseason would have made him more comfortable:
“No, I don’t think so. Once again I think that’s an excuse. I was comfortable out there, I felt good. I was able to escape the pocket and move around. And that’s why I told everybody I felt good anyways. So we just didn’t play well as a team, any of us. And we know that. There’s no finger-pointing going on in that locker room. We know we have to get better and it comes with a short week going against Green Bay, but we’ll figure it out.”
On taking hits and how his knee held up:
“It’s football, man. The corner blitz I got hit in the back. Mychal Kendricks, I think he got me on one and picked me up. They don’t feel good but it is football. It is what it is. I know everybody wants to see that, wants to see me get hit and get up and that’s what they got to see. I’m not going to sit here and ask for it every game, it just is what it is.”
On if he was planting and driving how he wanted to:
“Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think just we didn’t play well. You guys can sit here and pick apart technique, pick apart that he is rusty, did he not play well enough. I just think we didn’t play well enough in the first half at all. And there’s no other way around that.”
On if he felt more in rhythm during the second half:
“No, I mean in the second half we just came out and had to throw the ball. We got down. I’ve been telling people and Coach knows this, players know this, we can sit there and drop back with the best of them – that’s just not our game. But whenever it’s called upon to do that, we’re able to do it and that’s what we did in the second half and it generated a spark for us.”
On how long it took him to get acclimated to the speed of the game:
“Like I said, I think I was fine with that; we weren’t on the field very much in the first quarter. A lot of unfortunate things were happening and we really didn’t feel like we got a good sweat in until the second half. That’s when we started putting up points. We feel as an offense our job is to score and that’s what we do, when we operate at a high level. And we didn’t operate at a high level in the first half.”
On if he needed time to adjust to the speed of the game:
“No, I don’t think so.”
On his emotions being back on the field:
“It’s a great moment. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to turn out. Coming out of halftime, we talked in there as an offense and said we’ll find out a lot about our team with what happens in the second half. And I think we did find out a lot. You know same thing we knew from last year, this team has a lot of heart; guys are going to fight until the end no matter what happens. That’s what I am proud of; that’s why I can walk in here –you’re not smiling and jolly about anything about a loss – but you can hold your head up and know 'Hey, we still came out there and did what we had to do in the second half to give ourselves a chance. And we just have to make sure we do it for 60 minutes this next week.”
On if his knee was stressed during the game:
“I think everyone involved – coaches, doctors, trainers – everyone was relieved that I came out of the game OK. Parents, fans, everybody, so it felt good, like I said. It’s fun and it’s a joy to get out there and play with your teammates, the guys that you train with, the guys you form camaraderie with. It’s always fun, you want to get the 'W’ and I’m never one to just say, 'Hey, it’s just one game.’ We have to get better. We will, and we’ll move onto the next one.”
On his second interception:
“Cary Williams made a great play. He came to the sideline. [Offensive Coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] is really honest with me on plays, anytime you do good or bad. He’s really honest with me about it. It was a decent throw, and Cary made a great play on it. It’s not [wide receiver] Pierre’s [Garçon] fault. I’m responsible for the ball, so even if he does make an amazing diving catch as a corner, it’s still my ball, and still my interception, so he made a good play on that one. The first interception I just saw something different than what was out there, and that’s also my fault.”
On things not going how he had planned:
“Like I said, we had a serious case of the 'can’t get rights.’ Penalties. Everything. Turnovers. That’s not the identity of our offense. We know that. I think that the guys are disappointed in themselves for that, but I’m proud that we came out in the second half. It basically was that way – everything that could go wrong did go wrong. To say that we only lost that game by six when we had that horrendous of a first half, and the beginning of the second half, is something to look at and say, 'Alright, we played horrible and we still almost won the game.’ It’s nothing against Philly, Philly played great. They came out with a good game plan. Their offense played well. We left our defense on the field way too long.”
On the safety:
“I’ll take the heat for that. I’m never going to point the finger at anybody. I pitched the ball, he didn’t catch the ball, and that’s my fault. That’s just the way you have to operate. If you start pointing fingers at each other, that’s when you start having a team that’s separated, and we’re never going to be that way. He’ll tell you the same thing. He’ll tell you it’s his fault, and I’ll tell you it’s my fault, and you’ll decide whose fault it is from your perspective. We’ll get that right. We don’t fumble pitches, and he doesn’t fumble the ball and I don’t throw picks.”
On changing his knee brace:
“No, everybody in the league kept calling down to our sideline saying I need to cover the brace up. I don’t understand that one, but that’s why we have to continue to do some stuff to cover the brace up. The brace just looked bigger because they [the league] kept putting stuff over it.”
On the Eagles’ offense:
“Chip Kelly’s college offense, you watch it at Oregon and it’s successful. They played well. Our defense played very well holding them to field goals in certain situations. [Quarterback] Mike [Vick] has always been a guy that, he’s not old, but you know I’m a younger quarterback, and he’s always been a guy that you’ve watched, and you like to watch him play but, anytime he’s playing against you, I’m not out there cheering for him hoping that he does well. It’s a competitive sport. He did play well. I talked to him after the game and he was very professional about it, and he’s a guy you root for.”
WR Leonard Hankerson
On the offense’s struggles in the first half:
“You know, we stunk it up. In the first half, we didn’t move the ball at all. We didn’t get any first downs. We didn’t score any points. The defense played pretty well, but with them being on the field as long as they were, they kept on getting tight. As an offense, we didn’t do our job at all and we let them down.”
On how long it took for the offense to get on the field to start their first drive:
“It was rough. Philadelphia’s offense was out there for a long time, so that means our defense was out there getting tired and we didn’t help them out at all. We got three first downs in the first half, but we’ve just got to keep building. We showed a whole lot of flash that we can build on. We’ve just got to take it back to practice on Wednesday and keep grinding.”
On what he saw from quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“We all made plays. Whether it was the defense or the offense, everybody went out there. This was the first game of the year. We’ve got a long way to go, and we’ve just got to keep improving all around. The offensive linemen blocking, running backs running the ball, receivers catching the ball – everybody just has to come together as one and just keep improving.”
FB Darrel Young
On the early turnovers by the offense:
“It was just mistake after mistake. We shot ourselves in the foot with that. That’s something that [Head Coach Mike] Shanahan preaches every day, so it will be addressed Wednesday at the team meeting. That’s something we need to get better at. We went on that streak last year and it was a plus margin for us in terms of turnover ratio. Any time you put yourselves in this position… It’s the first game of the season, division game, you know what you are going to get from a division game. It’s going to be a battle, and credit to those guys, they did great. [It’s the] first game together for them, but like you said, you’ve got 15 more, so this isn’t going to make or break where we go from here.”
On if the Philadelphia defense showed him things he wasn’t expecting:
“To be honest with you, from a base standpoint, I couldn’t say that. It was everything that we talked about, but I’m not in on third down, so I see it differently from the sideline. I also don’t see it from a receiver perspective, so they did a good job. It’s a credit to them. They are not a bad football team on defense. They switched to a 3-4. That’s what you want; you want turnovers. That’s the problem with the 3-4 – you’ve got different blocking schemes. It’s something you practice, but we practice against it every day in camp, so we knew what we were going to get. We couldn’t really watch too much film because in preseason you don’t really show things. This is the first time with [Eagles Head Coach] Chip [Kelly], so we had to watch a little bit of the [Arizona] Cardinals defense because that coordinator was there and different things, but we have a feel for them now, and the good thing is that we get to play them again, so we’ll see.”
On if he thinks quarterback Robert Griffin III was rusty:
“I wouldn’t say rust. I think it’s rust from all of us. We dropped passes he’s putting in our faces, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that he was rusty, but he’s got to get back in the groove of things. The first game is not going to make or break the season for you. It sucks. You get over it. We’ve got to go to Green Bay and we have a job to do next week.”
TE Fred Davis
On what quarterback Robert Griffin III said to him at halftime:
“Just that we did everything we possibly could do wrong right there. We didn’t really move the ball at all – three and out, turnovers, we can’t have that. We can’t win against a team like the Eagles when they’re moving the ball like that, and keeping our defense on the field like that, that’s something we can’t do.”
On if Griffin III was getting the rust off and the team’s slow start:
“Sure. You know, he hadn’t played in a while, full-speed and 100 [percent]. He had to get something off of it … and I think he picked it up in the second half.”
On if the Redskins were pressing because of the Eagles’ success:
“I don’t feel we were pressing because we probably would’ve no-huddled them. But no, we were just trying to run our plays, and we just weren’t executing them. People were making mistakes – penalties, fumbles, interceptions, stuff like that you just can’t have that.”
On it being surprising to see the turnovers compared to last year:
“It definitely wasn’t, and that’s just something that you just can’t do against a good team that can move the ball like the Eagles were today. Turnovers can’t happen like that. We got down, and [it] still was a close game, even when we did have those two turnovers. We still didn’t seal the deal.”
On facing the Green Bay Packers next week:
“Next week of practice, [we have to] get our mind right, come back and play hard, execute and get it done in the first half and finish the game.”
WR Pierre Garçon
On the play of quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“It’s part of the game. It’s not Robert’s fault. Robert – he’s out there helping us. He’s doing the best he can. We’ve just got to make plays for him and keep playing football.”
On if Griffin III seemed rusty:
“No, we practice hard. We practice at a game speed, so it’s not rust or anything. It’s just [that] we didn’t know what they were going to show on defense, and they surprised us. They had a lot of looks that we weren’t expecting and we just didn’t get the hang of it until the second half, but that’s football. We’ve just got to make plays. We couldn’t run the ball, we couldn’t catch the ball, we couldn’t get our play calls in… It wasn’t Robert. It was the whole team. It was the whole offense. Good thing this game is behind us – we can learn from it, move on and look forward to next week.”
LB Brian Orakpo
On what changes the defense made at halftime:
“Just the way our front line was aligned. We changed that – guys playing more in the box. What they try to do, they try to spread you out and kind of leave the box wide open, so we just made a few adjustments to get more guys in the box so we could play the run a little better. Then, we had some very successful third downs where we were finally able to start getting off the field.”
On if the pace of the Philadelphia offense was faster than expected:
“We knew what the pace was all about. That’s how they get a lot of guys. Obviously, Oregon does a great job. The offense [Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach] Chip Kelly brought in, as far as a fast-paced tempo, trying to get guys tired, trying to get guys winded… Once you get tired, the mind goes at times, so guys start missing assignments and missing guys and missing tackles – things of that nature. You’ve seen it in the preseason and you kind of saw it in the first half with the way the game was going, but we adjusted and we gelled in the second half and we got back in it. Obviously, it’s a loss that hurts, but we’ve just got to learn from it and get ready for Green Bay.”
RB Chris Thompson
On the offense’s slow start:
“We basically really had to find that rhythm. [Griffin III] didn’t play in any preseason games, but as an offense we had to find that groove, get some big plays here and there to try and spark that offense and get going. It didn’t work in the first half, but in the second half we were able to come out, regroup and fight hard.”
On the offense’s improvement from the first half to the second half:
“We were just trying to find that rhythm. That is what pushes a team’s offense – to just keep going once we get in a rhythm. It showed in the second half. Once we were able to get going, it showed what our offense can do.”
C Will Montgomery
On how the team can improve after this loss:
“We’ve got to clean it up one play at a time. As far as the line, I think we did good at times and there were also times that we let some plays go, so we’ve got to clean it up. I think we fought hard, but we’ve just got to clean it up. I don’t think anything surprised me. I think we just have to execute better and I think we were a little sloppy today.”
S Bacarri Rambo
On the Eagles’ game plan:
“They came out with a good game plan. Those guys executed, and they did a great job. They had a great scheme against us.”
On if the Eagles were doing things they hadn’t seen in preseason:
“There’s a lot of things we saw, just that fast pace. We’ve just got to move on, continue to get better.”
On the number of plays the Eagles ran in the first half:
“That’s what their offense is made of, just have that fast tempo, get the offense a lot of plays and just get the ball in open space and make plays. They did a great job there.”
On if they did anything different in the second half:
“Not really. The coaches made a good adjustment, and we just went out there and played less sloppy football.”
On if he was frustrated the offense couldn’t give the defense a break:
“I mean, it’s all of us. We’re a team, so we just got to go out there on Tuesday and Wednesday and try to get better and move on.”
On Philadelphia’s style:
“That’s a good scheme. Coach Chip Kelly, hats off to him.”
CB DeAngelo Hall
On the defense’s overall effort:
“Not where we need to be, obviously – 33 points. I don’t even know what they finished with yardage-wise, but I know walking in at halftime, seeing 337 yards in a half is pretty frustrating. It’s hard to win a football game like that, but it’s one game. We have 15 more, but when you’re wrong, you’re wrong and we were definitely wrong about this team. They came out with a hell of a game plan that we kind of got a handle on in the second half, but when you’re that many points behind, it’s kind of tough to fight back. So we have to get better, there’s no secret about it. We’ll watch the film – hold ourselves accountable for the plays that we needed to make. It was a heck of a game plan by those guys.”
On the most difficult aspect of the Eagles offense:
“When a team gets up, it’s hard to determine run/pass. They just had us off-balance the whole game. When you jump out like that, and there were a couple times when we thought it was one thing, it was something else. I didn’t think that offense would be like that. I didn’t think they would be able to jump out on us like they did, but any time you’re playing from behind the 8-ball, it’s tough. It’s tough, that offense, those guys in that locker room, they had us at bay for the better part of the football game, so any time you’re playing from behind it’s tough.”
On what they were doing that was so confusing:
“It wasn’t one thing. Like I said, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong. That offense is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league, so we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what we did wrong, figure out what worked. I don’t know when we play them again, but right now it’s [about] next week [at Green Bay]. We’ll go in, watch the film and figure out what we need to correct, but when we see those guys again we’ll have to step it up.”
On the fast start with the defensive touchdown:
“We’re always told to play to the whistle. I felt like it was a pass behind the line of scrimmage, so I decided to just get on it. I saw the referee still running, so I decided to keep on running, too. [That play] definitely was a good start, but you have to play 60 minutes. That one play didn’t define the football game, so we have to keep playing, keep fighting, go back to the drawing board and try to get better.”
On if they were prepared for the Eagles’ tempo:
“It wasn’t that much faster than we expected. We had a lot of plays. It wasn’t necessarily the pace, but anytime at halftime, you have 56 plays… Sometimes you play 56 in a game – definitely coming in at halftime we had guys getting IVs. I was cramping up. It wasn’t the pace, but definitely the number of plays. That was a lot of plays. I don’t know what they finished with, but at halftime they had 56, so it was a lot of plays for us.”
On what happened on wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s touchdown:
“Just blown coverage. The play stayed alive a little longer than it probably should have – just some things we have to correct on the back end.”
On his assignment on the touchdown:
“ spoke with a couple guys back there. Like I said, we’ll go back to the drawing board. I don’t even know exactly what went wrong; it was supposed to be a couple guys. But it is what it is. Those guys came out, executed their game plan and they got a win.”
FedExField
QB Robert Griffin III
On his assessment of the game:
“We didn’t play well in the first half at all. We had a serious case of the 'can’t-get-rights,’ just penalties, hurting ourselves – you know, I don’t throw picks, [running back] Alfred [Morris] doesn’t fumble and [kicker] Kai [Forbath] doesn’t miss field goals and all three of those happened tonight. So we’ll get better, no doubt. I’m proud of the way the team fought back. You know we can’t put our defense in those kinds of situations – having them on the field the majority of the game, but everybody fought back real hard in the second half. You know we got it within six, and that’s all you can ask for. You don’t want your team to come out in the second half and just fold, so I’m proud of the way we fought and that’s what I told them in the locker room.”
On if rust was a factor in his performance in the first three quarters:
“I think that’s an excuse. I’m responsible for the way I play. I didn’t play very well in the first half so that’s just the way it is. You move on from it. I’m not going to sit here and say I was rusty. I have to be accountable, I’m going to be accountable for that – didn’t play well in the first half. We came back and played better in the second half. We just have to do it for 60 minutes.”
On if playing in the preseason would have made him more comfortable:
“No, I don’t think so. Once again I think that’s an excuse. I was comfortable out there, I felt good. I was able to escape the pocket and move around. And that’s why I told everybody I felt good anyways. So we just didn’t play well as a team, any of us. And we know that. There’s no finger-pointing going on in that locker room. We know we have to get better and it comes with a short week going against Green Bay, but we’ll figure it out.”
On taking hits and how his knee held up:
“It’s football, man. The corner blitz I got hit in the back. Mychal Kendricks, I think he got me on one and picked me up. They don’t feel good but it is football. It is what it is. I know everybody wants to see that, wants to see me get hit and get up and that’s what they got to see. I’m not going to sit here and ask for it every game, it just is what it is.”
On if he was planting and driving how he wanted to:
“Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think just we didn’t play well. You guys can sit here and pick apart technique, pick apart that he is rusty, did he not play well enough. I just think we didn’t play well enough in the first half at all. And there’s no other way around that.”
On if he felt more in rhythm during the second half:
“No, I mean in the second half we just came out and had to throw the ball. We got down. I’ve been telling people and Coach knows this, players know this, we can sit there and drop back with the best of them – that’s just not our game. But whenever it’s called upon to do that, we’re able to do it and that’s what we did in the second half and it generated a spark for us.”
On how long it took him to get acclimated to the speed of the game:
“Like I said, I think I was fine with that; we weren’t on the field very much in the first quarter. A lot of unfortunate things were happening and we really didn’t feel like we got a good sweat in until the second half. That’s when we started putting up points. We feel as an offense our job is to score and that’s what we do, when we operate at a high level. And we didn’t operate at a high level in the first half.”
On if he needed time to adjust to the speed of the game:
“No, I don’t think so.”
On his emotions being back on the field:
“It’s a great moment. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to turn out. Coming out of halftime, we talked in there as an offense and said we’ll find out a lot about our team with what happens in the second half. And I think we did find out a lot. You know same thing we knew from last year, this team has a lot of heart; guys are going to fight until the end no matter what happens. That’s what I am proud of; that’s why I can walk in here –you’re not smiling and jolly about anything about a loss – but you can hold your head up and know 'Hey, we still came out there and did what we had to do in the second half to give ourselves a chance. And we just have to make sure we do it for 60 minutes this next week.”
On if his knee was stressed during the game:
“I think everyone involved – coaches, doctors, trainers – everyone was relieved that I came out of the game OK. Parents, fans, everybody, so it felt good, like I said. It’s fun and it’s a joy to get out there and play with your teammates, the guys that you train with, the guys you form camaraderie with. It’s always fun, you want to get the 'W’ and I’m never one to just say, 'Hey, it’s just one game.’ We have to get better. We will, and we’ll move onto the next one.”
On his second interception:
“Cary Williams made a great play. He came to the sideline. [Offensive Coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] is really honest with me on plays, anytime you do good or bad. He’s really honest with me about it. It was a decent throw, and Cary made a great play on it. It’s not [wide receiver] Pierre’s [Garçon] fault. I’m responsible for the ball, so even if he does make an amazing diving catch as a corner, it’s still my ball, and still my interception, so he made a good play on that one. The first interception I just saw something different than what was out there, and that’s also my fault.”
On things not going how he had planned:
“Like I said, we had a serious case of the 'can’t get rights.’ Penalties. Everything. Turnovers. That’s not the identity of our offense. We know that. I think that the guys are disappointed in themselves for that, but I’m proud that we came out in the second half. It basically was that way – everything that could go wrong did go wrong. To say that we only lost that game by six when we had that horrendous of a first half, and the beginning of the second half, is something to look at and say, 'Alright, we played horrible and we still almost won the game.’ It’s nothing against Philly, Philly played great. They came out with a good game plan. Their offense played well. We left our defense on the field way too long.”
On the safety:
“I’ll take the heat for that. I’m never going to point the finger at anybody. I pitched the ball, he didn’t catch the ball, and that’s my fault. That’s just the way you have to operate. If you start pointing fingers at each other, that’s when you start having a team that’s separated, and we’re never going to be that way. He’ll tell you the same thing. He’ll tell you it’s his fault, and I’ll tell you it’s my fault, and you’ll decide whose fault it is from your perspective. We’ll get that right. We don’t fumble pitches, and he doesn’t fumble the ball and I don’t throw picks.”
On changing his knee brace:
“No, everybody in the league kept calling down to our sideline saying I need to cover the brace up. I don’t understand that one, but that’s why we have to continue to do some stuff to cover the brace up. The brace just looked bigger because they [the league] kept putting stuff over it.”
On the Eagles’ offense:
“Chip Kelly’s college offense, you watch it at Oregon and it’s successful. They played well. Our defense played very well holding them to field goals in certain situations. [Quarterback] Mike [Vick] has always been a guy that, he’s not old, but you know I’m a younger quarterback, and he’s always been a guy that you’ve watched, and you like to watch him play but, anytime he’s playing against you, I’m not out there cheering for him hoping that he does well. It’s a competitive sport. He did play well. I talked to him after the game and he was very professional about it, and he’s a guy you root for.”
WR Leonard Hankerson
On the offense’s struggles in the first half:
“You know, we stunk it up. In the first half, we didn’t move the ball at all. We didn’t get any first downs. We didn’t score any points. The defense played pretty well, but with them being on the field as long as they were, they kept on getting tight. As an offense, we didn’t do our job at all and we let them down.”
On how long it took for the offense to get on the field to start their first drive:
“It was rough. Philadelphia’s offense was out there for a long time, so that means our defense was out there getting tired and we didn’t help them out at all. We got three first downs in the first half, but we’ve just got to keep building. We showed a whole lot of flash that we can build on. We’ve just got to take it back to practice on Wednesday and keep grinding.”
On what he saw from quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“We all made plays. Whether it was the defense or the offense, everybody went out there. This was the first game of the year. We’ve got a long way to go, and we’ve just got to keep improving all around. The offensive linemen blocking, running backs running the ball, receivers catching the ball – everybody just has to come together as one and just keep improving.”
FB Darrel Young
On the early turnovers by the offense:
“It was just mistake after mistake. We shot ourselves in the foot with that. That’s something that [Head Coach Mike] Shanahan preaches every day, so it will be addressed Wednesday at the team meeting. That’s something we need to get better at. We went on that streak last year and it was a plus margin for us in terms of turnover ratio. Any time you put yourselves in this position… It’s the first game of the season, division game, you know what you are going to get from a division game. It’s going to be a battle, and credit to those guys, they did great. [It’s the] first game together for them, but like you said, you’ve got 15 more, so this isn’t going to make or break where we go from here.”
On if the Philadelphia defense showed him things he wasn’t expecting:
“To be honest with you, from a base standpoint, I couldn’t say that. It was everything that we talked about, but I’m not in on third down, so I see it differently from the sideline. I also don’t see it from a receiver perspective, so they did a good job. It’s a credit to them. They are not a bad football team on defense. They switched to a 3-4. That’s what you want; you want turnovers. That’s the problem with the 3-4 – you’ve got different blocking schemes. It’s something you practice, but we practice against it every day in camp, so we knew what we were going to get. We couldn’t really watch too much film because in preseason you don’t really show things. This is the first time with [Eagles Head Coach] Chip [Kelly], so we had to watch a little bit of the [Arizona] Cardinals defense because that coordinator was there and different things, but we have a feel for them now, and the good thing is that we get to play them again, so we’ll see.”
On if he thinks quarterback Robert Griffin III was rusty:
“I wouldn’t say rust. I think it’s rust from all of us. We dropped passes he’s putting in our faces, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that he was rusty, but he’s got to get back in the groove of things. The first game is not going to make or break the season for you. It sucks. You get over it. We’ve got to go to Green Bay and we have a job to do next week.”
TE Fred Davis
On what quarterback Robert Griffin III said to him at halftime:
“Just that we did everything we possibly could do wrong right there. We didn’t really move the ball at all – three and out, turnovers, we can’t have that. We can’t win against a team like the Eagles when they’re moving the ball like that, and keeping our defense on the field like that, that’s something we can’t do.”
On if Griffin III was getting the rust off and the team’s slow start:
“Sure. You know, he hadn’t played in a while, full-speed and 100 [percent]. He had to get something off of it … and I think he picked it up in the second half.”
On if the Redskins were pressing because of the Eagles’ success:
“I don’t feel we were pressing because we probably would’ve no-huddled them. But no, we were just trying to run our plays, and we just weren’t executing them. People were making mistakes – penalties, fumbles, interceptions, stuff like that you just can’t have that.”
On it being surprising to see the turnovers compared to last year:
“It definitely wasn’t, and that’s just something that you just can’t do against a good team that can move the ball like the Eagles were today. Turnovers can’t happen like that. We got down, and [it] still was a close game, even when we did have those two turnovers. We still didn’t seal the deal.”
On facing the Green Bay Packers next week:
“Next week of practice, [we have to] get our mind right, come back and play hard, execute and get it done in the first half and finish the game.”
WR Pierre Garçon
On the play of quarterback Robert Griffin III:
“It’s part of the game. It’s not Robert’s fault. Robert – he’s out there helping us. He’s doing the best he can. We’ve just got to make plays for him and keep playing football.”
On if Griffin III seemed rusty:
“No, we practice hard. We practice at a game speed, so it’s not rust or anything. It’s just [that] we didn’t know what they were going to show on defense, and they surprised us. They had a lot of looks that we weren’t expecting and we just didn’t get the hang of it until the second half, but that’s football. We’ve just got to make plays. We couldn’t run the ball, we couldn’t catch the ball, we couldn’t get our play calls in… It wasn’t Robert. It was the whole team. It was the whole offense. Good thing this game is behind us – we can learn from it, move on and look forward to next week.”
LB Brian Orakpo
On what changes the defense made at halftime:
“Just the way our front line was aligned. We changed that – guys playing more in the box. What they try to do, they try to spread you out and kind of leave the box wide open, so we just made a few adjustments to get more guys in the box so we could play the run a little better. Then, we had some very successful third downs where we were finally able to start getting off the field.”
On if the pace of the Philadelphia offense was faster than expected:
“We knew what the pace was all about. That’s how they get a lot of guys. Obviously, Oregon does a great job. The offense [Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach] Chip Kelly brought in, as far as a fast-paced tempo, trying to get guys tired, trying to get guys winded… Once you get tired, the mind goes at times, so guys start missing assignments and missing guys and missing tackles – things of that nature. You’ve seen it in the preseason and you kind of saw it in the first half with the way the game was going, but we adjusted and we gelled in the second half and we got back in it. Obviously, it’s a loss that hurts, but we’ve just got to learn from it and get ready for Green Bay.”
RB Chris Thompson
On the offense’s slow start:
“We basically really had to find that rhythm. [Griffin III] didn’t play in any preseason games, but as an offense we had to find that groove, get some big plays here and there to try and spark that offense and get going. It didn’t work in the first half, but in the second half we were able to come out, regroup and fight hard.”
On the offense’s improvement from the first half to the second half:
“We were just trying to find that rhythm. That is what pushes a team’s offense – to just keep going once we get in a rhythm. It showed in the second half. Once we were able to get going, it showed what our offense can do.”
C Will Montgomery
On how the team can improve after this loss:
“We’ve got to clean it up one play at a time. As far as the line, I think we did good at times and there were also times that we let some plays go, so we’ve got to clean it up. I think we fought hard, but we’ve just got to clean it up. I don’t think anything surprised me. I think we just have to execute better and I think we were a little sloppy today.”
S Bacarri Rambo
On the Eagles’ game plan:
“They came out with a good game plan. Those guys executed, and they did a great job. They had a great scheme against us.”
On if the Eagles were doing things they hadn’t seen in preseason:
“There’s a lot of things we saw, just that fast pace. We’ve just got to move on, continue to get better.”
On the number of plays the Eagles ran in the first half:
“That’s what their offense is made of, just have that fast tempo, get the offense a lot of plays and just get the ball in open space and make plays. They did a great job there.”
On if they did anything different in the second half:
“Not really. The coaches made a good adjustment, and we just went out there and played less sloppy football.”
On if he was frustrated the offense couldn’t give the defense a break:
“I mean, it’s all of us. We’re a team, so we just got to go out there on Tuesday and Wednesday and try to get better and move on.”
On Philadelphia’s style:
“That’s a good scheme. Coach Chip Kelly, hats off to him.”
CB DeAngelo Hall
On the defense’s overall effort:
“Not where we need to be, obviously – 33 points. I don’t even know what they finished with yardage-wise, but I know walking in at halftime, seeing 337 yards in a half is pretty frustrating. It’s hard to win a football game like that, but it’s one game. We have 15 more, but when you’re wrong, you’re wrong and we were definitely wrong about this team. They came out with a hell of a game plan that we kind of got a handle on in the second half, but when you’re that many points behind, it’s kind of tough to fight back. So we have to get better, there’s no secret about it. We’ll watch the film – hold ourselves accountable for the plays that we needed to make. It was a heck of a game plan by those guys.”
On the most difficult aspect of the Eagles offense:
“When a team gets up, it’s hard to determine run/pass. They just had us off-balance the whole game. When you jump out like that, and there were a couple times when we thought it was one thing, it was something else. I didn’t think that offense would be like that. I didn’t think they would be able to jump out on us like they did, but any time you’re playing from behind the 8-ball, it’s tough. It’s tough, that offense, those guys in that locker room, they had us at bay for the better part of the football game, so any time you’re playing from behind it’s tough.”
On what they were doing that was so confusing:
“It wasn’t one thing. Like I said, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong. That offense is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league, so we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what we did wrong, figure out what worked. I don’t know when we play them again, but right now it’s [about] next week [at Green Bay]. We’ll go in, watch the film and figure out what we need to correct, but when we see those guys again we’ll have to step it up.”
On the fast start with the defensive touchdown:
“We’re always told to play to the whistle. I felt like it was a pass behind the line of scrimmage, so I decided to just get on it. I saw the referee still running, so I decided to keep on running, too. [That play] definitely was a good start, but you have to play 60 minutes. That one play didn’t define the football game, so we have to keep playing, keep fighting, go back to the drawing board and try to get better.”
On if they were prepared for the Eagles’ tempo:
“It wasn’t that much faster than we expected. We had a lot of plays. It wasn’t necessarily the pace, but anytime at halftime, you have 56 plays… Sometimes you play 56 in a game – definitely coming in at halftime we had guys getting IVs. I was cramping up. It wasn’t the pace, but definitely the number of plays. That was a lot of plays. I don’t know what they finished with, but at halftime they had 56, so it was a lot of plays for us.”
On what happened on wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s touchdown:
“Just blown coverage. The play stayed alive a little longer than it probably should have – just some things we have to correct on the back end.”
On his assignment on the touchdown:
“ spoke with a couple guys back there. Like I said, we’ll go back to the drawing board. I don’t even know exactly what went wrong; it was supposed to be a couple guys. But it is what it is. Those guys came out, executed their game plan and they got a win.”