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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Quotes: Jay Gruden (10.16.14)

Head Coach Jay Gruden

On the injury report:

"Ryan Clark was limited and Robert Griffin was limited. Trent Williams went to limited and David Amerson was still limited. Perry Riley was limited. Did not participate was still Tracy Porter and Akeem Jordan. Everyone else was limited. Then Brian Orakpo, Trenton Robinson and Darrel Young were full. That is it."

On if he saw progress from wide receiver Leonard Hankerson and defensive end Stephen Bowen:

"Yeah, yeah. Hankerson made some big plays today, running cards today. He looked good running. Bowen did a good job also. It's just good to have those guys back in the lineup – not in the lineup but just running around, getting them back into team shape, team speed. They're both going to help us eventually."

On Hankerson and Bowen's timelines for return:

"Bowen has been here for a while so I think he could probably get in here to help sooner than later. Hankerson, being that he's a wideout, just to make sure his stamina [is] ready to roll, it might be a week or two. We'll play that one by ear, but I could see Bowen playing pretty quickly. But we'll still talk about that as a staff probably today, this afternoon and tomorrow."

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On what is dictating the number of opportunities wide receiver Pierre Garçon receives:

"Both dictated by coverage and the quarterback, who he's throwing to. Play design sometimes. He's had a couple of games where he's had multiple catches, like you said. Then he's had a couple games where he's had two or three catches, which seems a little bit odd, but sometimes this coverage predicates it, sometimes he's a feature guy and Kirk [Cousins] doesn't see him or he gets pressured or what have you. But every time we call a pass pattern, he's one of our feature receivers obviously. But the coverage will tell you where the ball is going and obviously maybe pressure will dictate it or it may be a bad throw, but he's still a major part of this offense even though he might have two or three catches. But we do have to make sure we get him more touches early in games."

On Garçon as a blocker:

"Oh, he's a good blocker – he's a great blocker. Very good blocker, very strong, very physical, very good after the catch, and that's why we've got to try and get him some balls that he can run with – catch and run with.  But just the last couple of games we haven't been able to do that."

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On why he hasn't been able to get running back Alfred Morris more involved:

"Third downs. Third downs is the reason. If you don't convert on third downs, you're missing out on a whole other drive, series of plays and then you're off the field. Now you're back on and you're trying to get something going – it might be play-action pass early in a down or a run gets stopped and you're back to second down, third down, and you punt. We have got to have more opportunities for him. Those guys who get 25-30 carries a game, some of those guys who get those multiple carries, they're converting on third down. They're holding the ball for 75-80 plays a game and they're in the lead. We've been behind, we've been crappy on third down and haven't had that many play attempts. So, all that goes hand-in-hand."


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On the general sense among the team this week and if it is too late for the team to "get back in the game":

"No, it is not too late to get back into the game. I think a win would do wonders for everybody around here. But I think everybody understands that what has happened has happened and there is nothing we can do about it and we are all moving forward and looking forward to the opportunity of the next day and the next game. So, we've got a chipper bunch right now, excited to play the Titans. It is Homecoming week, we've got a lot of alumni coming here and we really owe our home crowd something, so I think they are fired up to play at home and hopefully take care of business. The mood here is fairly good. I think they are excited to get back on the field and show what the Redskins are all about. Unfortunately we haven't been able to do that, so they are all willing to get out here and work and hopefully get this thing flipped."

On how linebacker Perry Riley, Jr. is progressing and how confident he is in Will Compton:

"Yeah, I am confident in Will. Will played well. There are some things, like everybody else, that he could improve upon but for the most part he stepped in there and played well. But Perry still, he got some limited reps today. We will see how he feels tomorrow and then we will have to make that decision later in the week. It is going to be close, thought. It's going to be close because you can tell he is still not 100 percent yet and he plays with such speed he needs that full strength to get moving. But we will judge that tomorrow after practice and Saturday we will evaluate it."

On if changing practices was meant to stress fundamentals:

"Yeah, I mean you always try to work key fundamentals that you are going to use in the games in those individual periods and some things that you are lacking. You can see once you play a game and you struggle in certain areas, you make that a focal point in your individual drills and the coaches do a good job of that. So that just helps, it helps the guys understand what's important. Their fundamentals, their footwork - all those things - those combinations blocks that you see, the routes that we like to run [are] all very, very important. So that should carry over into practice, which should make practice sharper because of it. But I think our coaches do an excellent job of taking specific drills that translate into the game and working them. And hopefully that will pay off."

On if there is a possibility tackle Morgan Moses and guard Spencer Long could receive reps this season:

"Yeah, there is. There is some thought. There is thought that all our guys that are active on game day or inactive – everybody that wears the Redskins helmet, we give thought to whether they should play or not, not just those two guys. So both of them are continually getting better. It is just a matter of when we feel like we can put them in there and trust the fact that they are going to do exactly what we want them to do and not blow protections or blow assignments, then they will be in there. Plus, with Spencer, [Chris] Chester is playing very well at right guard. And Tyler [Polumbus] is holding down the fort. Obviously, Morgan is pressing him but Morgan is trying to flip over to the right side and he just needs a little bit more time. He is still cooking in the oven a little bit, he is not ready to come out. When he is ready, he will be ready."

On how he felt about the return of tight end Jordan Reed:

"Yeah, I feel good. He feels good. He looks good running around and he is totally confident. It's a good that we waited. He might have been able to play a week sooner but to get that thing fully strengthened where he can go out and run and feel good about it was important. And he obviously is threat on every down in the passing game and doing a better job in blocking but he is full go."

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