COACH DICK JAURON
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Opening statement/injury status
In terms of our injury list Marshawn [Lynch] did not practice. All of these next guys did not practice: Marshawn of course with the ankle, Jerametrius Butler with the calf, Anthony Thomas with a calf, Chris Kelsay the ankle, Coy Wire with his neck and Donte Whitner was excused for family matters. Roscoe Parrish and Mario Haggan and Bryan Scott were all ill. Ryan Denney is his foot and Robert Royal was his ankle so none of those guys participated in practice. Larry Tripplett was limited and he's got an abdominal strain, but he did participate in part of practice.
At this point throughout the NFL for certain and most other people are aware what has happened with Redskins and Sean Taylor. Certainly our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends, his teammates and the whole Redskins organization. It's a terrible tragedy. There's not a whole lot else to say about it. It just leaves you almost speechless but there it is. And we know it occurs all too regularly on a daily basis, but now it's in our league and that's tough.
On Marshawn Lynch's status
Well we're not optimistic about this week, but again he's ahead of his schedule. He's ahead of the schedule we set for him. He did do some running with the trainers out there today and he has done some stuff. We've moved along and we'll continue to advance him and see what he can, how much he can tolerate and how he tolerates it tomorrow and those kind of things but he's always been optimistic. He's always felt he's going to play in the next game but he felt that way on the first Friday of the injury. Again I'm not optimistic for this week and then we'll just see.
On if Fred Jackson will have a bigger role this week
Yes, Fred [Jackson] and Dwayne [Wright].
On if Fred Jackson will start this week
Yes, it's either Fred or Dwayne. That's where we are. We like both of those guys and Fred sure got an expanded role last week and he played well in that role. And he played well in his limited role against the Patriots so if that's where it takes us we feel okay with that.
On if Fred Jackson is ahead of Dwayne in terms of his knowledge on the field
Yes. That's exactly right. He just has a little more experience, not a lot more.
On if he is optimistic about the starters who did not practice today
With Anthony, a little bit hard to tell only because Bud [Carpenter] and our doctors say they very rarely have seen this. It's a different injury than they normally see so they don't really know what to tell him or to tell us. They wanted to wait 48 hours and see where it was so that's kind of where that is. I would say we're not overly optimistic with Anthony or with Chris. Chris is still in a boot still on crutches and very sore. Robert was out there at practice today, but just didn't work. Feel a little bit better about that but we'll just have to see.
On if he expects Donte Whitner back for Sunday
We expect Donte back, yes.
On if Ryan Denney has the same injury as earlier in the year
It's the same injury. It just gets sore and Ryan's a very tough guy. We feel okay about that one, but again we don't know for certain. But he's kind of played through this, it gets very sore, he plays awfully hard on it, he works hard on it in practice and then we give him as much time off as he needs to take and then comes back and he plays.
On the message he gave to the team prior to practice
Really not significantly more than I said earlier to start this.
On if it is tough for a young team to bounce back from two straight losses
I would say to some degree it is. There's no sense of pretending that it's not. They do however like to play. I think it's pretty clear that they like to play. They go out and play hard. We don't always play as smart as we'd like. We don't always play as well as we'd like or execute to the level that they would like and we as coaches would like them to. We never have any problems with their effort so I don't think we'll have any problems there. They'll work and they're going to work at it. They'll play hard when the time comes. Just have to get our concentration right and our focus right everyday in practice and get a little more consistent and a little more detailed. You always worry about those things particularly with a young team so yes, we are a little bit worried about it but probably no more than normal.
On if he is worried about the transition from emotion prior to kickoff to playing a game on Sunday
No, I don't in that regard because they all are pros on both sides of the ball, both the Washington side and our side. This is what they do. This is what Sean Taylor loved to do and you could see it on tape. He loved to play this game. They've all chosen this as their profession so I don't anticipate. I think it'll be a highly competitive game, I think it'll be a tough game. I don't think that'll be an issue in it at all.
On his impression of London Fletcher's play this year
He's played at a high level. It's not a surprise. London, wherever he's been throughout his career, he's played at a very high level and been a leader. And he looks like the same guy to me on the field for them.
On if he understands a little of what the Redskins are going through by experiencing Kevin Everett's injury
I would say if we do it's at a very low level. Kevin's injury was a devastating injury and it was very touch and go in the early stages. But it got so much better so fast and then since that time it's just improved. It's really a very, very different story. Obviously this is not going to get better. It's just a terrible tragedy. Our situation and Kevin's, through a lot of work on his part and the doctors with a lot of effort by him and people that worked with him, has just been so good. This is not good.
On if he expects to make a roster move at running back
There were a number of games that we played that way a year ago so we're not fearful in going and knocking on wood here. Strange things happen in games. We'll have to have contingency plans and if we do make any changes it will be later in the week.
On if he feels Trent Edwards will make a smooth return
He's probably not quite where he'd be if he had played (the last few weeks), but of course he couldn't play for most of it injury wise and then we made the decision. I think he's back to where he was health wise. It would have been better for any quarterback to have played continually though that time. We're optimistic, we're positive about it and once again I must say that my hat's off to JP because it's not easy. And he handles it very well.
On if he gave the team the message because they were playing Washington this week or if he would have made the statement regardless
No, I would be pretty certain that every team in the National Football League addressed that situation this morning so it was regardless of who we played. It's a tragedy and it touches us. The NFL for me has always been a very special place. I've been very lucky to play in it and I've been very lucky to coach in it. It is to some degree a close fraternity. People have a lot of pride. They are very competitive, but we all understand each other pretty much so it affects everybody in our business I think.
