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July 29, 2013
Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On cornerback DeAngelo Hall’s ankle:
“That’s all I know is that he rolled it. I don’t think it’s that serious right now. I know it’s quite sore. It takes a little while to find out for sure. Hopefully he’s okay. We’ll know more in the next 24 hours.”
On running back Alfred Morris coming in as a starter not having to learn as a rookie like last year:
“Well, Alfred Morris is an elite running back. We felt that when he first came in and we got a chance to evaluate him during preseason. I think you could see right away his natural running skills. He’s come back after a great year of offseason conditioning, feeling a lot more comfortable in the offensive system and himself. And he’s actually running at a different level right now than he did when he came in. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. I think he has got a good feel of what we are asking him to do, and he does everything he can in the right manner. So I think he’ll just keep getting better and better.”
On tackle Trent Williams playing through adversity and injury:
“Anytime you’re the captain of the football team, you expect a guy to play through some injuries and he has done that. He’s played when he’s been hurt. He’s had a quad bruise. He’s had ankle sprains, and he’s shown our football team that he’s going to be a leader, and we expect him to be that type of leader with his athletic ability, with his competitiveness. Hopefully he can keep on playing at that level.”
On if Williams learned from playing injured that can help him going forward:
“Yeah, I hope so. That’s what you’re hoping, that your top athletes on your football team are the guys that set the example on how to practice, how to play, especially those offensive linemen. There’s got to be a toughness there that kind of separates you from the rest of the pack, and he possesses that toughness and he possesses some great athletic ability as well. He made some big steps last year as our leader and I expect him to do the same this year.”
On if quarterback Robert Griffin III was more involved in practice today:
“We didn’t increase anything today for Robert. He didn’t have a walkthrough. What you see there at the start of practice — he plays the first three periods, that’s our screen drills. We’re not playing against anybody. So we’ve got the same plan for Robert that we did the first day. We’ll have that for the next couple of weeks, make sure he’s in football shape. He’s feeling stronger. I can see him improving every day. He’s getting some good 7-on-7 work; he got about 10 reps today. He had 30 minutes of individual [work], he had 20 minutes in special teams and he worked after practice as well on some of his quarterback keeps and throwing on the run. So we’ll continue to do that for a while.”
On if he is satisfied with the running backs in pass protection:
“That kind of the fun part about Training Camp is you get a chance to have those live drills against linebackers. It’s really tough on those running backs. They’re blocking guys 260-270 pounds and some of these guys are 190-200. But we want to see if guys will hit, people will strike, what type of toughness they have, what type of technique they have. I thought for the first day they did well.”
On the relationship he has built with Griffin III:
“What you do is you get a relationship going. You understand a player. He understands you. You get a chance to see what type of mindset that he has, how he plays, how he prepares, what type of work ethic he has. So part of the growth in any football team is guys going from the first year to the second year. You get to know him personally. You get to know him professionally. And as we’ve stated before, we’re going to do the best for Robert. We’re going to do what we think is best for him to make sure he stays healthy, to make sure that we don’t push him too quick or too hard and hopefully there is no setback. If there is no setback, then the sky is the limit.”
On evaluating Griffin III’s plant leg:
“That’s part of what we’re going now. Through every part of our individual drill, you take a look at him with three-, five-, seven-step drops, if we’re in a shotgun, if we’re in a Pistol, that’s what we’re doing. We’re putting him through those types of drills to see if it is natural. The hard part of being in any type of team situation, if you’re in a team, you do things and you have to react and it’s very quick. If you put a guy in there too early and he doesn’t have that full strength, you could lose that ACL, LCL, just like that. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to make sure to do it the right way that we feel is a slow process, but enough work where he keeps getting in football shape every day. It’s just a process we go through, not only with Robert but with a number of people – we’ve got 10 people out there that haven’t been through the OTAs. We’re doing the same thing with those people that we’re doing with Robert.”
On cornerbacks Josh Wilson and Chase Minnifield getting more reps today:
“For example, with Chase we kept him out of practice on Saturday – I think it was Saturday. But we’ve got to watch these guys, make sure that they don’t go too quick. 'Rak [linebacker Brian Orakpo] is not going to get all his reps. Chase isn’t going to get all of his reps that he wants, but it’s part of the process as well. We kept him out of the last day of the OTAs just because we thought we were pushing him a little bit too much. Sometimes he’ll go through all the drills but we’ll take a couple of reps away from them. I think Chase has done a great job. He’s been very impressive out there over the first few days and as well as a couple of other guys. [Safety] Brandon Meriweather, looked like we put a little bit too much pressure on him so we’re not having him do as many reps. That’ll be part of this camp. When guys step up and we feel like they can handle the amount of reps that warrant getting them ready for the first game, then we’ll try to do that.”
On what he likes about cornerback David Amerson:
“He has got length. He’s got speed. Anytime you’re in that 4.3 range, you’re over six feet, you have long arms, you have excellent hands – which was showed throughout his collegiate career – it speaks to the potential the guy has. Now you take a look at how he adjusts to the system. If it is man coverage, zone coverage, if it’s two-deep, base defense, nickel defense, we get to see him in a team-type atmosphere and see how he fits into our system. But he has done a good job. He has got a big upside.”
On guard Adam Gettis not practicing today:
“He has a hamstring. Hopefully it won’t be too long. I don’t think it is a big strain. I think it’s a mild strain. Hopefully within the next two or three days, he might be able to practice.”
On the move to digital playbooks:
“For me, I am kind of old school, so it is a little tougher for me. But for those guys, it is easy. They love it. They don’t have to carry a big playbook around. You got one of these iPad’s and they adjust very quickly. They really enjoy it and I think it has been a big benefit to us.”
On if anyone can expect a Mike Shanahan Twitter account anytime soon:
“I have never been on Twitter. I don’t even have email. I just learned to fax – I mean, text – about two years ago [Laughter]. On a serious side, I don’t have an email, I do text but I am not very good at that. I am not getting into Twitter.”
On what running back Roy Helu, Jr. can add to the team:
“I think we saw what Roy did in the Seattle game when we played out there. He made such a big play it was the difference in us winning that football game, when he hopped over the defender and went about 40-something yards for a touchdown. He has that type of ability. He is strong He’s fast, he’s elusive, and he is healthy now so we get a chance to evaluate him. Hopefully he can keep on improving like he did in his rookie year.”
On linebacker Keenan Robinson’s surgery:
“I believe it is Tuesday of next week. It was Monday or Tuesday, they thought it was going to be Tuesday.”
Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On cornerback DeAngelo Hall’s ankle:
“That’s all I know is that he rolled it. I don’t think it’s that serious right now. I know it’s quite sore. It takes a little while to find out for sure. Hopefully he’s okay. We’ll know more in the next 24 hours.”
On running back Alfred Morris coming in as a starter not having to learn as a rookie like last year:
“Well, Alfred Morris is an elite running back. We felt that when he first came in and we got a chance to evaluate him during preseason. I think you could see right away his natural running skills. He’s come back after a great year of offseason conditioning, feeling a lot more comfortable in the offensive system and himself. And he’s actually running at a different level right now than he did when he came in. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. I think he has got a good feel of what we are asking him to do, and he does everything he can in the right manner. So I think he’ll just keep getting better and better.”
On tackle Trent Williams playing through adversity and injury:
“Anytime you’re the captain of the football team, you expect a guy to play through some injuries and he has done that. He’s played when he’s been hurt. He’s had a quad bruise. He’s had ankle sprains, and he’s shown our football team that he’s going to be a leader, and we expect him to be that type of leader with his athletic ability, with his competitiveness. Hopefully he can keep on playing at that level.”
On if Williams learned from playing injured that can help him going forward:
“Yeah, I hope so. That’s what you’re hoping, that your top athletes on your football team are the guys that set the example on how to practice, how to play, especially those offensive linemen. There’s got to be a toughness there that kind of separates you from the rest of the pack, and he possesses that toughness and he possesses some great athletic ability as well. He made some big steps last year as our leader and I expect him to do the same this year.”
On if quarterback Robert Griffin III was more involved in practice today:
“We didn’t increase anything today for Robert. He didn’t have a walkthrough. What you see there at the start of practice — he plays the first three periods, that’s our screen drills. We’re not playing against anybody. So we’ve got the same plan for Robert that we did the first day. We’ll have that for the next couple of weeks, make sure he’s in football shape. He’s feeling stronger. I can see him improving every day. He’s getting some good 7-on-7 work; he got about 10 reps today. He had 30 minutes of individual [work], he had 20 minutes in special teams and he worked after practice as well on some of his quarterback keeps and throwing on the run. So we’ll continue to do that for a while.”
On if he is satisfied with the running backs in pass protection:
“That kind of the fun part about Training Camp is you get a chance to have those live drills against linebackers. It’s really tough on those running backs. They’re blocking guys 260-270 pounds and some of these guys are 190-200. But we want to see if guys will hit, people will strike, what type of toughness they have, what type of technique they have. I thought for the first day they did well.”
On the relationship he has built with Griffin III:
“What you do is you get a relationship going. You understand a player. He understands you. You get a chance to see what type of mindset that he has, how he plays, how he prepares, what type of work ethic he has. So part of the growth in any football team is guys going from the first year to the second year. You get to know him personally. You get to know him professionally. And as we’ve stated before, we’re going to do the best for Robert. We’re going to do what we think is best for him to make sure he stays healthy, to make sure that we don’t push him too quick or too hard and hopefully there is no setback. If there is no setback, then the sky is the limit.”
On evaluating Griffin III’s plant leg:
“That’s part of what we’re going now. Through every part of our individual drill, you take a look at him with three-, five-, seven-step drops, if we’re in a shotgun, if we’re in a Pistol, that’s what we’re doing. We’re putting him through those types of drills to see if it is natural. The hard part of being in any type of team situation, if you’re in a team, you do things and you have to react and it’s very quick. If you put a guy in there too early and he doesn’t have that full strength, you could lose that ACL, LCL, just like that. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to make sure to do it the right way that we feel is a slow process, but enough work where he keeps getting in football shape every day. It’s just a process we go through, not only with Robert but with a number of people – we’ve got 10 people out there that haven’t been through the OTAs. We’re doing the same thing with those people that we’re doing with Robert.”
On cornerbacks Josh Wilson and Chase Minnifield getting more reps today:
“For example, with Chase we kept him out of practice on Saturday – I think it was Saturday. But we’ve got to watch these guys, make sure that they don’t go too quick. 'Rak [linebacker Brian Orakpo] is not going to get all his reps. Chase isn’t going to get all of his reps that he wants, but it’s part of the process as well. We kept him out of the last day of the OTAs just because we thought we were pushing him a little bit too much. Sometimes he’ll go through all the drills but we’ll take a couple of reps away from them. I think Chase has done a great job. He’s been very impressive out there over the first few days and as well as a couple of other guys. [Safety] Brandon Meriweather, looked like we put a little bit too much pressure on him so we’re not having him do as many reps. That’ll be part of this camp. When guys step up and we feel like they can handle the amount of reps that warrant getting them ready for the first game, then we’ll try to do that.”
On what he likes about cornerback David Amerson:
“He has got length. He’s got speed. Anytime you’re in that 4.3 range, you’re over six feet, you have long arms, you have excellent hands – which was showed throughout his collegiate career – it speaks to the potential the guy has. Now you take a look at how he adjusts to the system. If it is man coverage, zone coverage, if it’s two-deep, base defense, nickel defense, we get to see him in a team-type atmosphere and see how he fits into our system. But he has done a good job. He has got a big upside.”
On guard Adam Gettis not practicing today:
“He has a hamstring. Hopefully it won’t be too long. I don’t think it is a big strain. I think it’s a mild strain. Hopefully within the next two or three days, he might be able to practice.”
On the move to digital playbooks:
“For me, I am kind of old school, so it is a little tougher for me. But for those guys, it is easy. They love it. They don’t have to carry a big playbook around. You got one of these iPad’s and they adjust very quickly. They really enjoy it and I think it has been a big benefit to us.”
On if anyone can expect a Mike Shanahan Twitter account anytime soon:
“I have never been on Twitter. I don’t even have email. I just learned to fax – I mean, text – about two years ago [Laughter]. On a serious side, I don’t have an email, I do text but I am not very good at that. I am not getting into Twitter.”
On what running back Roy Helu, Jr. can add to the team:
“I think we saw what Roy did in the Seattle game when we played out there. He made such a big play it was the difference in us winning that football game, when he hopped over the defender and went about 40-something yards for a touchdown. He has that type of ability. He is strong He’s fast, he’s elusive, and he is healthy now so we get a chance to evaluate him. Hopefully he can keep on improving like he did in his rookie year.”
On linebacker Keenan Robinson’s surgery:
“I believe it is Tuesday of next week. It was Monday or Tuesday, they thought it was going to be Tuesday.”