Jay Gruden Redskins Mini-Camp Presser: No time for iced tea and donuts on the beach

The Redskins held day 2 of their mandatory mini-camp, and today’s practice was open to the media. Head Coach Jay Gruden spoke to the media after practice.

HC Jay Gruden

Fight!:

Offseason program:

Kevin Hogan:

“He’s done good. I like Kevin. He’s a smart kid and he’s got some deceiving escape ability to him. He can run a little bit. We saw one today, he popped out of there for about a 20-yard gain. I like where he’s at. It’s hard for those No. 3 guys to get the reps and for them to show what they really can do on a limited basis, but as far as being attentive and being a good quarterback in the meetings rooms and all that stuff, he’s been very, very good.”

Cam Sims/Danny Johnson:

Cam [Sims] has stood out at wide receiver. I think [Danny] Johnson stood out at corner. They have done some really good things. We have got a number of other guys that are trying to take advantage of a little bit of the reps the way they have. I think this progression for these guys, they came in a little bit late, obviously we had to wait for them after the draft, and then the limited amount of reps that they did have, some took more advantage than others but we’re not discounting anybody. Once training camp starts, they’re going to get more and more, especially when the Jets come. We’ll have more and more opportunities for them to succeed. Preseason game one, two and three, they are going to get more and more reps to shine when the lights are on and it’s live, but I have been impressed with a lot of the guys, mentally and physically.”

Passing Game Coordinator Kevin O'Connell:

Kevin’s been great. I wanted a guy that would help coach quarterbacks that had a little bit of a different background. He was with New England as a player a little bit, he was with Chip Kelly, and now he’s brought some of that knowledge here. So it’s good to have a different set of ideas. He’s done a good job of embracing ours but also adding some new concepts to our system that we already have, and quarterbacks all look up to him despite his age. Very smart, articulate, obviously. All his points are well-thought-out and make sense, which is important, and he does a good job in that room.”

No time for iced tea and donuts:

Stacy McGee:

He had it a couple weeks ago. I don’t know what happened. He just did something, so he had a procedure done and hopefully he will be ready for training camp. We’ll see. I don’t have the exact timetable on him, yet. He’s in there now.”

Training Camp Jets practices:

“It’ll be good. It’ll be good to evaluate the young kids, especially, and also get our veteran guys, see how we handle a different scheme, so to speak, different bodies. A lot of times, you’re going against one another, sometimes when it gets that late in training camp, you start to see the buddy system going a little bit. ‘I won’t hurt you, you don’t hurt me,’ but now you’re going against another group of guys trying to make their roster. I think the competitive nature will make practice a little bit better and challenge them a little bit more, so it’ll be good. We’ve just got to tone it down, so nothing happens like it happened against Houston a couple years ago, but I think Coach [Todd] Bowles, myself, we have a good understanding of what we’re looking for and how to deal with it.”