Washington Redskins Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jay Gruden
(on what he took from seeing his starters) "We didn't play very well. Obviously we had two drives with our ones and two three-and-outs weren't good enough. To start, not a good start. We got out there, did some pre-game warm-up, came out of the tunnel, got six plays. We just have to get better."
(on his concern with the fumbles) "Very concerning. We had four fumbles, a couple of dropped balls, and that's not good. I think one was on a punt return as well. We have to really concentrate on ball security. We focus on it. We fundamentally drill it. So, we just have to make sure it's pounded in our head a little more."
(on leaving the offense in longer) "My whole intent was to leave them in for six plays. I was hoping to get a good drive on the first drive. There were two three-and-outs and that was it."
(on positives on the defense) "The first touchdown we lined up wrong on the field goal, which gave them their first touchdown. But I thought the defense ran out and played well. [We] played good against the run and pressured the quarterback had some good situational work, some red zone defense, some short yardage. But overall, I was impressed with some of the defensive players."
(on first team offense dealing with pressure) "I think we blew protection on one of them. The first one that Kirk [Cousins] got hit on, or maybe he just felt pressure up the middle. I have to see the film because we had a couple other blown protections."
(on rookies getting experience) "I think a lot of those guys did. Putting on a NFL jersey for the first time, you're going to have some nerves, and that's understandable. Get those out of their system now. We're expecting to see steady improvement by everybody. If they didn't play as well as they had liked, I expect them to get better next week. And if they played good, I still expect them to get better. That's what we're looking for – that guys improve and get better."
(on how disappointed he was in the run game) "We didn't get a lot of movement. We had a couple hits there in the second half. But overall, there wasn't a lot of movement. Hats off to the Ravens' defense, they are stout and have some big guys up front. [CJ] Mosley in the middle is a heck of a linebacker. Very good defense for the first six plays. We have to do better."
(on running back carries in the second half) "That's just the way we decided to do it. That's just how we divvied it up."
(on DL Phil Taylor playing for the first time in two years) "From what I could see on the sideline, I felt him out there. He played pretty well it seemed like. I have to check the film out to make sure he didn't get out of his gaps. He looked stout in the middle. I thought he did a pretty good job running around. I think the entire defensive line was getting a push and did pretty well against the running game for the most part."
(on what he saw from DL Jonathan Allen and LB Ryan Anderson) "I can't watch everybody. I'll have to watch the film. It looks like they did okay."
(on LB Nico Marley) "He's an energetic fireplug. He makes plays. He has to continue to do it. We have three more games left to evaluate these guys. This is a good start in the evaluation process. Now we have to look for guys that consistently play well and get better."
LB Will Compton
(on his feelings on the game) "We have a lot to learn. I'm sure we'll get the benefit of film the next two days."
(on how the young players played on defense) "I thought our young guys gave a great effort, and I thought our defense played well overall. The communication was good across the board, and we played with a lot of enthusiasm. I liked seeing the way we communicated and continued to play hard even when we were tired."
(on playing with LB Zach Brown) "I thought we communicated well with each other. He is a great teammate, and he brings a lot of energy to the team."
WR Brian Quick
(on the first game's outcome) "We're just getting back to things. Pre-season games are always a learning experience."
(on getting the offense to perform at a high level) "It's going to take hard work. You've got to be accountable for everything. You've got to do things that are necessary and push your teammates."
(on his progress in camp) "It's going pretty good. I'm making sure I'm focused and trying to do the right things."
(on Coach Gruden's post-game message to the team) "Just to make sure we don't continue to make the same mistakes. We need to build from this game. We need to be more consistent."
LB Mason Foster
(on the first game) "I tried to play hard and be physical. You've got to knock the rust off and keep working. At the same time, play hard, be physical and get the calls right. I feel like we did that. I rotated with Comp [Will Compton] and Zach [Brown]. It felt good out there with both of them in. We need to correct mistakes and keep working."
(on making the defensive calls in a game) "It's like riding a bike. I played MIKE [middle linebacker] my first four years, even as a rookie, so I was thrown into the fire back then. It was cool tonight. I've been doing it all of the OTAs and camp. As a vet, I try to know the defense inside and out anyway, so I know all the calls. It was cool getting the signals and making the calls. It felt good. It felt like I was a rookie back in Tampa."
LB Nico Marley
(on playing in his first game) "My first game felt like the first interview for a job. Every day all of us are going to get better. We have to step up."
(on waiting all day to play a night game) "That was really tough. I was so anxious to get out there, it seemed like time wouldn't go fast enough."
(on what was said at halftime) "This is a pro league. Everything is very professional. It was pointed out what we had to correct and how we need to get better."
CB Josh Norman
(on his abbreviated playing time) "I know that the coaches have to evaluate all the younger players. I was hoping to play a little bit more than I did. I felt like I was getting ready to eat cake, and I was left hungry."
(on the play of the rookies) "It was good to see the reserves getting out there and playing. I try to help them when I can. They need to understand what it's like to play in an NFL game. I talked to many of the defensive backs and tried to explain to them that they have more time to make a play than they think they do. Why get a pass interference call when you can turn around and intercept a pass? You need to trust your technique and keep working hard."
QB Kirk Cousins
(on the third-down pressure from the Ravens) "They brought good pressure. I haven't seen the film yet, but they got home and made it a tough play to execute. They did a good job all night with their blitzes and man coverage. It's a wake-up call for us to play better going forward."
(on how tough it is to get into a rhythm with only six plays) "We prefer to get into a rhythm over time throughout a whole game. Obviously, you have four quarters, you'd like to think you'd eventually get going but we always talk about starting fast, and you can't wait until the second or third quarter to get going. Many times in the NFL, that won't be enough time, so we want to start fast, and we didn't do enough tonight to start fast. But we talked in Richmond a few days ago that we see different coverages and different blitzes and different fronts from defenses other than the one we see every day in practice, and that was true tonight. We saw lot more man coverage, a couple different pick stunts and pressures. Those, as you saw, gave us a challenge."
(on what they can take away from this game) "I think it's a wake-up call. As much as we may have been making some plays in training camp in Richmond and feeling good about what we're doing, I think it's a realization that we've got a long ways to go, and I think that could be a good thing in the long run. It could be good to have that wake-up call, and the best thing we need right now. We can take a lot of things from this game. Every game we go out, every practice we go out, every rep we take, you learn something from it, and there'll be a lot of lessons to learn from this one."
RB Chris Thompson
(on what they can take away from this game) "I didn't think we did as well as we should have, and now we see there's a lot of things we have to work on. I'm not down about it. We just have a lot of things to fix. It was the first live situation for us, and I think we just kind of got that out of our system. We just have to put out a better show these next couple pre-season games."
(on the loose atmosphere in camp) "We take our work serious. There's no part of us that feels good about losing. You know, I think in practice, we need to have a little fun. I feel like that builds camaraderie. This game is meant to be fun, and it's our jobs, too. We take it seriously, but we have fun with it. Today, I just don't think we put our best out there, and we've just got some things to fix."
LB Zach Brown
(on the second series' play with LB Ryan Anderson) "They pulled the two guards. I knew what play it was. The only time you pull two guards is when you want to get to the outside, to the edge. There's only one way you can go, so I just filled in and knifed in, and I had to beat the center to the play. Once I beat the center, I knew I just had to tackle. When you've played the game long enough, you've seen a lot of plays. Everybody runs the same plays, so you just know what's coming. Your football intelligence just takes over at that point."
(on making a real tackle) "You know, I had a lot last year. This year, it's just the start, preseason. Just to get back on, it's always good."
(on the difference between a game and practice) "I practice differently. I work on technique and everything. For me, I've just got to get adjusted to [the] others out there on the field."
