Jay Gruden Redskins Presser: Troy Apke to IR after latest hamstring injury

Jay Gruden spoke to the media the day after the Redskins picked up their third win in a row. Washington beat the Giants and maintained their lead in the NFC East. The team also picked up a few new injuries which Gruden discussed.

He said it was a possibility rookie safety Troy Akpe would go to IR after he suffered another hamstring injury in his return to the field. The team confirmed this shortly after and signed LB Cassanova McKinzy from the practice squad to fill hos spot on the roster.

Chris Thompson:

Trent Williams:

Kapri Bibbs:

Troy Apke:

Adrian Peterson:

Passing game:

“Yeah, we are close, we missed some opportunities of course but we’re going to get there. I think it’s just a matter of it being a missed throw here or there, might be a poor route maybe, might be a protection issue just a little, we’re just not quite in full sync right now at this time. I imagine we are going to continue to get better and better. I know that Alex [Smith] has a strong work ethic and desire to and has the offensive line and receivers to do and also tight ends, so it’s a total team effort when it comes to the passing game. You’ve got to have protection, you’ve got to have good routes, you’ve got to have good route combinations against what the defense is playing and you’ve got to have good throws. Right now, it’s not fully in sync, but we’re not turning the ball over and we’re doing some good things also.”

“I mean, there’s something all the time, really. There are some opportunities for us to make some big plays that we are not making. I’m not going to get into the X’s and O’s and the reasons why, I just know that they’re out there and I think the players can see they are out there. We’ve just got to keep working, keep running, and let Alex [Smith] do his thing and he’s going to continue to get more and more comfortable with each player. There are still some nuances, whether it’s a choice route or an option route where we are just a little bit hesitant here and there or maybe it’s a deep ball that we’re not letting go or let loose or we haven’t had time to let loose for whatever reason. So, we’ve just got to continue to keep plugging away at what we’re doing and things will happen positively.”

Missed deep ball by QB Alex Smith to WR Paul Richardson Jr.:

”He just missed the throw a little bit, he came across, he made a great read, made the throw and just threw it in a bad location. I don’t think he could really step into the throw, I think he stepped up one time and we had a little push in the pocket, he wasn’t able to follow through. He took a shot to him on the deep ball, but we got a 40-yard pass interference call. It doesn’t count on the stats but it’s a huge play also. We’re going to continue to take a few shots and hopefully we will connect here soon.”

Atlanta Falcons:

“We’ll let it play out, but we understand that Atlanta has got a powerful offense and great weapons, as the last few teams we’ve played have had also. Every week it is going to be a great challenge for us, Julio [Jones], ‘Mo’ [Mohamed Sanu], obviously Matt Ryan and [Calvin] Ridley, they are great players. [Tevin] Coleman out of the backfield is a very good back so it’s going to be another great challenge for our secondary and our pass rush. Then offensively, if we have to match a few scores here and there, but we don’t ever anticipate a team coming in here and scoring a lot of points or, ‘Hey, it’s going to be a shootout this week.’ We anticipate our defense playing extremely well and offensively sticking with our plan.”

Defense: