 }})
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2009
- Messages
- 49,949
- Reaction score
- 7,691
- Points
- 2,544
- Location
- Greensboro, NC
- Military Branch
- Alma Mater
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On who will start at quarterback against the Panthers:
“We’ll go through it Wednesday. With all different positions, if you’re talking about offensive guard, tight end. Chris [Cooley] obviously is going to have surgery on Wednesday. Kory [Lichtensteiger] did have an ACL. All of those situations, we’ll talk about after practice on Wednesday.”
On how he’ll determine who will be the starting quarterback:
“As I’ve kind of reviewed in at least the year-and-a-half that I’ve been here, we’re going to play the people that we think give us the best chance to win. That’s based on practices, games, [and] our gut with what direction we’re going to go. [It] will be decided by what we see at all those factors. It’s not just one. It’s not a game obviously. There are quarterbacks that will throw four [interceptions]. We know a pretty good quarterback this year that threw four interceptions in a game. Some guys will have good games and bad games – wide receivers, linebackers, but we’ll always make decisions which we feel give us the best chance to win.”
On if he considers players’ input like wide receiver Santana Moss on who should start at quarterback:
“First of all, you want your players to support all of their players regardless. First, second, third-teamers, I would expect them to support Santana [Moss]. We’re going to do what we think is best for our football team and I will always do that if I’m the head coach.”
On dealing with the quarterback position being in a state of flux:
“Well, what I think you have to do with your football team is at least be honest. You have to tell them what you’re thinking. You have to do what’s in the best interest of your football team based on the facts and the knowledge that you have on hand.”
On how important a player’s record is in weighing whether or not he should start:
“What you try to do is do things that you feel give you the best chance to win based on a lot of different factors. In not only practice over the last couple of weeks, how a person plays, your gut for the future, your football team. You mentioned Santana, that’s exactly what you want. You want players supporting your quarterback. You want an offensive line supporting your quarterback. You want a defense supporting your quarterback or whatever position that they’re at. But that’s not the only position that there’s competition. There’s competition each weekend that doesn’t get the competition that the quarterback does for obvious reasons. That’s why you want to have some depth and that’s why you want to have at least, hopefully, some depth at each position.”
On if it’s disappointing to potentially have to name a new starting quarterback this early in the season:
“It’s football. That’s what happens not only at the quarterback position but at any position. I have two guys that I believe in. I believe in Rex [Grossman] and I believe in John Beck. I told you that from day one. Both guys I am hoping are going to be here for a long time.”
On if he still believes that Rex Grossman and John Beck can be effective quarterbacks:
“Yes, I do.”
On if the interceptions were Grossman’s fault or the receivers:
“I don’t go through all of that kind of stuff. That’s for you guys to decide. On a serious note, that happens all of the time. The quarterback has to anticipate the throw and, all of a sudden, a guy misses it and that’s on the quarterback. The other football team knows who made the mistake and our players know who made the mistake. Sometimes, you get away with one. All of a sudden, it should be an interception and the guy drops the ball. The guy just misses it. You’re looking at those things all of the time. A quarterback may have no interceptions in a game and three hits the other guys in the hands and everybody says, 'Oh my God, look at the stats, he had three touchdown passes and no interceptions.’ I don’t look at it that way at all. Sometimes, you get a little lucky and other times it goes the other way. Usually, over the long run, it averages out.”
On if he would consider moving right tackle Jammal Brown to left tackle because of left tackle Trent Williams’ injury:
“That’s a possibility.”
On how he decided to take Grossman out:
“I can’t tell you for sure. Can’t say I didn’t think about it after the third [interception]. You have to go with your gut. It all depends with that third interception – who’s fault was it? Quarterback’s or was it somebody else? There are a lot of things that go through your mind. If I went through all of those scenarios then I’d have to call out other people. The protections, it could be an offensive linemen, wide receiver, it could be a tight end. I just don’t get into all of those types of things, but it all depends who makes the mistake… I’m just saying based on if it’s the quarterback’s fault or somebody else’s fault if you have three interceptions or four interceptions. I think I have been with [John] Elway and some five interception days. It doesn’t get any tougher than that. You just shake it off and go forward. Those things do happen. Now, is it entirely the quarterback’s fault? Sometimes, it is. If it is, then you have to shake it off and you have to try to eliminate those mistakes. Those are the situations you have to fight through and you understand you’re going to have days like that.”
On if tight end Chris Cooley is out for the season:
“He’s going to get [his index finger] operated on Wednesday and I think after the surgery I need to get some more opinions on his knee. We did rest it and it did swell up again eventually. We need to know what the doctors think with the finger, with the knee, exactly where he’ll be at… We’ll listen to opinions over the next few days, especially after the surgery to make a decision for sure.”
On the injury status of tackle Trent Williams and guard Kory Lichtensteiger:
“I don’t think you ever know with an ankle sprain, but a high ankle sprain is usually a couple of weeks. Kory will be out for the year [with an] ACL/MCL [injury].”
On when Lichtensteiger will have surgery to repair ACL/MCL injuries:
“I don’t know. Usually they will let the swelling go down for a few days so I would say within the week.”
On if offensive line depth is a major concern:
“Anytime you lose a couple guys there is always depth as a concern for sure. We’re going to fill it with Maurice [Hurt]. We’re going to pull him up from the practice squad and I thought Erik Cook played pretty well for his first game.”
On if they need to activate Kareem Moore this week:
“No, we have to activate him between the sixth week and the ninth week of the season then he has two weeks to practice before we have to activate him.”
On if he believes Rex Grossman will easily overcome the turnover problem:
“A lot has to do with your supporting cast. You have to make a decision, is it just the quarterback? Is it the offensive line? Is it your wide receivers? Is it decision making? There are a lot of factors that go into it.”
On Orakpo’s charged penalty for a helmet-to-helmet tackle:
“I didn’t see the TV copy on that, but on the end zone [copy] it did look like there was some helmet-to-helmet. When a quarterback fumbles the ball, like he did, if he had taken off and just ran you can have the helmet-to-helmet. But when he got in a position to throw the football and he threw it away, if there’s helmet-to-helmet then it’s a penalty. If he would’ve gotten that ball after the bad snap and just continued to run, [Brian Orakpo] could’ve hit him wherever he wanted to. Once he gets in a passing position and he releases the ball, if there is a helmet-to-helmet it’s a penalty.”
On the plays Grossman’s making that keep him confident in his ability:
“Here’s one example for when you throw an interception. If you’re a quarterback, you have to throw a ball before a guys open. If you do that and it gets picked it’s a turnover. Whose fault is it? Sometimes it’s a quarterback, but other times it may be a wide receiver, maybe a tight end, maybe a running back. Those are the types of decisions I’m talking about.”
On if this weekend’s injuries complicate the Redskins’ trade situation:
“I don’t think [injuries] really complicate things. I think you always have your ears open to see if there’s any opportunities for you to get better. I think most of the people that make trades usually that person’s on the last year of their contract and they want compensation return; they’re counting on that person either not playing for them or not being on their team and they’re hoping they can get a draft choice in return. Sometimes it works out because a guy’s a good enough player that someone will take a chance. Over the years very few trades have been made but they do exist.”
On John Beck’s describing his own play on Sunday as 'rusty’:
“I’d say that’s a pretty good assessment. I think one of the high crosses he’d like to have back – he hit it a little low – one of the stick routes he’d like to have back. I thought he did a good job in a couple scrambles getting out of the pocket and making a play. That’s going to happen though, it’s not going to be perfect. The one thing that he was, was prepared. That’s what you want your second-team players to do is be prepared. They’re one player away from being the starter, so if a guy does go down you know you can count on that guy to be ready.”
On if John Beck will receive some reps with the first team:
“The second team quarterback does get some reps. He got some in the bye week. You try to get all your reps to the starting quarterback. The backup quarterback, which was Rex [Grossman] last year, he was in the same situation with Donovan [McNabb] – he gets all the scout team reps. What they do is in their mind they need to go through the progression, they’ve got to read coverages, and they’ve got to throw to the right guy. A lot of their routes are fairly similar. Even though you may not be running our plays you’re running plays that are very similar. You can see if a guy is on or not on…if a guy is playing well as the scout quarterback. The thing that’s tough is being the third team quarterback. The third team quarterback gets no reps because the second team quarterback wants to gobble up all the reps so he’s prepared and he can get ready to play.”
On if wide receiver Anthony Armstrong will be able to practice on Wednesday:
“I’m hoping he can. He was much improved last week…85 or 90 percent. I’m hoping that there is no setback and he’s ready to go on Wednesday, but I won’t know until we practice.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)
On who will start at quarterback against the Panthers:
“We’ll go through it Wednesday. With all different positions, if you’re talking about offensive guard, tight end. Chris [Cooley] obviously is going to have surgery on Wednesday. Kory [Lichtensteiger] did have an ACL. All of those situations, we’ll talk about after practice on Wednesday.”
On how he’ll determine who will be the starting quarterback:
“As I’ve kind of reviewed in at least the year-and-a-half that I’ve been here, we’re going to play the people that we think give us the best chance to win. That’s based on practices, games, [and] our gut with what direction we’re going to go. [It] will be decided by what we see at all those factors. It’s not just one. It’s not a game obviously. There are quarterbacks that will throw four [interceptions]. We know a pretty good quarterback this year that threw four interceptions in a game. Some guys will have good games and bad games – wide receivers, linebackers, but we’ll always make decisions which we feel give us the best chance to win.”
On if he considers players’ input like wide receiver Santana Moss on who should start at quarterback:
“First of all, you want your players to support all of their players regardless. First, second, third-teamers, I would expect them to support Santana [Moss]. We’re going to do what we think is best for our football team and I will always do that if I’m the head coach.”
On dealing with the quarterback position being in a state of flux:
“Well, what I think you have to do with your football team is at least be honest. You have to tell them what you’re thinking. You have to do what’s in the best interest of your football team based on the facts and the knowledge that you have on hand.”
On how important a player’s record is in weighing whether or not he should start:
“What you try to do is do things that you feel give you the best chance to win based on a lot of different factors. In not only practice over the last couple of weeks, how a person plays, your gut for the future, your football team. You mentioned Santana, that’s exactly what you want. You want players supporting your quarterback. You want an offensive line supporting your quarterback. You want a defense supporting your quarterback or whatever position that they’re at. But that’s not the only position that there’s competition. There’s competition each weekend that doesn’t get the competition that the quarterback does for obvious reasons. That’s why you want to have some depth and that’s why you want to have at least, hopefully, some depth at each position.”
On if it’s disappointing to potentially have to name a new starting quarterback this early in the season:
“It’s football. That’s what happens not only at the quarterback position but at any position. I have two guys that I believe in. I believe in Rex [Grossman] and I believe in John Beck. I told you that from day one. Both guys I am hoping are going to be here for a long time.”
On if he still believes that Rex Grossman and John Beck can be effective quarterbacks:
“Yes, I do.”
On if the interceptions were Grossman’s fault or the receivers:
“I don’t go through all of that kind of stuff. That’s for you guys to decide. On a serious note, that happens all of the time. The quarterback has to anticipate the throw and, all of a sudden, a guy misses it and that’s on the quarterback. The other football team knows who made the mistake and our players know who made the mistake. Sometimes, you get away with one. All of a sudden, it should be an interception and the guy drops the ball. The guy just misses it. You’re looking at those things all of the time. A quarterback may have no interceptions in a game and three hits the other guys in the hands and everybody says, 'Oh my God, look at the stats, he had three touchdown passes and no interceptions.’ I don’t look at it that way at all. Sometimes, you get a little lucky and other times it goes the other way. Usually, over the long run, it averages out.”
On if he would consider moving right tackle Jammal Brown to left tackle because of left tackle Trent Williams’ injury:
“That’s a possibility.”
On how he decided to take Grossman out:
“I can’t tell you for sure. Can’t say I didn’t think about it after the third [interception]. You have to go with your gut. It all depends with that third interception – who’s fault was it? Quarterback’s or was it somebody else? There are a lot of things that go through your mind. If I went through all of those scenarios then I’d have to call out other people. The protections, it could be an offensive linemen, wide receiver, it could be a tight end. I just don’t get into all of those types of things, but it all depends who makes the mistake… I’m just saying based on if it’s the quarterback’s fault or somebody else’s fault if you have three interceptions or four interceptions. I think I have been with [John] Elway and some five interception days. It doesn’t get any tougher than that. You just shake it off and go forward. Those things do happen. Now, is it entirely the quarterback’s fault? Sometimes, it is. If it is, then you have to shake it off and you have to try to eliminate those mistakes. Those are the situations you have to fight through and you understand you’re going to have days like that.”
On if tight end Chris Cooley is out for the season:
“He’s going to get [his index finger] operated on Wednesday and I think after the surgery I need to get some more opinions on his knee. We did rest it and it did swell up again eventually. We need to know what the doctors think with the finger, with the knee, exactly where he’ll be at… We’ll listen to opinions over the next few days, especially after the surgery to make a decision for sure.”
On the injury status of tackle Trent Williams and guard Kory Lichtensteiger:
“I don’t think you ever know with an ankle sprain, but a high ankle sprain is usually a couple of weeks. Kory will be out for the year [with an] ACL/MCL [injury].”
On when Lichtensteiger will have surgery to repair ACL/MCL injuries:
“I don’t know. Usually they will let the swelling go down for a few days so I would say within the week.”
On if offensive line depth is a major concern:
“Anytime you lose a couple guys there is always depth as a concern for sure. We’re going to fill it with Maurice [Hurt]. We’re going to pull him up from the practice squad and I thought Erik Cook played pretty well for his first game.”
On if they need to activate Kareem Moore this week:
“No, we have to activate him between the sixth week and the ninth week of the season then he has two weeks to practice before we have to activate him.”
On if he believes Rex Grossman will easily overcome the turnover problem:
“A lot has to do with your supporting cast. You have to make a decision, is it just the quarterback? Is it the offensive line? Is it your wide receivers? Is it decision making? There are a lot of factors that go into it.”
On Orakpo’s charged penalty for a helmet-to-helmet tackle:
“I didn’t see the TV copy on that, but on the end zone [copy] it did look like there was some helmet-to-helmet. When a quarterback fumbles the ball, like he did, if he had taken off and just ran you can have the helmet-to-helmet. But when he got in a position to throw the football and he threw it away, if there’s helmet-to-helmet then it’s a penalty. If he would’ve gotten that ball after the bad snap and just continued to run, [Brian Orakpo] could’ve hit him wherever he wanted to. Once he gets in a passing position and he releases the ball, if there is a helmet-to-helmet it’s a penalty.”
On the plays Grossman’s making that keep him confident in his ability:
“Here’s one example for when you throw an interception. If you’re a quarterback, you have to throw a ball before a guys open. If you do that and it gets picked it’s a turnover. Whose fault is it? Sometimes it’s a quarterback, but other times it may be a wide receiver, maybe a tight end, maybe a running back. Those are the types of decisions I’m talking about.”
On if this weekend’s injuries complicate the Redskins’ trade situation:
“I don’t think [injuries] really complicate things. I think you always have your ears open to see if there’s any opportunities for you to get better. I think most of the people that make trades usually that person’s on the last year of their contract and they want compensation return; they’re counting on that person either not playing for them or not being on their team and they’re hoping they can get a draft choice in return. Sometimes it works out because a guy’s a good enough player that someone will take a chance. Over the years very few trades have been made but they do exist.”
On John Beck’s describing his own play on Sunday as 'rusty’:
“I’d say that’s a pretty good assessment. I think one of the high crosses he’d like to have back – he hit it a little low – one of the stick routes he’d like to have back. I thought he did a good job in a couple scrambles getting out of the pocket and making a play. That’s going to happen though, it’s not going to be perfect. The one thing that he was, was prepared. That’s what you want your second-team players to do is be prepared. They’re one player away from being the starter, so if a guy does go down you know you can count on that guy to be ready.”
On if John Beck will receive some reps with the first team:
“The second team quarterback does get some reps. He got some in the bye week. You try to get all your reps to the starting quarterback. The backup quarterback, which was Rex [Grossman] last year, he was in the same situation with Donovan [McNabb] – he gets all the scout team reps. What they do is in their mind they need to go through the progression, they’ve got to read coverages, and they’ve got to throw to the right guy. A lot of their routes are fairly similar. Even though you may not be running our plays you’re running plays that are very similar. You can see if a guy is on or not on…if a guy is playing well as the scout quarterback. The thing that’s tough is being the third team quarterback. The third team quarterback gets no reps because the second team quarterback wants to gobble up all the reps so he’s prepared and he can get ready to play.”
On if wide receiver Anthony Armstrong will be able to practice on Wednesday:
“I’m hoping he can. He was much improved last week…85 or 90 percent. I’m hoping that there is no setback and he’s ready to go on Wednesday, but I won’t know until we practice.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)
