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October 4, 2011
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On if the team can have 54 players on the roster with cornerback Phillip Buchanon activated:
“Yeah, for a couple of days at least. I’m not sure exactly what day it is, but we’ll have to do something this week.”
On the injury status of Buchanon:
“He was able to practice today, so that was a good sign.”
On the team’s positive attitude through the first quarter of the season:
“I felt that from day one. I have a good feel for this group. I thought, when you take a look at the free agents, when you take a look at the draft choices, you really don’t know coming in. You think you have a feel for them, but, until you work with them, you don’t know for sure. It didn’t take long to feel that this is a very solid group both from a character standpoint as well as a playing standpoint.”
On if he is more relaxed this year:
“I think you’re always more relaxed in your second year. I think [in] the first year, you have so many things going on with evaluating personnel, you’re evaluating coaches, you’re evaluating your support staff and you’re getting ready for a football season. You’re going to make changes at the end of the season. That’s always tough about the first year is trying to figure out who you want a part of your organization and making sure everyone is going in the same direction. I think the difference between the first year and the second year is a big change.”
On how often the league reviews teams’ practice and game tapes:
“I really don’t know to be honest with you. I know they asked us last week to look at all of our film and they get everything from the whole week. I’m not sure how many times they are going to do it to us or other teams.”
On what he tells the players to do during the bye:
“These guys have come in in very good shape coming into camp with the lockout. I’ve asked them to get at least a couple of days of running in and told them, 'God is watching.’ We’ll have to go with the honor system. We have guys that understand – we’re four games into the season and we have a lot to get done. I want their bodies to rest and mentally get away from football a little bit even though some may watch on the weekend. But, when they come back Monday, they’ll be ready to go against Philadelphia.”
On if coaches are staying around for a few days during the bye:
“Yeah, we’re going to look at film for a couple of days, but I want the coaches to get out of here too. They’ll definitely be off for at least four days. I want them to get away because they’ve put in a lot of hours and [there’s] time for them to spend with their family and still get ready for the next opponent.”
On if there is any time off during the season other than the bye:
“I think there is time for everything. You have to make time, especially when you have kids and family. You better make time. Those are an important part of your life. I think as you get a little bit older, like I am now, and the kids are grown, it’s not as important, but now there are grandkids. It’s budgeting time and making sure you get a little bit of time for everything and have some priorities – you better make that a priority.”
On how much time he gets with his family during the week:
“You don’t get much, but you get a lot in the offseason and you try to make time. When you do have time, you want to make sure that it’s quality time - Thursday evenings, some time, and Friday evenings.”
On if it’s a bonus to have his son, Kyle, here:
“It’s a big bonus to have a couple of grandkids here and my daughter is in New York. She’s only a couple of hours away so that’s worked out very well.”
On the team’s leadership:
“I feel very good. We’ve talked about defense – I think we have some natural leaders. I think everyone looks at London [Fletcher] because he’s a veteran and been here for a while. I think we have a lot of people on defense that have a chance to be big-time leaders. [There’s] DeAngelo Hall, take a look at Rex [Grossman] starting to come on, took a look at a guy like [Stephen] Bowen, take a look at a guy like [Barry] Cofield, take a look at [LaRon] Landry and you took a look at a guy like Oshiomogho [Atogwe]. We have some natural leaders out there. Even Josh Wilson has been in the league for a while. You’re hoping all of these guys start coming together. On offense, we have some guys besides Santana [Moss]. You want to say - who is going to take control of the football team? Who are our leaders going to be upfront? Right now, we have a number of guys and it’ll be interesting to see who takes the bull by the horns not only by the way they play, but the way they handle themselves throughout the year.”
On why there was only one offensive captain this year:
“That happens when there are a lot of second guys that they vote on. There are a lot of guys that are very close. I usually wait until after the eighth game. The reason there are two on defense is because they stood out way above the rest. The third guy wasn’t as close as it was on offense so we’ll vote on offense at the halfway point on the second captain. He’ll be there for the remainder of the year, as well as special teams.”
On linebacker Lorenzo Alexander:
“I think he’s great. He’s a great leader and I think everyone looks at him as special teams captain and, in fact, I tell him in walkthrough every week initially that we had it planned that the player of the game would be the guy that goes out. He knows that he was a captain last year and it wasn’t even close. It was probably one of the biggest landslides I had ever seen in voting with him being the special teams captain, so it says a lot about him - not only about his play, but his leadership.”
On how Alexander is handling not playing as much on defense:
“Lorenzo’s a pro. He’s going to do whatever you ask him to do. The good thing about Lorenzo is he can play both outside and inside. If you lose somebody inside, he can step up and play that position, either a Mike or a Jack or he can play a Sam or a Will. Not very many guys are that smart or have that type of ability where they can play all four positions. He’s one of the few that can and help you on special teams as well being our captain.”
On offenses having success passing in the NFL through the first four games:
“I think they are averaging out a little more than you think. Last week, we talked about how bad we were in the running game and this week, we’re talking about how bad we are in the passing game. Things fluctuate and that’s the nature of this league. You just have to keep on working and try to get that balance and trying to put a complete game together. I think our defense in one week went from 16th in the NFL to fifth. That’s a big jump. We were 15th last week and we’re 15th this week [on offense]. You’re always looking to improve and that’s part of a long process. Guys playing together and having some high expectations, but knowing that, it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work at it and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
On if he enjoys the long process of a season:
“I just know that anything worthwhile, you have to work at. Perseverance is usually the key to anything in life. It doesn’t happen overnight and you have to fight through some of these tough times. Nothing is easy. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. If you’re fighting with guys that have character and guys that have the right attitude, guys that are positive, guys that have a great work ethic and they have some perseverance, then you have a chance to do something special. That’s what I think about this football team – we have some guys that are passionate about what they do and have a great work ethic. They go out there every day and try to improve because we know nothing is perfect, but when you have that type of mindset and that type of attitude, you have a chance to do some good things. They know there are going to be some tough times and you have to fight through those tough times. If you don’t, you won’t last.”
On if he is surprised by the NFC East standings:
“This game really doesn’t surprise me because I don’t think about what’s really happened in the past. What’s happened in the past really doesn’t relate to what you are right now. If you think you’re in the past, you are in the past. I think our football team is really concentrating on this team. This is a new team and we have a lot of new players. We do have some players that were here before, but the players that are here are obviously hand-picked for the type of offense, defense and special teams and the type of people that they are. Hopefully, we can create our own identity and hopefully it will be positive.”
On returner Brandon Banks not be able to break a long touchdown:
“I think what everybody sees is when Brandon touches the ball, he has a chance to go the distance. We’ve had some teams that are pretty fired up knowing that if there’s a lull he can go the distance both on punt returns and kickoff returns. That’s what I’ve noticed. I’ve noticed a sense of urgency with the teams that are playing us, and not that we don’t have it, but it only takes one guy on those coverage teams to slow you down and we’ll keep on working to get better. We have to get better on the return for sure.”
On Buchanon working himself back into practice:
“He’s working out today and, when he left, he was a little sore with that shoulder and that looked pretty good today…He’s going to help us right away and he can help our football team. I’ve got to check out here in the next couple of weeks what type of football shape he’s in and hopefully he can helps us out against Philadelphia.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On if the team can have 54 players on the roster with cornerback Phillip Buchanon activated:
“Yeah, for a couple of days at least. I’m not sure exactly what day it is, but we’ll have to do something this week.”
On the injury status of Buchanon:
“He was able to practice today, so that was a good sign.”
On the team’s positive attitude through the first quarter of the season:
“I felt that from day one. I have a good feel for this group. I thought, when you take a look at the free agents, when you take a look at the draft choices, you really don’t know coming in. You think you have a feel for them, but, until you work with them, you don’t know for sure. It didn’t take long to feel that this is a very solid group both from a character standpoint as well as a playing standpoint.”
On if he is more relaxed this year:
“I think you’re always more relaxed in your second year. I think [in] the first year, you have so many things going on with evaluating personnel, you’re evaluating coaches, you’re evaluating your support staff and you’re getting ready for a football season. You’re going to make changes at the end of the season. That’s always tough about the first year is trying to figure out who you want a part of your organization and making sure everyone is going in the same direction. I think the difference between the first year and the second year is a big change.”
On how often the league reviews teams’ practice and game tapes:
“I really don’t know to be honest with you. I know they asked us last week to look at all of our film and they get everything from the whole week. I’m not sure how many times they are going to do it to us or other teams.”
On what he tells the players to do during the bye:
“These guys have come in in very good shape coming into camp with the lockout. I’ve asked them to get at least a couple of days of running in and told them, 'God is watching.’ We’ll have to go with the honor system. We have guys that understand – we’re four games into the season and we have a lot to get done. I want their bodies to rest and mentally get away from football a little bit even though some may watch on the weekend. But, when they come back Monday, they’ll be ready to go against Philadelphia.”
On if coaches are staying around for a few days during the bye:
“Yeah, we’re going to look at film for a couple of days, but I want the coaches to get out of here too. They’ll definitely be off for at least four days. I want them to get away because they’ve put in a lot of hours and [there’s] time for them to spend with their family and still get ready for the next opponent.”
On if there is any time off during the season other than the bye:
“I think there is time for everything. You have to make time, especially when you have kids and family. You better make time. Those are an important part of your life. I think as you get a little bit older, like I am now, and the kids are grown, it’s not as important, but now there are grandkids. It’s budgeting time and making sure you get a little bit of time for everything and have some priorities – you better make that a priority.”
On how much time he gets with his family during the week:
“You don’t get much, but you get a lot in the offseason and you try to make time. When you do have time, you want to make sure that it’s quality time - Thursday evenings, some time, and Friday evenings.”
On if it’s a bonus to have his son, Kyle, here:
“It’s a big bonus to have a couple of grandkids here and my daughter is in New York. She’s only a couple of hours away so that’s worked out very well.”
On the team’s leadership:
“I feel very good. We’ve talked about defense – I think we have some natural leaders. I think everyone looks at London [Fletcher] because he’s a veteran and been here for a while. I think we have a lot of people on defense that have a chance to be big-time leaders. [There’s] DeAngelo Hall, take a look at Rex [Grossman] starting to come on, took a look at a guy like [Stephen] Bowen, take a look at a guy like [Barry] Cofield, take a look at [LaRon] Landry and you took a look at a guy like Oshiomogho [Atogwe]. We have some natural leaders out there. Even Josh Wilson has been in the league for a while. You’re hoping all of these guys start coming together. On offense, we have some guys besides Santana [Moss]. You want to say - who is going to take control of the football team? Who are our leaders going to be upfront? Right now, we have a number of guys and it’ll be interesting to see who takes the bull by the horns not only by the way they play, but the way they handle themselves throughout the year.”
On why there was only one offensive captain this year:
“That happens when there are a lot of second guys that they vote on. There are a lot of guys that are very close. I usually wait until after the eighth game. The reason there are two on defense is because they stood out way above the rest. The third guy wasn’t as close as it was on offense so we’ll vote on offense at the halfway point on the second captain. He’ll be there for the remainder of the year, as well as special teams.”
On linebacker Lorenzo Alexander:
“I think he’s great. He’s a great leader and I think everyone looks at him as special teams captain and, in fact, I tell him in walkthrough every week initially that we had it planned that the player of the game would be the guy that goes out. He knows that he was a captain last year and it wasn’t even close. It was probably one of the biggest landslides I had ever seen in voting with him being the special teams captain, so it says a lot about him - not only about his play, but his leadership.”
On how Alexander is handling not playing as much on defense:
“Lorenzo’s a pro. He’s going to do whatever you ask him to do. The good thing about Lorenzo is he can play both outside and inside. If you lose somebody inside, he can step up and play that position, either a Mike or a Jack or he can play a Sam or a Will. Not very many guys are that smart or have that type of ability where they can play all four positions. He’s one of the few that can and help you on special teams as well being our captain.”
On offenses having success passing in the NFL through the first four games:
“I think they are averaging out a little more than you think. Last week, we talked about how bad we were in the running game and this week, we’re talking about how bad we are in the passing game. Things fluctuate and that’s the nature of this league. You just have to keep on working and try to get that balance and trying to put a complete game together. I think our defense in one week went from 16th in the NFL to fifth. That’s a big jump. We were 15th last week and we’re 15th this week [on offense]. You’re always looking to improve and that’s part of a long process. Guys playing together and having some high expectations, but knowing that, it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work at it and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
On if he enjoys the long process of a season:
“I just know that anything worthwhile, you have to work at. Perseverance is usually the key to anything in life. It doesn’t happen overnight and you have to fight through some of these tough times. Nothing is easy. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. If you’re fighting with guys that have character and guys that have the right attitude, guys that are positive, guys that have a great work ethic and they have some perseverance, then you have a chance to do something special. That’s what I think about this football team – we have some guys that are passionate about what they do and have a great work ethic. They go out there every day and try to improve because we know nothing is perfect, but when you have that type of mindset and that type of attitude, you have a chance to do some good things. They know there are going to be some tough times and you have to fight through those tough times. If you don’t, you won’t last.”
On if he is surprised by the NFC East standings:
“This game really doesn’t surprise me because I don’t think about what’s really happened in the past. What’s happened in the past really doesn’t relate to what you are right now. If you think you’re in the past, you are in the past. I think our football team is really concentrating on this team. This is a new team and we have a lot of new players. We do have some players that were here before, but the players that are here are obviously hand-picked for the type of offense, defense and special teams and the type of people that they are. Hopefully, we can create our own identity and hopefully it will be positive.”
On returner Brandon Banks not be able to break a long touchdown:
“I think what everybody sees is when Brandon touches the ball, he has a chance to go the distance. We’ve had some teams that are pretty fired up knowing that if there’s a lull he can go the distance both on punt returns and kickoff returns. That’s what I’ve noticed. I’ve noticed a sense of urgency with the teams that are playing us, and not that we don’t have it, but it only takes one guy on those coverage teams to slow you down and we’ll keep on working to get better. We have to get better on the return for sure.”
On Buchanon working himself back into practice:
“He’s working out today and, when he left, he was a little sore with that shoulder and that looked pretty good today…He’s going to help us right away and he can help our football team. I’ve got to check out here in the next couple of weeks what type of football shape he’s in and hopefully he can helps us out against Philadelphia.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)