Jim Hostler Presser: Like all young players, Terry McLaurin’s consistency needs to grow

Washington Football Team WRs Coach Jim Hostler spoke to the media and talked about the WRs corps. Steven Sims Jr. was placed on IR today with a foot injury. Terry McLaurin is great, but Hostler wants to see more consistency from him. Practice, repetition, and stringing games together during a 16 game season.

Isaiah Wright has been impressive since earning playing time, and he will get more opportunties now that Sims has been put on the shelf until after the bye.

“He’s done a great job of learning the system. We’ve moved him around in positions, so he has some position flexibility. He gives us a bigger guy as an inside player. He’s got good ball skills and he’s got good route ability.”

Terry McLaurin:

“It’s probably part of the combination. He’s doing a really good job of taking the ball and getting vertical, protecting the ball when he does get vertical, knowing when to cut back. Those all come with experience and those types of things. I’m sure that’s all part of his maturity and growth. There are other things we do in the schemes to get him to run away and give him looks where he can catch the ball on the move. I’m sure it’s a combination.”

Improving consistency:

“It’s the practice part of it. It’s the repetition part of it. It’s doing a lot more than you’ve done in the past, being in different spots, moving inside. Those are the kinds of things that expand when you’re the number one guy and teams watch you play and they start defending you. Those are the things that have to develop, and that’s where he is right now. He’s developing in those areas. Mostly outside last year, this year he has to be inside and we’ve put more stress on him as an inside route runner, how you run routes in there and those kinds of things. That’s where he’s got to grow. Again, same thing—he’s got to string games along in that realm. So, the ability to do that every week for 16 weeks, that’s when you know he can do that.”

Adjusting to different QBs:

“He adjusts really well, obviously, because he’s going through it. That’s part of doing your job, staying locked into what you’re responsible for. In this business, if people are spending time worrying about what other people are doing, then you’re going to end up being the problem in the end. That’s a big focus of coaches and players in this league, no matter what’s going on at any position. You’ve got to lock into what you do, how you do it, and maintain your consistency and you doing your job. That’s really where Terry’s at. It doesn’t really matter who’s behind the center. It doesn’t really matter who the receiver is. He’s just got to stay the same at what he does.”

Cam Sims:

“First, he’s doing a great job on special teams. That’s what his niche is right now. With us having the ability to have a guy from the practice squad be moved up and be part of your team—that’s a bonus for him. If that’s not a part of the equation, then he’s sitting on the practice squad developing and growing like you need to do when you’re a young player. That’s really what he needs to do. Even though he’s playing special teams, it’s really the same process for him. He needs to develop and grow and develop consistency in his game. That will lead to opportunities to play more.”

Scott Turner’s offense:

Kyle Allen:

Isaiah Wright:

“He’s a bigger body guy. He has some versatility. He has some special teams qualities. When you’re talking about a guy that makes the back half of your receiver group, those are the kinds of things you’re looking for with the ability to develop and play as a receiver. We’re in a unique situation where we’ve got some young guys playing probably a little bit before their time. That’s the NFL. That’s what this league is about. Guys have got to step up. They’ve got to develop fast. He’s done a great job of learning the system. We’ve moved him around in positions, so he has some position flexibility. He gives us a bigger guy as an inside player. He’s got good ball skills and he’s got good route ability. Those are the things that adds up to his opportunity, now he just has to take advantage of it.”

Steven Sims Jr.:

“You lose a little bit of a quicker inside guy, somebody that’s done a good job with the ball in his hands. He does have a little bit of experience. You lose a little bit of the special teams value, but that’s the NFL. Guys are going to get hurt. There are going to be spans where guys can’t play. That happens all over this league. I think this year, it’s more magnified because there’s not a lot of practice time. Those are the kinds of things that happen. He was doing an excellent job for us and growing as an inside player and as an every-down inside player. Again, it’s the same thing for the other guys. 16 weeks—that’s the proving point of being able to do it as a player.”

Antonio Gandy-Golden:

“He’s, again, another young guy that’s got to develop consistency. He’s actually played a little bit more in the last couple weeks. He’s playing in our regular personnel as one of our outside guys. He’s done a pretty good job. He hasn’t had a lot of opportunities when we’re not in that personnel group a lot. The more that comes up in game planning, the more opportunities he gets. The more opportunities are going to be based on the way teams take away Terry and his opportunities will go up. He’s in the same boat as the other guys. It’s the consistency over time. It’s easier to play a couple weeks as a young guy. No one knows you; you go out there, you’re focused, you’re locked in. It’s the week-to-week in however many weeks that we have left that’s going to tell you a player and how he develops.”

Run blocking:

“That’s one area we’ve got to improve. We’ve got to improve on run blocking, perimeter run blocking. We’ve got to improve in the transition when the ball doesn’t go to us and we get on somebody a little quicker. Those are things. Younger players—when they’re really locked into what they do and how they do it, in just making themselves perfect they kind of lose some of that. Over time, that usually is something they grow to being a little bit better. Then you have guys that are playing 60, like Terry, where he’s not involved in the run game as much and he’s playing 60-something plays. He’s not going to be as effective in every run, just because of the sheer fact of the repetition of it. Overall, consistency we’ve got to get better in those two areas for sure.”

Logan Thomas thinks that Kyle Allen has done a good job, and that the team has his back since taking over this week. This is the first time since training camp that he has had reps in practice with Allen.

Logan Thomas

Kyle Allen:

Emergency quarterback:

Rams defense:

Somehow newly signed practice squad kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik got some time with the media on the day he was signed. Enjoy a Tress Way mention when you can get it.

Kaare Vedvik

Tress Way: