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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Quotes: Jay Gruden (11.27.15)

Head Coach Jay Gruden

Opening statement:

"Chris Culliver tore his ACL and MCL. We are going to put him on IR. Trenton Robinson, hamstring, he'll be out. Deshazor Everett, hamstring, he'll be questionable. Keenan Robinson, shoulder, he'll be questionable, and [Bashaud] Breeland missed today. He was sick. He'll be questionable. Everyone else is probable."

On the magnitude of CB Chris Culliver's injury:

"He's a good player for us obviously and you hate to lose good players. Unfortunately it happened. It's just a fluke deal. He just went up for a ball, landed on it and it tore. But, you know, these other guys are going to have to step up and be ready to go – [Quinton] Dunbar, [Deshazor] Everett if he's able to go, [Bashuad] Breeland and we'll go from there."

On if he's confident CB Bashaud Breeland will bounce back from his illness:

"Yeah, I hope so. You know hopefully it's just a 24-hour bug or something like that. But he had a little fever and was sick, but you never know."

On how Culliver's injury and Breeland's illness affect the situation at cornerback:

"You know, it's unfortunate but Coach [Perry] Fewell, he's been schooling these other guys up and that's what pro football is all about. You hear it all the time – next man up and that's the way it is. We're very sad for Chris. We're going to miss Chris quite a bit, but other guys are going to have to step up and play. We don't have any other choice. These guys are ready. They've been eager and waiting for their opportunity to play and they're going to get it. We'll see how it goes. We have some guys that are ready to step up and fill in. You know [Quinton] Dunbar has been playing a lot. Obviously you know D-Hall [DeAngelo Hall] is still on our football team and he's a veteran guy who can play. We still have Breeland, so we're in good shape."

On if Kyshoen Jarrett will return to nickel corner or stay at safety:

"We've got a couple of options. We still have [Will] Blackmon too that can play corner. We have some versatility back there. If there is a saving grace with all the injuries that we've had, we've had to try to intermingle everybody in different spots, so they all have a pretty good general knowledge of nickel, corner, safety. So I think we'll have it covered. Blackmon can nickel and he can play corner. Kyshoen can play nickel and safety. D-Hall can play corner and safety. So we have all the spots filled, but you'd like to have better continuity with them being in one spot longer, but it what it is. Like I said, [Coach] Joe [Barry] and Coach Fewell will have those guys schooled up wherever they are."

On if he heard from the NFL about Culliver's negated touchdown from last week:

"No, I tried not to look at it because if they said it wasn't a penalty, I'd get upset, and if they say it was a penalty, I'd get upset. So there's really no use in looking at it [laughter]. They got back to us. I think Bruce [Allen] read it and probably Scot [McCloughan] read it. I didn't read it."

On his level of optimism on T Trent Williams:

"I'm very high on Trent, very high on Trent. He had a good day of practice yesterday in his limited work and then today he got the majority of the snaps and he looked good. Like I said before, it'd have to be a tough injury to keep him out of the game."

On Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul:

"He's still big, still long. He's still a very good athlete. You know, I don't exactly know the extent of his injury but he looks the same to me. He's very effective and it's somebody you have to deal with. He can line up on the right side or the left side. He's an effective pass rusher. Morgan [Moses] has had a good year, Trent [Williams] has obviously had a good year and they're going to have to be ready for his speed and athleticism off the edge."

On if they will 'stick with' C Josh LeRibeus this week:

"Well, we're going to 'stick with' Josh. We just keep coaching him up, man, and keep practicing. Josh is getting better just like everybody else every day and that's all we can do. Obviously, if it continues, I think Brian [de la Puente] feels a lot more comfortable in the offense. I have no problem sticking with Josh right now. Josh is battling some, you know, nagging injuries here and there, too, but he should be good to go. We have faith in Josh."

On how much he revisits how the team played the Giants in Week 3 and how much he looks at what the Giants have done recently:

"You look at how they played you, how the coaches coached against you and your scheme, obviously. Then, you also want to see how they've adapted since you've played them and if they're doing anything different personnel-wise or scheme-wise, so we take all of it into account. They're a good football team, lost some close games, won some close games but they have done things a little bit different from the last time we played them. But you don't know. They've also, like I've said yesterday, cornerbacks have been out. Prince [Amukamara] has been out; now he's back in at full strength. Obviously, Cromartie [Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie] is out there at full strength now. Those two together haven't played a lot together so I don't know if that's going to change how they play — more man-to-man, what their approach is going to be — so we'll have to wait and find out."

On his feeling going into an important divisional game:

"It's a division game and it's the New York Giants. Obviously they've beaten us the last three times and we need to step up. We're not worried about the race right now, so to speak, as we are about playing our best football. We're talking about playing the right fundamentals with the right attitude, the right intensity and taking care of what we need to take care of, what we can control and go from there."

On if he has had more of an edge in practice this week and if the players needed it:

"I don't know. It just depends on the day. You know, sometimes they need a little more rev – they need to be revved up a little more. If I feel like practice is just going through the motions, so to speak, that might've been the case yesterday, I don't know. You try to have a consistent approach really as a coach. You don't want them to be all tight one game because of an important game. All the games are important and I try to have a consistent approach every week. But obviously we know this is a big game with a lot at stake. The guys will be ready."

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