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August 7, 2012
Redskins Park
On offensive lineman Chris Chester’s status after injuring his ankle:
“I know it was a little bit swollen today, so I would think it’s a long shot. I don’t want to rule him out because I don’t know for sure how he’s going to be tomorrow, but it didn’t look good.”
On if wide receiver Anthony Armstrong will play in the first preseason game:
“Yeah, we’re ruling out playing Anthony.”
On running back Tim Hightower’s status:
“His activity has picked up. He did a little one-on-one yesterday in pass [protection] and ran some routes. He won’t play in the game, but hopefully he keeps on making progress where he will be able to play hopefully by the third game.”
On if wide receiver Joshua Morgan will play in the first preseason game:
“Yeah, unless there’s a setback today. Hopefully he’ll play.”
On why tight end Chris Cooley did not participate in practice:
“He’s been going pretty hard and just decided he needed a day of rest. With his knee and his hamstring and his groin…He wasn’t complaining about anything. He could have practiced. In fact, he came up to me and said 'Hey, I don’t need the day off,’ so you can kind get an idea of his mindset. I just thought it was in his best interest to kind of recuperate a little bit before he plays in the game.”
On how he plans to rotate the kickers in the first preseason game:
“We’re going to talk about it, but my guess is whoever kicks off will have the next field goal or extra point, whatever it is, and then kickoff again and the next guy will go up. That’s the way we tentatively talked about it, and kind of rotate that way.”
On the reasoning behind why they will rotate the kickers that way:
“If you go quarters, you don’t know if a guy is going to kick in the whole game.”
On if wide receiver Aldrick Robinson is the second punt returner behind wide receiver Brandon Banks:
“No, we’re not really sure who our number two is. We’ll get some guys some opportunities in the game do that throughout the preseason. Aldrick is one of those guys. [Cornerback Richard] Crawford is another guy. [Tight end] Niles Paul is another guy. He’s been practicing there. We have a few guys who have the ability to return punts.”
On what he is looking for from the team’s performance during the first preseason game:
“We’ve been able to evaluate a lot of these players over the last eight, nine, 10 days. Just see how they practice, how they do the basics, and now you get to see them in a game situation. All their preparation during the week leads up to how they perform on game day, so you’re hoping that people show us something that stands out.”
On tackle Jammal Brown:
“He’s getting treatment anywhere from an hour and a half in the morning and a hour and a half during the afternoon. He is still sore, obviously feeling much better than he did before, but that’s all I can tell you. We are just evaluating as time goes on. If he does feel good enough to practice then I will let you guys know… Right now we are not even running him yet because he is still too sore.”
On rookies playing in their first game:
“That’s why they’re here through the OTA days. We have five or six weeks of getting a chance to practice the rookies and get them ready to play in the first game. Then you go through this camp doing the same thing. Now you get a chance to see how they do it under pressure and that’s part of the evaluation of these preseason games. You’re trying to find your best 53 players on your team, then the practice squad as well. It takes a few games to figure out who are those players and how they adjust under pressure.”
On hosting families at their practice today:
“I think it’s great. To do this before the preseason games actually start, where the wives and girlfriends get a chance to meet each other… A lot of times they go to the games and they don’t know anybody, especially if you’re a rookie, sometimes a first-year player. You’re with the kids all the time. Sometimes you don’t get a chance to meet anybody else on the football team, and your husbands are always at work. It’s nice for them to get a chance to spend a few hours a day and get to know each other.”
On divvying playing time between running backs:
“They will both get a chance to play about the same amount. [Evan] Royster will start off the game. We will put [Roy] Helu in there as well. They’ll be in that 15-20 play range. We will get a chance to look at a couple other guys and each game will be a little bit different format so we can evaluate all of them through the preseason.”
On if he sees a big difference in running back Evan Royster:
“It’s really hard with running backs to kind of get a feel, but until you actually see a running back live, it’s kind of really hard to evaluate a guy. You get a feel but you really don’t know for sure. I have said this before about the running backs and safeties, it’s always nice to see them in game situations and see how they play.”
On Evan Royster’s growth:
“The big difference is when our running back comes in; you can see the running skills. It takes a lot to learn how to block, especially inside and outside linebackers and how to pick up a blitz. A lot of times, they weren’t asked to pick up blitzes in college also, a lot of times they were released. So you see the maturity level in how they understand defenses and how they pick up full and zone blitzes and overall how they react under pressure.”
On discussing with the players when they will play:
“We talk about all kinds of things. How many plays you’ve got your first team and second team playing, so you’ve got to coordinate all of that so you’re not playing a first-teamer in the fourth quarter that will obviously get hurt or injured because they haven’t been warmed up enough. So there is a game plan with all those positions going in.”
On Chris Cooley sitting out Tuesday’s practice:
“I was saying he was all right. I just thought he was working extremely hard and I felt like I didn’t want to over push him. I wanted to get him ready to play in the game because we are going to ask a lot of him. This year he will play wide out, he can play both Tiger position and the fullback position like he did a year ago, so I didn’t want to overwork him.”
On if wide receiver Pierre Garçon’s camp compares to his production with the Colts:
“Well, you don’t know until a guy is actually on your team. You see him on film and you feel good about him so that’s why you go out and invest the type of money we invested, but I’m very impressed with how he handled himself. He has speed and explosion. He’ll block. He’s competitive. He has great hands. He will definitely be a big time receiver for our team. He is everything we’re hoping for.”
Redskins Park
Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On offensive lineman Chris Chester’s status after injuring his ankle:
“I know it was a little bit swollen today, so I would think it’s a long shot. I don’t want to rule him out because I don’t know for sure how he’s going to be tomorrow, but it didn’t look good.”
On if wide receiver Anthony Armstrong will play in the first preseason game:
“Yeah, we’re ruling out playing Anthony.”
On running back Tim Hightower’s status:
“His activity has picked up. He did a little one-on-one yesterday in pass [protection] and ran some routes. He won’t play in the game, but hopefully he keeps on making progress where he will be able to play hopefully by the third game.”
On if wide receiver Joshua Morgan will play in the first preseason game:
“Yeah, unless there’s a setback today. Hopefully he’ll play.”
On why tight end Chris Cooley did not participate in practice:
“He’s been going pretty hard and just decided he needed a day of rest. With his knee and his hamstring and his groin…He wasn’t complaining about anything. He could have practiced. In fact, he came up to me and said 'Hey, I don’t need the day off,’ so you can kind get an idea of his mindset. I just thought it was in his best interest to kind of recuperate a little bit before he plays in the game.”
On how he plans to rotate the kickers in the first preseason game:
“We’re going to talk about it, but my guess is whoever kicks off will have the next field goal or extra point, whatever it is, and then kickoff again and the next guy will go up. That’s the way we tentatively talked about it, and kind of rotate that way.”
On the reasoning behind why they will rotate the kickers that way:
“If you go quarters, you don’t know if a guy is going to kick in the whole game.”
On if wide receiver Aldrick Robinson is the second punt returner behind wide receiver Brandon Banks:
“No, we’re not really sure who our number two is. We’ll get some guys some opportunities in the game do that throughout the preseason. Aldrick is one of those guys. [Cornerback Richard] Crawford is another guy. [Tight end] Niles Paul is another guy. He’s been practicing there. We have a few guys who have the ability to return punts.”
On what he is looking for from the team’s performance during the first preseason game:
“We’ve been able to evaluate a lot of these players over the last eight, nine, 10 days. Just see how they practice, how they do the basics, and now you get to see them in a game situation. All their preparation during the week leads up to how they perform on game day, so you’re hoping that people show us something that stands out.”
On tackle Jammal Brown:
“He’s getting treatment anywhere from an hour and a half in the morning and a hour and a half during the afternoon. He is still sore, obviously feeling much better than he did before, but that’s all I can tell you. We are just evaluating as time goes on. If he does feel good enough to practice then I will let you guys know… Right now we are not even running him yet because he is still too sore.”
On rookies playing in their first game:
“That’s why they’re here through the OTA days. We have five or six weeks of getting a chance to practice the rookies and get them ready to play in the first game. Then you go through this camp doing the same thing. Now you get a chance to see how they do it under pressure and that’s part of the evaluation of these preseason games. You’re trying to find your best 53 players on your team, then the practice squad as well. It takes a few games to figure out who are those players and how they adjust under pressure.”
On hosting families at their practice today:
“I think it’s great. To do this before the preseason games actually start, where the wives and girlfriends get a chance to meet each other… A lot of times they go to the games and they don’t know anybody, especially if you’re a rookie, sometimes a first-year player. You’re with the kids all the time. Sometimes you don’t get a chance to meet anybody else on the football team, and your husbands are always at work. It’s nice for them to get a chance to spend a few hours a day and get to know each other.”
On divvying playing time between running backs:
“They will both get a chance to play about the same amount. [Evan] Royster will start off the game. We will put [Roy] Helu in there as well. They’ll be in that 15-20 play range. We will get a chance to look at a couple other guys and each game will be a little bit different format so we can evaluate all of them through the preseason.”
On if he sees a big difference in running back Evan Royster:
“It’s really hard with running backs to kind of get a feel, but until you actually see a running back live, it’s kind of really hard to evaluate a guy. You get a feel but you really don’t know for sure. I have said this before about the running backs and safeties, it’s always nice to see them in game situations and see how they play.”
On Evan Royster’s growth:
“The big difference is when our running back comes in; you can see the running skills. It takes a lot to learn how to block, especially inside and outside linebackers and how to pick up a blitz. A lot of times, they weren’t asked to pick up blitzes in college also, a lot of times they were released. So you see the maturity level in how they understand defenses and how they pick up full and zone blitzes and overall how they react under pressure.”
On discussing with the players when they will play:
“We talk about all kinds of things. How many plays you’ve got your first team and second team playing, so you’ve got to coordinate all of that so you’re not playing a first-teamer in the fourth quarter that will obviously get hurt or injured because they haven’t been warmed up enough. So there is a game plan with all those positions going in.”
On Chris Cooley sitting out Tuesday’s practice:
“I was saying he was all right. I just thought he was working extremely hard and I felt like I didn’t want to over push him. I wanted to get him ready to play in the game because we are going to ask a lot of him. This year he will play wide out, he can play both Tiger position and the fullback position like he did a year ago, so I didn’t want to overwork him.”
On if wide receiver Pierre Garçon’s camp compares to his production with the Colts:
“Well, you don’t know until a guy is actually on your team. You see him on film and you feel good about him so that’s why you go out and invest the type of money we invested, but I’m very impressed with how he handled himself. He has speed and explosion. He’ll block. He’s competitive. He has great hands. He will definitely be a big time receiver for our team. He is everything we’re hoping for.”
