Bill Callahan Redskins Presser: Terry McLaurin still in concussion protocol, secondary is questionable

Bill Callahan spoke to the media following today's practice. The Redskins are limping into the season finale against the Cowboys in Dallas. QB Dwayne Haskins Jr. has already been ruled out with a high-ankle sprain. Terry McLaurin is still in the concussion protocol and is probably going to miss his chance to break the Redskins rookie receiving record and get to 1,000 yards. Washington is also hurting in the secondary.

Terry McLaurin:

Secondary injuries:

Dallas Cowboys now vs Week 2:

"They’re a quality football team through-and-through. I mean there’s talent on every level, which you see as a lot of speed, quickness. You see them make plays. We’ve got a lot of respect for the Cowboys in general. How they practice, how they play. I laid that out for the team. You can see it on film, up front their defensive line, they generate a lot of rush. Probably [one of] the best pass rush groups in the NFL that consistently put pressure on the quarterback. Although they may not get a lot of sack production, they get a lot of hit production, a lot of pressure production, they’re in the face [of the quarterback], they’re moving the quarterback off the spot ‒ that’s impressive. In addition to that, the stunt package that they utilize is really unique, probably most unique in the league. They’ll vary alinements, they’ll vary in stunts ‒ you don’t see the same twist or game two times in a row. You’ll see a lot of different variations and so you’ll practice for all of them and then on game day you’ll see two more new ones. The pass rush is where it all starts and the protection for us against their rush and the matchups on the outside and try to beat their corners and their safeties and then on the other side [of the ball], they’ve got really good power up front with their line. They can generate the zone [run] game at a real healthy pace. Their gap game has always been solid and they can air it out. They’ve got the full repertoire of the passing game ‒ the vertical game, the intermediate game as well as the short game. They’re pretty well balanced all the way around through-and-through.”

Cowboys defense:

“I think anytime you can incorporate the stunt game and then have the speed and the quickness that complements it, that’s it in a nutshell and that’s what they have and that’s what really sticks out. Their athleticism and the speed of the game is incredible. They’re always at full speed and if they’re not at full speed, they hear about it everyday. It’s a different culture in that respect. That front four that’s coached by [Cowboys Defensive Coordinator] Rod [Marinelli], Rod’s been great throughout the years. You can just see his coaching on display and what they do how they do it. It’s a compliment to him and what he’s done over the years. He’s a great coach.”

Defensive Line:

“I think what stood out was the interior three. I thought that [DT] Matt Ioannidis, [DT] Jonathan Allen, [DT] Daron Payne, [DT] Tim Settle, I thought they played consistently game-in and game-out. They’re asked to two-gap, which means they have to take on the blocker in front and protect their inside gap and also their outside gap. That’s a man’s job, that’s a man’s day playing that position and I thought they played it extremely well under the conditions that we were in. Whether we were behind, whether we were up, I thought they were always consistent and that’s what you expect out of your defensive line is consistency and consistent performances and I thought they did that.”

Greg Manusky Presser

2019 Redskins defense:

”I think the same way. I think some games we played really well and the other ones we didn’t. Just across the board, we have to make sure we play consistent down the road this last week in Dallas. They played hard, they played physical, but sometimes we didn’t play very smart.”

Good weeks vs bad weeks:

”I just think sometimes with the injuries and stuff on the back end and up front at times you lose that pass rush and then you lose that coverage ability, but we’re going to go into this game and looking forward to going down to Dallas and hopefully getting a win.”

Self-evaluation:

“I think overall, the defense initially came out pretty strong against Philly. Then, in certain stretches throughout the year, we played pretty good and then other times we didn’t. It was an up and down season. Injuries are a part of it across the board, but overall we weren’t consistent enough from week in and week out.”

Redskins vs Cowboys Injury Report