From the
Press Releases from Thursday 11.03.05
RB, #26 CLINTON PORTIS...
On the match-up facing the Redskins on Sunday night:
"The Eagles are going to try to get back on the winning
page. Luckily for us, we have that same agenda. Both of us got blown out and
didn’t play solid football last week. This week, both teams have to step it
up. It’s going to be a physical game. It’s going to be a hard-nosed game.
Hopefully, we come out on top."
On whether he worries that dressing up for his weekly media
session motivates opponents:
"I don’t think the other teams need motivation. Once we
step on the field, there’s a lot to motivate us. If this motivates them, let
it get them excited. That’s not going to stop us from playing."
On whether the Redskins’ performance against the Giants was an
aberration:
"Sunday was a one-game aberration. For whatever reason, the
Giants had our number. Offensively, [with] 12 drops, we couldn’t get anything
going. It was just one of those days. In the two years that I’ve been here,
you’ve never seen us play that way. When we were stinking up the place last
year, we didn’t play like that. We were always the most physical team. Every
game went down to the wire. Last week, the Giants had something special going on
and they came away with a win. I can assure you that, on Sunday night, the
effort will be 100 times higher."
On whether the Redskins worry about struggling against the
Eagles defense:
"Philly has a talented defense. To win the NFC East four
straight years, you know they have something good going. We know that it’s
going to be a physical game. We’ll be fine if we just don’t make any
mistakes or have any penalties. You don’t let a defense dictate what you do.
In all of our games, we’ve been hurting ourselves. Turnovers and penalties
have been killing us. Our goal this week is to play our style of football, not
get behind, not turn the ball over in the red zone, and sustain long
drives."
On whether Philadelphia’s struggles to stop the run through
seven games excites him:
"I noticed that every team that gives up those types of
rushing [yards], once we play them, they have their best defensive effort. I’m
not going to get excited about them giving up two 200-yard rushing
[performances]. We have to play our game, keep our focus, mix in the run and the
pass, and open up things downfield. Eventually, they’re going to have to take
something away. Hopefully, we’ll be in the right call when they do and we’ll
come up with a touchdown."
On whether changes to the offensive game plan incorporated in
the off-season are working:
"As a team, we’re headed in the right direction.
Everything that we were trying to do as far as opening up the offense has been
working so far. Until last week [against the Giants], everything was going fine.
We were putting up 400 yards per game. Our offense had been playing spectacular,
[even] with turnovers. If we can find a way to cut out our turnovers and
continue to give the type of effort that we were giving before we went to New
York, we’ll be fine. When we’ve run the ball, we’ve succeed. When we’ve
thrown the ball, we’ve succeed. Last week was the first week where nothing
worked. This week, we’re just going to go back to the basics and take it play
by play."
On whether insufficient effort caused the
Redskins’ loss to the Giants:
"The effort was there. It was just a sluggish game last
week. You have guys around here with a lot of pride, starting with anyone on our
depth chart. If you’re here, you have pride and you’re a physical person. We
have guys who actually want to play football and put the hat on their head and
hit someone. That’s the beautiful thing about this team. Everyone is going to
give their all. Last year, we developed a lot of character, being 6-10 [after
playing] in the type of games that we were in. Nobody ever gave up. No one ever
quit. [We] came into this season with a positive outlook, knowing that we were
better than a 6-10 team. We set out to prove that. That’s happened [so far].
Last week [in New York], I don’t know what was going on. That wasn’t
Redskins football. This Sunday night, you’ll get Redskins football."
On how the Eagles contained San Diego Chargers RB LaDanian
Tomlinson:
"San Diego got behind. Once you get behind, you want to try
to throw to catch up. People feel like throwing the ball is going to bring
[them] back quicker. Tomlinson never really got into rhythm. They did a good job
of keeping Tomlinson out of rhythm. They never let San Diego get focused on
handing LaDanian the ball. Once it’s late in the game, you’re out of rhythm,
and playing catch-up, that happens. The same thing happened to me [against the
Giants]. I had four carries. I wouldn’t say that the Giants stopped me, but
they took us out of our game plan. They did a good job of making us a
one-dimensional team. That’s what defensive coordinators set out to do. It
happens. You don’t take anything away from the Eagles defense. They had a
great game plan and got on top [early]. San Diego couldn’t do anything."
DL, #97 RENALDO WYNN...
On the Eagles’ imbalanced offense:
"They want to utilize their weapons. They have some
big-play guys who can catch the ball, as well as a running back [#36 Brian Westbrook] who is almost like a receiver. They want to get him some touches.
That’s kind of unusual. Usually, your running back gets more touches running
the ball. This guy gets a lot of touches by catching [the ball]. It just shows
the versatility of their offense, [particularly] their running back. He’s a
skillful guy. In the past, that’s the guy who has hurt us."
On injuries along the defensive line:
"I’ll continue to pray [for quick recoveries]. I hope our
guys can have a speedy recovery and get healthy. I know those guys. I definitely
expect our veteran guys to be out there playing on Sunday night."
On how the Redskins defense plans to eliminate opponents’ long
runs:
"Most importantly, we have to worry about ourselves. Every
time we look at the long runs [on film, we notice that] we were in position to
make the play. Our theme has been worrying about us. We have to correct what we
need to get corrected. That’s our defense. We’ll be alright."
DL, #93 PHILLIP DANIELS...
On whether the Redskins have adjusted their practices in light
of Eagles QB, #5 Donovan McNabb’s mobility:
"We’ve practiced like we always do. We’ll just try to
contain him. We try to do that with all quarterbacks. He doesn’t run as much
as he used to. I think that’s probably because he’s injured a lot. He has
good presence [in the pocket]. He knows where the [defensive] linemen are. He
escapes a lot. We just have to keep him in the pocket. Hopefully, if we do that,
we’ll get some sacks and make some plays on him."
GREGG WILLIAMS
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH – DEFENSE
NOVEMBER 3, 2005
On the health of the Redskins defensive line:
"We’re banged up, but each week, we get one or two of
[the defensive linemen] back. We purposely rested a couple of them last week,
knowing that we would be able to get them back this week. We’re in about the
same position as we were in last week as far as numbers. We’ll have a healthy
seven or eight [linemen] going into the game."
On playing Redskins defensive linemen at multiple defensive line
positions:
"That’s one of the things about having a veteran staff
with [defensive coordinator – defensive line] Greg [Blache], [linebackers
coach] Dale [Lindsey], and the other guys on the [defensive] side of the ball.
We look for universal guys. We look for guys that can play more than one
position. In training camp, and even in practice [now], we train guys at more
than one position. Each game, you have someone who’s going to go down that you
didn’t think about [going down]. If an injury does happen, we have a plan for
throwing a [replacement] in there, instead of throwing him in there without
knowing how he is going to react."
On the amount of time DL, #92 Demetric Evans spent practicing
the defensive tackle position:
"All [of last] week, but [also] last year and in training
camp. That’s why the off-season practices are so important, which I continue
to teach [S, #21] Sean Taylor [who did not attend off-season workouts]. Every
single day that I talk in a classroom or a meeting about something we learned in
off-season training, I bring up his name. Demetric took a lot of snaps [at
defensive tackle]. Those are snaps that will come back to help us in [players’]
memory and retention when we’re throwing them in the heat of battle. He did
really well. I was pleased with how he did last week [against the Giants] in the
limited number of times he was back there at that particular position. The more
[a player] can do, the longer your career is in this league."
On when the Redskins will determine which defensive linemen can
play against the Eagles:
"We always try to get them in one day of practice. But with
those guys being veterans, we’ll take [their injury status] all the way up to
the time of deactivating players on [the day before the game] because they’ve
had so much experience and so many reps. Whoever is in there, we’ll have a
plan for them. We’ll have a plan for the skills that they can bring into the
mix, too. Some guys can do things better than others. [DT, #96] Cornelius
[Griffin] just happens to be one of those guys who can do an awful lot of things
because of his natural talent. Other guys who [may] have to play in his place
because he can’t go will be used in a way that we can maximize their
talent."
On whether S, #21 Sean Taylor sat out of Thursday’s practice:
"Yes. He’ll practice tomorrow. We did that on purpose. He
had a lot of good work on the side today. He took all of the half-speed reps. We
have certain drills in practice for[injured] guys to get the mental repetitions
they need to get, so that when they go in tomorrow [Friday], they’ll be going
full speed."
On the Redskins secondary’s performance through seven games:
"We’ve played really well. Our secondary has done a very
good job. We have a really good group back there. They’ve stayed in tact here
for a couple of years. We played really solid last week [against the Giants]. We
had a good plan. We just didn’t force them to [throw] it up enough. They had
31 attempts. I go back to [the fact that] we played almost 90 snaps on defense.
We did a pretty good job there. Even when you look back on the [Giants] rushing
[game] last week, they had 45 attempts. We gave up two [big] plays. The other 43
rushing attempts were for [an average of] 3.3 yards. Those [big runs] are plays
you have to play. After that opening play [Giants RB Tiki Barber’s 57-yard
run], which was [a result of] two missed tackles, we still had an opportunity
– which I thought was really neat – to come away [having given up] no points
on that drive. We sacked quarterback [Eli Manning] and got the ball out, but the
ball bounced back to him again. One of the things we pride ourselves on is that,
if we give up a big play, [we] give ourselves another play. [The players need
to] run it down. Their will, commitment, and competitiveness are the most
impressive things that I see about this group of guys. If [a running back] pops
outside, they chase him down. Shawn Springs chasing [Tiki Barber] down was
impressive."
On whether he expects the Eagles to run the ball more often
against the Redskins than in previous games this season:
"Each week, you have to make a team one-dimensional. You
have to do that. When a team can do both [pass and run], you struggle. I don’t
know what their plan will be or what the health of their players is. We’re
going to defend their offense. We know what we see on film. We also know, as we’ve
gone back, how we matched up last year. Coaches are creatures of habit. We see
what their habits are this year, but that doesn’t mean they’ll come out and
do that. We have to be ready for both."
On Eagles RB, #36 Brian Westbrook:
"He’s one of the best players in the NFC. He played very
well against us [last season]. We have to do a good job against him. A lot of
the success of our game plan will be about how well we play against him."
On whether Eagles QB, #5 Donovan McNabb looks as mobile as in
seasons past:
"He does. There’s no doubt that he is one of the fiercest
competitors in the NFL. There’s no doubt that he loves playing this game. I
see very little effect [from his sports hernia] on him. I see him being the same
guy on the move, running out of the pocket, running around, and throwing to his
left and right. I don’t see any difference."
On whether he expects Eagles WR #81 Terrell Owens to play on
Sunday night:
"I see that he practiced today. We don’t ever get caught
up in the drama of [injury reports]. We’ll be prepared, [until] the inactive
lists are turned in, for him to be in the ballgame. That’s how we go about
doing it. If he’s not, then we’ll make our adjustments after that. We
prepare like he is going to be playing."
On whether Redskins S, #23 Omar Stoutmire practiced today:
"He did limited things on the side. We’ll have to wait to
see if he can go tomorrow [Friday]. He’s a guy who has been really good on
special teams and is able to play in a lot of different packages defensively. I’m
more comfortable when you have a nine-year vet that can do the things he can
do."
On whether he enjoys playing on Sunday night:
"It’s hard to wait around [on Sunday afternoon]. You
learn over the years that you have to prepare just a little bit differently. I
enjoy being in the atmosphere with the players. The players take it up a notch.
There are a lot of things throughout the course of the week that I wouldn’t
mind passing on to someone else. You don’t like doing some of the things you
have to do to get to that game. You don’t like waiting around all day Sunday.
Being on the field of battle with [the players] makes it fun. It makes the wait
okay."
On CB, #24 Shawn Springs taking a nasty hit against the Eagles
last season:
"We talked about it a little bit this week. He won’t look
sideways if he gets a shot at that guy. That’s the competitive part of the
ballgame. That was one of the first comments I made when we started the week. I
remember Shawn Springs looking up at me with pretty blue eyes. One [eye] blew
East, one blew West. He had no idea where he was at. We’ll see if he can
rectify that shot he took."
On the Jim Johnson-led Philadelphia defense:
"I have tremendous respect for [Eagles defensive
coordinator] Jim Johnson and what that whole staff does. In the off-season, we
study a lot of other people in the league. He’s one of the guys that we study
quite a bit. We each steal from each other. We each take one thing or two that
we can add to our own packages. [Defensive coordinator – defensive line] Greg
Blache was on staff with him [at Notre Dame and in Indianapolis], so we know
quite a bit of the things that they do. We’re going to have to have our hard
hats on when we play. When you play his scheme, you have to make sure that your
protections are really sound because he’ll challenge them."
MOSS,
PORTIS AND TAYLOR AUTOGRAPH SESSION
TO
BENEFIT HURRICANE RELIEF
ASHBURN,
VA – Washington Redskins players Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and Sean Taylor
will be signing autographs Friday, November 4th at the team’s
official store in the Montgomery Mall in Bethesda to benefit hurricane relief
efforts.
The
players will be at the store on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to autograph items
in return for a donation that the Santana Moss Foundation will turn over to
relief organizations. The requested donation is $20 for a signature on a
“flat” item such as a photograph, and $40 per signature on items like
jerseys, helmets or balls.
The
Washington Redskins official store is located on the lower level of the
Montgomery Mall, at 7101 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda, MD.
