Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn
On how injuries make it difficult to run
practice:
“It is difficult because the rotations become
messed up, the healthy players have to work harder, and you cannot
evaluate the players that are injured. Sometimes players will pull
themselves out of practice when they are sore, but not injured. I
have not seen any of that and players are continually pushing through
the soreness. That is a sign of a mature and veteran team that really
wants to be playing.”
On who will be the second designated defensive
player to wear the helmet with a communication system:
“We have decided not to have a designated player
that will wear the second speaker because London Fletcher is an
every-down player. If the second guy goes in and London is not in
there, we will get that player fitted with the second mike. Greg
Blache has a learning curve as well concerning how to communicate the
calls, but he will get better at it as we go along. In the preseason,
London will not play much, so it will be H.B. Blades or whichever
other player is calling the defensive sets that will wear the
speaker.”
On his overall thoughts on the first week of
training camp:
“We got a lot accomplished, but our guys are very
tired. My encouragement to them is to push through. We still have a
lot of work to do, and the mental part gets hard. The mental strain
wears on the players and that is when you begin to see mistakes.
Overall, I am very pleased with how hard guys are working, but now
they must dig down.”
On Jason Campbell’s performance during the
first week of training camp:
“Jason Campbell in his first series during the
scrimmage did a great job. What I am looking for is that he plays at
a high level all the time. Yesterday after the first drive, he was up
and down, so tonight he will see the corrections that he must make
when watching film, and hopefully we will eliminate those mistakes
throughout the next week leading up to the game with Indianapolis.”
On why a fast tempo is critical to the
offense’s success:
“It forces a defense to rush as well. If the
offense goes up to the line of scrimmage in a casual manner, then the
defense feels very comfortable. They can get all of their calls
communicated, identify the offense’s formation, and adjust to any
mistakes they have made. But if we get to the line of scrimmage
quickly, then the offense forces the defense to be ready and possibly
make errors.”
On Jon Jansen’s performance in yesterday’s
scrimmage:
“Jon Jansen had a great scrimmage. He was very
active and it did not look like he was limping around on his ankle.
He did a good job and I was very impressed.”
On the punting competition between Derrick Frost and Durant Brooks:
“I have been watching the competition the whole
time, and it is surprising how even it is. We will get a chance to
see them compete under duress in the upcoming games. They are both
good punters, but we have to choose one. When we pick a punter, it is
not that the other is bad, but that the punter we choose won the
position.”
Redskins Tight End Chris Cooley
On how he is feeling after a week of training
camp:
“I feel awesome right now. I think camp is going
really well. I am getting in pretty good shape, I’ve really got the
offense down. I am excited to start playing some games.”
On playing against another team:
“I am ready to see someone in a different uniform
now. Preseason is a long time. We are here for six weeks before we
play a real game and that is really a long time.”
On how important a fast tempo is to the
success of the offense:
“It is going to be very important. The big thing
we are doing right now is we are lining up and snapping the ball. We
are not shifting around. We are not motioning as much as we have
before. It is important for us to get to the ball, snap it and catch
everybody off guard.”
On meeting a kid from the Make-A-Wish
Foundation :
“I woke up this morning and knew I was going to
meet him, and thought how awesome it was that the kid was looking
forward to it. It was very cool. I wanted to show him a good time.
We had some fun, threw the ball around, we ran some plays. It was a
good day not just for him, but for me too.”
On the time he spent with a kid from the
Make-A-Wish Foundation:
“It is really cool to make someone’s day like
that. It is unfortunate when someone has to deal with stuff,
especially as young as he is. He is a football player; he is a
quarterback. To be able to have him come out, hang out and meet all
of us was awesome. It was good for us.”
Redskins Offensive Tackle Chris Samuels
On the first week of training camp:
“It’s been pretty cool for me. I haven’t been
able to go through any contact at this point and hopefully by Monday
or Tuesday I will be able to. Overall I think everything is going
well with the team. The coaches are doing an excellent job and we
still have a long way to go.”
On if any player has impressed him during
training camp:
“[There has been] no one in particular. I look
at the whole big picture, instead of looking at one guy.”
On if the offense is where it needs to be:
“We have a long way to go. We are doing some
good things out there, but we still have a long way to go to get to
where we want to be.”
On if it is important to keep the tempo up:
“We need to have a quick tempo because the play
clock is constantly running down. Last year we got in a couple of
tough situations where the clock expired on us and that is a penalty.
If you practice at a high tempo then it will carry over in a game.”
On the status of his injured elbow:
“It feels pretty good right now. We will test it
out probably Monday or Tuesday.”