Redskins HC Jay Gruden (8.8.19)
Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden:
On Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins Jr.:
“I think there were moments that he looked very good. Obviously, there are a couple throws there that he wishes he had back. There are a couple things with the protections that we need cleaned up. [His] first start in the NFL; [his] first opportunity to play – it’s not going to go perfectly.”
On the sack up the middle and the two picks off QB Dwayne Haskins:
“One of them was a blown protection. The two picks – one to (RB) Byron Marshall – I think he had to wait for a little bit to let Byron Marshall clear that linebacker. He threw it a little bit too early. The other one – he threw it before (TE Matt) Flanagan and wrapped it around the safety, whoever it was. I think he sees what he’s doing; he just has to make sure the receivers are on the same page a little bit. We’ll get it fixed.”
On QB Dwayne Haskins’ demeanor after the struggles:
“He was okay. He’s fine. I think the big thing is that after he struggled, we’ll take a look at the pictures, talk through what happened, and move on to the next series. That’s our big thing. We don’t want to wallow around in the misery. We have to make sure we correct what we just saw and move on. Here’s what we’re expecting next series, and go from there. He put together a nice drive to start the third quarter, I thought. There’s some positives to take away.”
On overall assessment of the offensive line:
“Obviously, we had a couple protection busts and we had a couple protections that the quarterbacks could have helped fix. We got beat a couple times here and there; a couple holding calls. So obviously not quite good enough.”
On QB Dwayne Haskins with protection calls:
“We just have to communicate better. That’s all it is. You try to get in these games and you try to make sure you’re schematically sound to make sure your quarterback is protected. That didn’t take place a couple times today. [I am] not issuing any blame – it’s our fault for not getting them prepared more; but then you want to look at the players and see how they match up and how they perform here in the preseason.”
On CB Jimmy Moreland:
“He was active. He’s been active the entire camp. He did some good things. I’m glad the game wasn’t too fast for him. He played nickel. He played outside. He made some plays. So yeah, I was pretty impressed.”
On QB Case Keenum:
“I think he played three drives and had a touchdown. So yeah, I don’t know – I have to check out the film.”
On LB Cole Holcum:
“Yeah, I think when you go back and look at these games, you have to look at each individual and how they perform. Then you have to look at how they perform with the team. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to put a scheme together and see how each individual fits into that scheme, and then depending on how good they are, we have to adjust our scheme according to the players. We are in the very very beginning here. This is preseason game one. [In game] two, we’ll get a little bit more of our players in there and hopefully be a little bit more cohesive. Then, by game three, we’ll hopefully do a lot better.”
On the decision to hold RB Derrius Guice out this week:
“Yeah, that was our decision. We just decided to hold him back this week. We’ll decide when we put him in there.”
On WR Terry McLaurin minimal playing time:
“He played a play didn’t he? Yeah, so he played. We have reasons for each individual that participated and didn’t participate, and how long each individual played.”
On decision to not play the starters:
“Well, each starter, like I said, has their own reason. (G Brandon) Scherff for instance – he’s coming back from injury and we don’t want to rush him back too quickly. We want to make sure he feels pretty good going in there. Same with (T) Morgan (Moses) and (C) Chase Roullier. We want to make sure they get a couple more days in practice on Saturday and Sunday. They will have off on Monday and then we’ll get them in there for a couple series next game. That’s the case with pretty much the majority of them.”
On big takeaway from tonight being how the guys fit into the overall scheme:
“I think so. I think when you look at the schematics of it, you look at how they produce, how they take what they’ve learned on the chalkboard and transfer it onto the field, and how they play – both offense and defense, and then special teams. I think that’s a big unit that we have to look at and how these guys play on teams, and I think we did pretty good up until the end with that punt return for a touchdown. It’s big to get these guys an opportunity. These guys have been busting their tails at camp and this a great opportunity for them to get the reps and for us to really get a good evaluation of them – good and bad. Some guys really showed up, and some guys we may have to look at a little bit more.”
On how the quarterback rotation will be handled next week:
“I don’t know. We will wait and see how those guys are and go from there.”
On whether QB Colt McCoy is fine:
“Yeah.”
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