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| Redskins Coach Jay Gruden James Murphy/CCS |
July 30, 2015
Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center – Richmond, Va.
Head Coach Jay Gruden
On his goals for the first practice:
“Well, just continue what we’re doing. It’s an extension of what we’ve been putting in through OTAs from last year, getting the new guys up to speed on what we’re doing, and trying to mesh as a football team, number one. Along the way, trying to find our top 53 guys for the regular season. So there’s a lot to do, a lot of people to look at, but we feel like we have the talent out there that it should be great competition across the board and also implementing our system, no doubt.”
On free agent Junior Galette:
“Well, we’re going to get a physical on him and then go from there. We’ll get a chance to talk to him. He’ll meet with Scot [McCloughan], he’ll meet with myself and then we’ll make a determination on where we go from there.”
On DeAngelo Hall and the competition at cornerback:
“The competition in that room and DeAngelo makes it very strong, a strong room. He’s a great leader back there and we lost a lot when we lost DeAngelo last year. A veteran cornerback of his stature and his experience is a very valuable asset to have. You know, he was voted captain right away and then we lose him very early. It was a big loss for us and to have him back, we just have got to make sure we monitor where he’s at and don’t push him too hard. He’s the type of guy that’s going to want to take every rep. We just want to make sure we get him full-go and get him ready for Week 1, but that room is very strong. You’ve got [David] Amerson with some experience, you’ve got [Bashaud] Breeland who came out strong last year. Obviously we have [Chris] Culliver from San Francisco. He’s a known commodity in this league and DeAngelo adds to the mix. We drafted a kid in the sixth round so we have some good players back there.”
On Hall saying he expects to line up with the first team in practice:
“He’s well-documented at how good he is. He had a bad injury, no question about it. He’s done everything right to get back. And I feel like with his experience, what he’s put on tape in his career, his veteran leadership, he deserves a right to be knocked off. And he’s going to be our starting cornerback right now then until somebody knocks him off. And it’s going be hard to do because he’s a very experienced guy, very smart guy and very savvy guy, and guys like that are hard to find but we do have some people who are breathing down his neck, for sure. Breeland wants it. Amerson got a taste of being a starter, he wants to start. Obviously Culliver’s here, so we have four guys with some good experience and are going to push the envelope, but DeAngelo’s a very good corner.”
On safety Duke Ihenacho and the position battle at that safety position:
“We’re going to go out there and let them play, Duke’s done a good job so far and those guys are going to line up and see what happens. We got a lot of candidates out there, strong safety, free safety, and the good thing about that position is they’re able to intermingle a little bit. Some of them can be in the box, they can in the hole, they can both play the hashes and play two-deep, they can play the quarters obviously. So we’ve got a lot of versatility out there with some experienced guys and it’ll be a good test for all of them.”
On tight end Jordan Reed:
“He’s a great weapon for us. We just have got to keep him healthy. He’s got to continue to get better as a blocker, number one, but as far as the passing game is concerned, he’s a threat, no doubt. He can run the option routes, the choice routes on the inside. He can line up on the outside and create mismatch problems for safeties or linebackers. So, he’s a big part of our offense when he’s healthy. We just have to try to do a good job of keeping him healthy. He’s got to do a good job of maintaining his strength and point-of-attack blocking and all of that so he can be a well-rounded tight end. As far as a pass-catching tight end, he’s up there with the tops in the league, we just have got to keep him healthy and obviously keep building his blocking strength.”
On judging character when evaluating free agents:
“We judge it on an individual basis. And it’s something that Scot [McCloughan], myself and Bruce [Allen] and the defensive staff will all talk about. Obviously, he’s had some issues in the past but we like to draw our own conclusions about every individual that we bring in to this building, and we’ll go from there. It’s very early right now, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to him at all. So until I do, I won’t draw any conclusions on what’s happened to him in the past.”
On tackle Morgan Moses:
“Morgan says he feels good. He’s come a long way from when he hurt it [his foot]. He’s done everything right in the rehab process. Larry [Hess] has done a good job with him, and Morgan has done a good job with getting that thing right. He looks good out here. He’s gained a few pounds and he’s a guy that’s not going to go down easily. He’s going to compete for both tackle spots. We expect him to really make a big jump from year one to year two. A lot of these rookies come into the NFL and it’s a heck of a lot different than what they’re used to. There’s a lot more they have to learn and a lot more on their plate. We’re hoping he really can take it to the next level this year and become a heck of a tackle for us. We like Morgan a lot. We just hope he stays healthy.”
On assessing the outside linebacker position opposite Ryan Kerrigan:
“It’s very early at training camp and we like competition in all spots, but Trent Murphy has really done an excellent job. In OTAs, he probably had about 15 sacks – would-have-been sacks – if we let the whistle blow. He’s really put on some weight. He’s stronger, he looks a little quicker, and he’s got great knowledge of the system. He’s a very smart player. He’s one of those guys, you get him and he’s like a puppy – he just gets in the weight room, he’s going to get stronger and stronger and he’s going to become an angry dog here before too long. Trent is going to be a tough guy to get out of that lineup. He plays hard, he’s a physical guy, he’s long, and he can move around quite a bit. And Preston [Smith], we’re excited about what he can do. We’ve got some young guys that played a lot last year that had to play when [Brian] Orakpo got hurt, and then Trent got hurt. So those guys will also compete, but we like where Trent is at right now.”
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