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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Quotes: Jay Gruden and Greg Manusky (12-7-2017)

Head Coach Jay Gruden

On injuries:

"Did not participate was Montae [Nicholson], concussion; Jordan Reed, hamstring; Trent Williams, knee. Limited were [Morgan] Moses, ankle; [Zach] Brown, hamstring/Achilles; Mo [Maurice] Harris, concussion; [Terrell] McClain, toe; [Chase] Roullier, hand; and [Martrell] Spaight, ankle. Everybody else was full."

On if DL Matt Ioannidis practiced without his cast today:

"He did. He looked good."

On how Ioannidis practiced without the cast:

"He did good. He had it off yesterday too, so, yeah. It's good to see his fingers."

On T Morgan Moses:

"He's out there, did some individual today, was very limited, but he's making progress, which is a good thing."

On if Moses' recurring ankle issues are a concern:

"I think he had a foot before and now he's got a couple ankles. He's a big guy. Just got to work on his ankle strength in the offseason, but I think he'll be fine eventually. These are just nagging injuries that happen from year to year from time to time to different guys, but I don't think this will be a reoccurring issue. I think once these things heal up, he'll be fine."

On how much Ioannidis' cast and injury restricted him:

"It restricts him a little bit. I think he would have had a sack last week, actually. He escaped on his cast hand, which he couldn't grab any cloth, so it does have an impact without a doubt. I'd be lying if it didn't, but I think he's been gutting it out and doing the best he can with what he has to work with and he's been playing effectively. Just not quite as good as he would without it."

On RB Samaje Perine in pass protection:

"Yeah, he's getting better. We just didn't ask him to do a whole lot of that pass pro early because we had Chris [Thompson] and Rob [Kelley]. He was like our third-string pass protecting-type guy, but when he was in the game in base and we did any play-action passes, he was OK in pass protection. But now, he's getting more opportunities so the jury's still out on his pass protection, but I think he's doing well. Out in practice he knows who he's going to and his technique has been fine. It's just a matter of going out and doing it in live action and we'll see it in the last four weeks."

On having T Ty Nsekhe and G Brandon Scherff back to full participation in practice:

"It's been good. The tough thing with Ty, like I've mentioned before, is he's been working at left guard, left tackle, right tackle or hadn't done any right tackle and then last week when Morgan went down, he had to flip over to right tackle and that's not easy for a guy to do. It's been nice just getting him some work on one side – on the left side – and obviously, having Brandon in there full-time has been good. The more you get these guys out there on a consistent basis, the better chances you have on game day when you're talking about communication. Especially with all the different fronts that they play on third down – the odd fronts and some of the even fronts and the jam fronts, so, [it's] important for the communication."

On Nsekhe:

"He's been predominantly working at left tackle this week… Left tackle at practice just because Trent's not practicing."

On the impact on TE Vernon Davis without TE Jordan Reed on the field:

"A little bit. I think having those two out there at the same time is one of our best personnel groupings – the two-tight end sets. We don't do it as much, not because Niles [Paul] can't do it, we just have been in the three-receiver sets a little bit more to try to get Jamison [Crowder], Josh [Doctson] and Ryan [Grant] out there at the same time. And we've been behind last week, so we were in that personnel group. I don't think his production has really suffered without Jordan. I think if anything, he's getting more opportunities. Just the last couple weeks, he hasn't gotten many."

On if there is any particular reason why Davis hasn't had as many opportunities in recent weeks:
"I think when we're in the one-tight end set and we open up Vernon or Jordan and Landon [Collins] or the safety will go down on them and then the corners and the nickel will cover the receivers if they're playing man-to-man. So, if we're in two-tight end sets and they're in base, then sometimes we get the matchup that we like with him either on the other safety or possibly a linebacker. But, it's just a matter of depending on what personnel group they're in and what we're in."

On if the fires in California are a concern for this trip:

"It's a concern; I don't know to what extent. I haven't really been checking out the news, I just heard little bits of it. But I'm sure if it wouldn't be safe, we wouldn't be going out there. From what I hear, it's going to be OK."

On if he's noticed a change in energy in the players with the few extra days off this past weekend:

"Yeah, a little bit. I think it was good to get these guys a couple days off and refresh their bodies and also their minds. Everybody came back with a pretty good frame of mind. You've got to put the games behind you when you lose and when you win, quite frankly, and move forward and get ready for the next opponent. I think our guys have done that. It's been great watching them play and getting some guys healthy and it's been a good week."

Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky

On LB Ryan Anderson's progress:

"I think any rookie that comes into the league, it's a progression. And for him, starting out he kind of started out and got a little bit injured in training camp and all of a sudden when the season started he was in there and he was playing. From his standpoint, would you always like to always see better with every player? Yeah, but I'm just saying for right now he is doing good. He is doing good during practice and he's learning. And that's the biggest thing that he is doing is that he is learning the defense, learning what the offense is trying to do against him as well as pass rushing and trying to get after the quarterback. Progress with him is day-to-day, which it always is with rookies, but overall he has made some strides."

On Anderson:

"From an outside linebacker, we do have Preston [Smith], we do have Ryan [Kerrigan] and then we do have Junior [Galette]. From the number of reps that he is getting – he is not getting, of course, how many as he wanted to get, but from his standpoint he is doing a great job during practice."

On Chargers QB Philip Rivers:

"I was with Philip for a number of years when I was in San Diego. Just from the knowledge of the game, he knows where has got to go with the ball. Just reading coverages and knowing who to spot and going after certain – not going after – certain guys, but just knowing where he wants to put the ball. He is very effective getting it out of his hands, and from a pressure standpoint he knows where the pressures are coming. Over that long period of time that he has been playing, he understands that and he does a great job of it."

On CB Kendall Fuller's play as the nickel corner:

"It is, it is a hard position to play, number one. I think one of the hardest positions to play and the reason why is you're in so much space inside and he does such a great job of cutting receivers off, making them make moves and him counter-reacting it and doing what he is supposed to do. I mean, overall, I think from a B-plus category, he is doing a great job. This whole year – and I told him from last year – each year that you're in you are going to improve. You're going to get knowledge of the game and Torrian [Gray] does a great job from what he does of trying to teach him up and coach him up. He's playing really well."

On LB Preston Smith's play since DL Jonathan Allen's injury:

"I think when you lose a guy like that – that has great athletic ability, can get after a pass rusher and then force the guy inside or outside – that always does hurt. But overall with the guys that we've got, we have got to keep on doing what we are doing. We have to get pressure more up the middle on quarterbacks and flush them to Preston. He's had some success coming around the edge when Jonathan was there of course. Overall we just have got to get more pressure up the middle and hopefully Preston will end his… year with a number of sacks."

On how he would assess the progress of DE Anthony Lanier II this season:

"I think up and down. With most young players, very similar to Kendall and with Ryan, you get those players that they're up and down from week to week. But his progress is just steadily climbing and he'll keep on getting better. From my standpoint and Jimmy Tomsula, this is, you know, last year he didn't play at all that much. I think this year is more of his rookie year coming into it. I think he's going to keep on building from there."

On LB Zach Vigil:

"He's doing a great job. From our standpoint, making the calls with Zach [Brown] going down and then flipping the headset – with the headsets going back and forth, we have to flip helmets… From Zach, I couldn't be more pleased with what he's bringing to the table so far and hopefully he'll continue on through the next couple of games doing what he's doing."

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