Jay Gruden Presser: Redskins vs Bears Injury Report

Jay Gruden and Kevin O’Connell spoke to the media after today’s practice. Gruden gave injury updates, for the Redskins walking wounded. Fabian Moreau was a a full participant today, and could make his season debut Monday night against the Bears. Jonathan Allen was limited and the team wanted to get him on the field to see how he fared. Allen said he was 100% playing this week, but he still has to get cleared from his sprained MCL. Quinton Dunbar(knee) and Jordan Reed(concussion) sound like they will both miss another game.

Injury updates:

Jonathan Allen:

“Yeah, he looked good. I think we tested him a little today and then tomorrow will be a bigger test. I know we’re not doing a lot of hitting right now, but just getting him out there and seeing him move around I think will dictate whether he dresses, number one, and how much he can play, number two. So we’ll have to figure that out tomorrow and Saturday to see how he’s doing”

Quinton Dunbar:

“I don’t know about [CB Quinton] Dunbar. He’s struggling a little bit, but we have another day tomorrow, and Sunday, so we’ll wait and see. Hopefully, he feels stronger and that leg can push off and drive and run. If not, then we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get some good news tomorrow and he’s feeling better.”

Fabian Moreau:

Montae Nicholson:

“I think [S] Montae’s [Nicholson] doing good getting back in the flow. Him and [S] Landon [Collins] playing together has been good. I think there are still some things we’ve got to clean up with everybody on the defensive side for sure, but I like where he’s at and where he’s headed. He’s got a chance to be a special safety with the skill set that he has -- he’s long, can run and he’ll hit you. So, we’ve just got to keep him going mentally and physically he has all the tools. Get him in the right spot, the right location and communicate, and he has a chance to be a really good one.”

0-2 record:

Situational work:

Holding penalties:

“Well, obviously you’re disappointed when the answers come back and they’re [not] in your favor, but at the end of the day some of the calls we ask about are just so we’re coaching the right techniques, making sure that we are right on some of them. We were and some of them we learned from and make sure we understand what they’re looking at and what they’re going to call, but it’s a little frustrating when they come back [not] in your favor.

The big question was one of [G Brandon] Scherff’s holding calls, he had his hands inside and was locked on the guy, and they called holding because he didn’t let him go. We try to teach sustainability here with our technique, but I guess there’s a certain point in time where you have to let him go when the quarterback escapes the pocket. That was the big one and they had a couple that were similar that we compared to that they did the same thing that weren’t called, so we just got clarification on that.

Obviously, it’s more of an emphasis because it’s way up. Last night’s game, I watched part of it and there were about 30 of them in the first half. It’s painful. The emphasis is there, we have to understand that, we have to try to make sure we abide by the rules. We understand the rules, but it’s hard sometimes when people get disengaged and people start stumbling and falling, and they think you’re holding but you’re not. It’s hard to sustain a block, especially when people want to lateral. So we have to do a good job of letting people go, I guess. I know it’ll really help our running game.”

Kevin O'Connell Presser

Run game:

“The first two defenses we played, playoff defenses that stop the run. We go into a plan each and every week to run the football and have our offense be kind of complementary off the run game, but sometimes in the course of a game you have to change your plan and take advantage of what’s working that day. There’s no question we want to continue to run the football. We feel great about our offensive line and running backs and the scheme going into these football games and this Monday night will be the same thing for us, we’re just playing a great defense like we have the first two weeks. Great front, strong, fast on the edges, fast at the linebacker position, but like I said, they’re stout up front so you really have to be tight with your plan. Then we have to go out and execute play in and play out and continue to avoid penalties, avoid the negative plays and stay ahead of the chains.”

Pass vs Run:

“No, I think you always want to be balanced. Really, [Quarterback] Case [Keenum] [would] probably be the first one to tell you, his job gets a lot easier when the run game is going and we’re in a lot more third-and-two and-threes than third-and-nine and-10s. And that’s always the plan for everybody going into the game is to stay efficient on first and second down, whether we’re running the football or we’re trying to utilize the quick game, screen game, RPO game, whatever it may be, just to continue to be efficient to be early on in the downs. Which will lead to more plays, more third down conversions and allowing us to get deeper in our playbook or our plan for that individual game. By no means are we panicking on the run game standpoint, it’s just a matter of continuing to attack the plan each and every week and trust in we’re going to be able to move the football.”

Case Keenum:

Leaning on the quick pass game in place of the run game:

“That’s exactly what I was going to say, the phrase is a very well used phrase by you. [The quick game] is an extension of the run game. If you can put your back foot in the ground and throw [to] [WR] Terry McLaurin or [WR] Paul Richardson [Jr.], [WR] Trey Quinn or get our tight ends or running backs involved in the quick game, that’s really what you’re doing. You’re staying ahead of schedule, getting yourself into manageable downs. And the statistics might not look like we ran the ball or the attempts weren’t there, but I know sometimes you have to, and I think [Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Line] Coach [Bill] Callahan would agree, you have to use the quick game and the screen game as extensions of your run game. Especially against really good defenses that aren’t going to just give you the first and second down runs you maybe wanted going into the game.”

How McLaurin’s role has impacted Richardson’s role:

“I think Terry [McLaurin]’s role and Paul [Richardson]’s role as the X and Z, they’re clearly defined. We have the formations that we do to be able to line everyone up just about anywhere on the football field – slot, outside, all the receivers on one side, the tight end on the other, whatever it may be to help the progression – but Paul absolutely is right there. We mentioned a couple of the plays on third down that we had them, as well as some of the first and second down shots we want to take. He’s very much involved in all those plans, as well as Trey [Quinn] when we’re in our three wide receiver packages. It’s a just a matter of plays. I really think it all comes back down to the volume of plays we can run in a football game. If we’re in the 50s – going into the last game, I think we were down in the 40s before that last two-minute drive. We need to get up into the low 60s, high 60s, low 70s and the volume of plays comes off the call sheet where the distribution of the football will happen. But no, Paul has been great. Both [No.] 17 and [No.] 10 are flying down the field, putting stress on the defense. A lot of what Terry has been able to accomplish is because of Paul doing his job really, really well on the other side as well.”

Jordan Reed:

“I have because we had him in Richmond for training camp. We had him throughout that time where we were kind of in the growth and development process of this offense, so I think we all know exactly where he fits in this system, the versatility and the things he can do for the other people in our offense around him as well as help out the quarterback, being the target that he is. We feel really good about that plan when we get Jordan [Reed] back, but that’s obviously something we let the medical staff and [Head] Coach [Jay] Gruden focus on. We’re just trying to make sure for Monday night we’re ready to roll and we feel really good about it.”

Redskins vs Bears Injury Report