Highlights of the three podium press conferences following Redskins OTA practice at Redskins Park on Thursday, May 23, 2013.
Quick Hits With Quarterback Robert Griffin III:
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On how his knee feels:**
"My knee feels great. I can do all the stuff on the field without any hesitations and that's the best part. It is all about the confidence and if I work hard enough to get the confidence back, I can get back out on the field. "
On the timetable for what he has left in his rehab:
"The timetable for the explosive sprinting is over the next couple weeks and the cutting a couple weeks after the sprinting. I am not worried about those phases. One of my goals is to be on the field for training camp. At this point I am just worried about what I can control. As far as the season goes, I want to be back by Week 1. As soon as I woke up out of surgery I put the date of the first game as the pass code to my phone. Playing in Week 1 has always been the goal, but I am not going to risk my career to play in one game. I am definitely all in for Week 1 but also all in for my career too."
On what players have given him advice about coming back from an injury like his:
"I have talked to Adrian Peterson, that's the obvious one and he says what everyone else says. I've already been through the injury once and I'm not all-knowing about the injury, so I listen to guys and Adrian said what everyone else says. I'm not Adrian; Adrian is not me. Everybody's body heals a little differently. Rex [Grossman] also tore an ACL in his career and he's talked to me about the uncertainties he had with the injury. My view is always, even from the first one, you come back as if you were never hurt because that is the only way you can play. You don't play the game afraid to get hurt, you play the game like you are supposed to be invincible while at the time being smart and sliding and all of that other stuff."
--Check out the full Robert Griffin III press conference transcript.
Quick Hits With Head Coach Mike Shanahan:
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On quarterback Robert Griffin III saying he wants to be ready for training camp:**
"Well, we're hoping that he's ready for training camp. He's been working extremely hard like we've talked about in the past. I think you guys could see today that he's been throwing for a while. His arm is in pretty good shape. It looks like he's making a lot of progress."
On if Griffin III could play in the season opener without playing in the preseason:
"It's hard to say. Probably not…. Do you mean in a preseason game or in practice? You'd have to practice against yourself, not necessarily against an opponent. One of the reasons for that, he'd have to work with the first-team offense and he'd have to have some practice time."
On the growth of quarterback Kirk Cousins:
"I think anytime a quarterback gets the reps that Kirk is getting right now, he develops. That's what we're looking forward to him doing, is developing during these OTAs. And with the extra added reps that he's getting, you can see the progression in his game. He's playing with a lot of confidence and we like what we see."
--Check out the full Mike Shanahan press conference transcript.
Quick Hits With Quarterback Kirk Cousins:
On receiving more reps this offseason:
"I wasn't expecting to be with the No. 1 offense much at all, so now to be able to do it for several extended practices will help my growth and development tremendously."
On his mindset at practices:
"My mindset as a backup, whether it was at Michigan State or here in the NFL, is that I want to play so well in practice that, even if I'm not the guy, the coaches are going back to meetings, watching film and saying, 'I can't wait until we can give this guy an opportunity to show us what he can do on Sundays.' I want them to be excited about me. I want to create excitement in that coaching meeting room, even if I not out there on Sundays doing it. I want to continue to work hard so that happens."
On if he had thoughts of being somewhere else this offseason:
"I really didn't. I felt that, with a four-year contract, it's just too early. I really felt like I'd be back. I wanted to be back. I think this is a great place to be right now in this system with what we're doing. Coming back off of a division championship, this is an exciting time and an exciting place to be. I'm very glad that I'm back with the Redskins."
--Check out the full Kirk Cousins press conference transcript.
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