It was hard to tell for sure but when Washington Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden answered a few of the questions sent his way during his pre-training camp press conference, he did it in a manner that indicated he wanted to put an end to the subject matter and move on. As well, he talked like a third-year coach who was clearly comfortable in his skin and ready to start the season.
As one would expect, the three main offseason topics were broached during his time with reporters today namely quarterback Kirk Cousins’ and the lack of a long-term contract with him, LB Junior Galette’s devastating Achilles injury and the prospect of who might replace him and the running game and whether or not the roster is set as it is on that squad.
As far as Cousins is concerned, Gruden took a very pragmatic approach to the question of what was expected of the fifth-year quarterback and almost sounded resolved in putting the entire question of him to bed. He even indulged himself with a big sigh before he began.
“Well, we’re getting ready,” Gruden said about how things would work even with no long-term contract agreed upon between the team and his QB. “He’s got to get himself ready — his body ready, his mind ready. We’re getting ready to play a tough NFL season and he’s got a year out of film that people are going to study on him. And he’s going to have to study other people and prepare himself no differently. And we’re going to coach him no differently. He’s a great football player… made great strides last year. We’re all excited about it but he’s got to continue that progress.
“The contract will take care of itself. We won’t have any conversations about the contract, about his future contracts… any of that stuff. All we’re going to focus on is this year, him getting better and becoming the best quarterback he can possibly be and I know that’s his intent also.”
The way the head coach answered an expected question about how the Redskins felt about losing Galette and what it would do about it was impressive. It is clear that — for at least the near future — the team is not bringing in any free agents from the outside.
“We’re upset obviously,” he said. “More so about him as an individual. Just watching him work and getting ready from the previous injury… how hard he was training, the attitude that he came into the building with, and the excitement that he was going to bring to this football team — only to see it cut short with another Achilles [injury]; it’s… I’m… you know, devastated is a good word for him.
“Now for this football team, injuries are part of the game. We have to rebound. We have… you know, Ryan Kerrigan. We still have Preston Smith. We’ve got Lynden Trail. We’ve got some young guys… Houston Bates. They’re going to have to fill the void that [Galette] so-called ‘would have filled for us.’ But we’re going to look at our young guys here in the building that we’re excited about. We still have some good pass-rushers hidden here and they’re going to produce.
And finally, of course, Gruden was asked about adding a veteran running back.
“Yea could be,” he said. “Some guys looked pretty good in [mini] camp. We have got Chris Thompson coming back… he looked good. Obviously Mack Brown we had last year on the practice squad. Robert Kelley is the rookie free agent we picked up. Keith Marshall we’re excited about. We have some guys in the building we’re going to look at. And if it doesn’t work out, we’re always looking… every position. Scot [McCloughan] and the scouting staff have their eyeballs across the league at who is available. But hopefully, we don’t need to go that route. But if we do, there are always going to be good players to talk about.”