Washington coach Jay Gruden talks with reporters on Friday. Washington (1-4) travels to Arizona (3-1) for a game on Sunday at 4:25 p.m.
Coach Jay Gruden
On the injury report:
“Robert Griffin and Tracy Porter are both out. Questionable and did not participate today is Ryan Clark. Limited participation/questionable is Brian Orakpo. Questionable – Perry Riley. He did not participate today. Trent Williams – questionable, he did limited work today. And Jordan Reed did limited today and he is questionable. Then the probables are all the others. Ryan Clark, did I say him? He did not participate today but he is questionable.”
On his level of concern about safety Ryan Clark and linebacker Perry Riley, Jr.:
“When you don’t participate all week in practice, there’s a lot of concern. Ryan Clark has been around football a long time. His level of concern if he feels like he can go is not quite as great as Perry’s, but we’ll have to see where they are tomorrow.”
On if the additional tests on Riley, Jr. revealed anything:
“No, no. He just has a sprained deal. It’s just a matter of getting the soreness out and how good he is.”
On if he gives Clark “a looser rope” when it comes to recovery:
“Yeah, that’s the case with a veteran guy like that who’s been around, no question about it. He knows his body better than I know his body. If he needs to take an extra day, he’s the type of guy that I know is not trying to cut corners. He’s doing it legitimately because he has some pain issue, and if he feels like he needs another day of rest to get ready for Sunday, yes, I can deal with it.”
On tight end Jordan Reed’s performance:
“Yeah, he’s done a pretty decent job. He’s still not quite there yet but he’s making great progress. We’re all anxiously awaiting his return and hopefully it will be Sunday. But, like I said before, the most important thing is to make sure he feels good about his hamstring so he can really run. We don’t want 50 percent Jordan Reed. We need 100 percent Jordan Reed.”
On if Reed can be 100 percent by Sunday:
“Yeah, we’ll see tomorrow. We’ll get on the plane and see how he’s doing after the plane. We’ll have a little jog through tomorrow to see where he’s at. We’ll probably make the final decision probably after pregame warm-up, right around there when he’s out there at the stadium – let him run around, see how he looks.”
On if Reed can help in the running game:
“He’s a heck of a tight end. He’s going to help us in all phases if he’s ready to go. We’ve got to cross our fingers, hope he’s ready to go. The same with Ryan Clark, [Brian] Orakpo and Trent Williams. All of these guys are very valuable to us, and Jordan is no different. Jordan gives us another dimension with the passing game and obviously he’s good enough in the running game so he’s a duel-threat. It just adds to the mix. They have great corners out there with [Antonio] Cromartie and obviously Patrick Peterson so it’s a matchup we could utilize if he’s ready to go.”
On leaving early for Arizona:
“They’ll get a little free time tonight. They’ll be able to go out, get some dinner on their own and they’ll still have curfew, and then tomorrow morning we’ll practice like we normally do and we’ll have meetings at night like we normally do. Tomorrow afternoon, they’ll have a little bit of free time to do whatever. We’re just trying to get there early, let them get some rest and then have our normal Saturday morning meetings and walkthrough, and then meeting Saturday night, get a curfew, get a good night’s sleep, get them well-rested and get them ready to play.”
On if a team can succeed with one unit struggling:
“It’s hard, and I think every team can say the same thing. There’s no question that you need all three phases to be successful. If one phase fails you greatly, you’re going to have problems in this league. You look at the defending champs and they were very good on special teams. Obviously their defense was No. 1 in the league, and Russell Wilson’s a heck of a guy running that offense. So all three phases really held their own weight and made plays. We’ve just got to get all three phases to make plays in a positive way and avoid the negative plays – the fumbles, the blocked kicks, the big plays on defense, the lack of third-down stops, the lack of third-down conversions. We’ve just got to all hold our own weight and pull together, not try to pick somebody else up all the time and make up for somebody else’s shortcomings. We’ve got to eliminate the shortcomings and all play together and play well.”
Share
Contributors
