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Press Conference: Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden

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redskins_scriptrWashington Redskins coach Jay Gruden talks with reporters on Thursday. The Redskins (3-8) play the Indianapolis Colts (7-4) on Sunday.

 

On the injury report:

“E.J. Biggers did not practice. Jason Hatcher did not participate. Chris Baker was limited. Ryan Clark was limited. Silas Redd did not participate. Jordan Reed was limited. Full was Trent Williams, [Bashaud] Breeland and [Kedric] Golston.”

 

On defensive end Jason Hatcher’s injury:

“He’s just got a little lingering soreness – just from wear and tear, I think, on his body. It’s his other knee, but I think he’ll be fine. It’s just something he has to deal with as a football player. Some of these injuries this late in the season kind of catch up to you a little bit and they just kind of linger, but I think he’ll be fine.”

 

On if there is concern cornerback E.J. Biggers will not be ready to play Sunday:

“Yeah, there is some concern. We want to make sure E.J. is obviously 100 percent. He’s going to go through the proper measures and if there’s any lingering side effects whatsoever, obviously safety first with these players and we’ll have to make adjustments and work out some other guys inside in the Nickel.”

 

On if they would look outside of the team for someone to fill Biggers’ role:

“No, we’re OK in-house. [Greg] Ducre played last week. We have [Chase] Minnifield on our roster, so we’ve got enough guys. We still have, obviously, [David] Amerson will be back up this week.”

 

On who would fill the nickel role in place of Biggers:

“Well, we have a couple options. You know, we have T-Rob [Trenton Robinson] that could play in there. We’ve got a couple other guys in there. We can move people around. I think we proved last week that we can be pretty flexible with our personnel, so we’re working a lot of people in at different spots trying to get used to that.”

 

On if his hope is for Hatcher to be ready to play Sunday:

“We’re hoping for Sunday. That’s our goal. We want to make sure he just gets the needed rest – big guy, he plays hard obviously and just has a little bit of soreness in his knee. We just want to make sure we give him the rest that he needs so he’s good to go for Sunday, but we’ll continue to Monitor him tomorrow and find out where he’s at.”

 

On if he’s planning for tackle Trent Williams to play Sunday:

“That’s the plan, you know. He looked good today. He was full participation today. Like I said, we’ll get him with the trainer and get him treatment afterwards and we’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow, but he looked fine today.”

 

On if there will be other offensive personnel changes for Sunday:

“Not that I know of, no. I think we’re good. The big thing is finding out if Jordan Reed can go or not. We’re slowly but surely working him back in here and seeing how his hamstring is doing. It gives you a different element, obviously. But other than that, I think it’s status quo for the offense.”

 

On the injury to Defensive Line Coach Jacob Burney:

“Tough being in this building this day and age. We’ve got some guys going down. Coach Burney just as he’s going from the stairs to the floor in the kitchen and he had to have surgery yesterday. I think he’ll be OK. He’ll have a full recovery, but he’s going to be tied up for a while.”

 

On if Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett and Outside Linebackers Coach Brian Baker will assume some of Burney’s responsibilities:

“Yeah, exactly right. Coach Baker will have a little bit more responsibility with the defensive lineman also and then Coach Haslett will help out with the outside linebackers also.”

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