S Charles Woodson records a sack on Redskins QB Robert Griffin III. Photo by Tony Gonzales
Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: Injuries in the game – [Darren] McFadden's got a hamstring and Marcel Reece injured his knee in the game. The extent of what those injuries are I don't really know right now, but we'll find that out later. Then obviously I'm sure there's the normal bumps and bruises, but those were the guys that weren't able to finish the game. That game, I told the players in the locker room, that one hurt. That one stung. I thought the way we were able to start out the game, block a punt, get to 14-0 when we had all the momentum, and then we let them back in the game. You have to give them credit; they continued to fight and compete, but we didn't do enough to win the football game. I thought our defense and special teams, I thought they held their own. I thought they did some good things. Like I mentioned, the blocked punt for a touchdown, the fake punt that got us another first down, I thought our special teams went out and executed. I thought our defense applied pressure to their offense for the whole game. We just, after completing the long pass down there and being able to get a touchdown there in the first quarter on offense, we just couldn't get anything else going. Obviously, losing McFadden and Marcel, that hurt, but we have to find a way to get some more offense going. With that, I'll open it up to questions.
On the Terrelle Pryor decision: It was last night. We actually were at a point where we were ready to go with Terrelle. We visited with him one more time with the doctors and we just didn't feel good about letting him play. It just wasn't the right thing to do and we wanted to make sure we did right by him. I think, obviously, with all the emphasis on head injuries or brain injuries, we wanted to exercise extreme caution in that situation and that's what we did. I think we did the right thing by Terrelle Pryor in not playing him in this game.
On if Pryor will play next week: I'm very hopeful. We were at the point where we were just about ready to say, 'he's got it,' but we just didn't feel comfortable going ahead and letting him play.
On if decision to have Pryor inactive was made last night too: Yeah. Listen, he was either going to be the starter or he wasn't going to be active. Either you can play or you can't play, so that was never really even an issue or a question. It was whether or not this kid could play and we just didn't feel right playing him.
On Matt Flynn's performance: Obviously, I don't think he saw the field very good today. I think he was obviously part of some of the sacks that we gave up in the game. It was a tough situation for him to go in to and obviously, with the loss of McFadden and Reece that didn't help him out any. Offensively, we didn't get it done and that's really the bottom line.
On if he considered Matt McGloin during the game: Not really. I just didn't feel like that was a better option. I think Matt Flynn was our best option to give us a chance and we didn't play well enough.
On Flynn's pocket presence: Really it's being about seeing the field and what I talk about is seeing coverage and being able to deliver the ball, so some of those sacks are partly on him and partly on protection. Everybody is involved in that, but that's what I'm talking about.
On if Pryor regressed last night: I just didn't want to have any doubt in my mind at all that this kid was 100 percent. After visiting with the doctors, there was doubt in my mind and I wasn't going to put him in harms way.
On going for a first down on 4th-and-1 instead of kicking field goal: It was 4th-and inches. It was 4th-and-inches and we have to be able to make inches. We hadn't been moving the ball up and down the field and to get a chance to be down there when you're in scoring position, you can possibly get a touchdown, we have to make inches.
On if Redskins offense did something to surprise Raiders that caused them to call a timeout: No, they didn't do anything at all that surprised us. They were a different personnel grouping than what we anticipated, but I wanted to make sure we had the right defensive personnel on the field so that we could go and put ourselves in the best defensive call. They stayed with a 12 personnel; I wanted to get nickel out there and I didn't want to get caught in a sub situation. That is one of the things that happens when teams go hurry-up. They try not to allow you to sub.
On DJ Hayden's coverage on Pierre Garcon's touchdown: He needs to get tighter, yes, he needs to get tighter. That's another one of those learning experiences for him.
On Rashad Jennings: I thought he went in there and ran the ball hard. I thought he did an admirable job of filling in for McFadden. Again, I'll go back and look at the tape and see exactly how well he did, but I thought he ran the ball hard.
On the Redskins pick-6: There's no question, that's what I was saying earlier – we had the momentum in the game and they were able to snatch it from us a little bit, so yeah, that was a huge play in the game.
On blocked punt and ability to get pressure on punter: We felt like we could get some pressure on him and potentially block a punt and if we were weren't able to get there and block it, we felt like we could force a bad punt. We felt like with the get-off time that we had a chance to get there.
On how losing McFadden changes offense: Obviously, from a run-game standpoint he's kind of got the ability to hit the homerun ball. So, I think our other runners are little bit more physical type of runners whereas Darren's got a little bit more burst to break off the long run. But, if we have to be without Darren for any time, I'll feel confident that both Jeremy Stewart and Rashad Jennings can handle the load.
On if not having McFadden changes offense and ability to run wildcat: No, I don't think so. I don't think that's going to…we only ran two or three plays out of the wildcat, so I mean, it's not a major part of what we do.
On the differences in the offense with Flynn versus Pryor: They're two totally different types of quarterbacks. Obviously, the zone read runs that we're able to run with Pryor I think opens up some seams inside for the running backs. [The defense] has to account for both the runner and the quarterback. I think Pryor's ability to move around and create some things with his feet, I think even though the plays are not always too much different; the dynamic of how the offense works is different.
On if McFadden got worse after returning to the game for a few plays: I don't know exactly what it was. I know they said he had a hamstring and that was pretty much it.
On if he'll consider McGloin over Flynn in the future: I don't know. We'll see. It's 15 minutes after the game. Listen, Matt didn't play well and we have to move on. We have to get better from that, so hopefully we'll be ready to go for San Diego.
On Flynn's arm strength: I don't think that was an issue at all in the game today.
On Lamarr Houston and Sio Moore's offsides penalties: Huge plays. The one offsides was a takeaway where we're going to have the ball in scoring position and we can't do that. It's unacceptable; we have to get it fixed. Too many pre-snap penalties and we have to get that fixed.
On Redskins CB David Amerson's pick-6: I'd have to look at the tape and see. I looked up and saw the guy slide in front and make the play, but I'm not sure exactly what happened on the play.
On staying on course without Pryor, McFadden or Reece: Listen, we've faced adversity and we're going to continue to battle. We're going to continue to fight because that's what we do. That's what you do in the NFL and that's what a pro football team is supposed to do and we have to be able to overcome adversity. We have to be able to deal with injuries and we need guys that get an opportunity to come in and step up.
On if any of offensive struggles have to do with play-calling: No. Listen, I think now we're trying to nitpick and trying to find some things. Listen, we didn't play well. We didn't move the ball well enough. But no, I have no challenge with the play-calling.
On Sebastian Janikowski's missed field goal: Listen, we have to get more comfortable still with that duo. And again, it's a 52-yarder off the dirt, but yeah, any time he misses it's a concern. So we have to continue to look at that and see what we can do to fix that.
QB Matt Flynn
On postgame emotions: Yeah it was; it was a tough one, hard one to swallow.
On how he felt physically: I felt fine. We just didn't do the things we needed to do and it started with me.
On when he felt the game was getting out of hand: We started out pretty well. It was a good drive. We were executing, doing the things we needed to do. They made some adjustments on defense, after that we just weren't converting third downs and that was obviously the big issue.
On when he found out he would be starting: Last night.
On interception returned for touchdown in second quarter: I thought we had a good play; they were in man-to-man coverage. We have to clean up the execution of that, all 11 of us have to clean it up.
On field vision throughout the game: I don't know, I felt like I was seeing things fairly well. There were a couple of times on some play-actions where there was a big jump on the line of scrimmage and I had a hard time making sure there were guys open, so I didn't want to force it by making any bad throws. I didn't think I wasn't seeing the field; I just didn't make the plays.
On Washington pass rush: I don't know, you just react out there; it's hard to tell. We have to just look at it, look at what we were doing. The execution, it starts with me.
On crowd booing him: Yeah, I mean it's hard not to hear it. You just try to focus on your job and do what you can, but it's definitely hard not to hear.
On impact of losing Marcel Reece and Darren McFadden:No question, those two guys are the heart and soul of the offense, that's two great players. I still feel like we ran the ball well after that but that was definitely a big blow for us.
On missed opportunity:Yeah, no question. Give them credit, their defense played well. They gave us some different looks than they've shown and they did a nice job. We definitely feel like it's a huge opportunity missed and we felt like we should have done a lot better.
On whether or not he will start next week:I have no idea. Have to clean this up tomorrow and forget about it, move on, but I have no idea.
On frustration:Yeah, no question. I feel like I had a really good week preparing and was ready for the game. It's definitely frustrating when you don't go out there and get the production and execution you believe you've capable of. It's just tough out there; it was tough. Have to get better.
RB Rashad Jennings
On filling in for RB Darren McFadden:You always have to see yourself as the guy. I do back up Darren, [I] make sure he's always ready to go, and he's an awesome player and we're going to be excited when he returns. Again, I'm just a football player and wherever they put me, wherever they need me – special teams, running back, if they need to line me up anywhere – I'm going to do whatever I can to help us win football games.
On his blocked punt:I think there are always opportunities to make a play. If you watch film, no matter who it is, you're going to see opportunities to make plays. On special teams, something that I always do is I really study the snappers to get the get-off. That's really what makes a difference if the protection doesn't break down, and then [if it does] obviously you'd be running scot-free. That's really what makes the biggest difference.
On the injuries to the starting backfield:"As a player, period, in the NFL, you have the mindset that there aren't any backups; we all believe that those are the guys sitting at home. Everybody that 's in this locker room is capable of going out and making plays, we're accountable to go out there and make plays, and we always have the 'next man up' mentality. That's kind of how we took it as a whole backfield."
TE Mychal Rivera
On his first-career touchdown:It was a really good call. It was just a basic seam, they did Cover-2, left the middle of the field open, the safety flew out of there and that gave me a really good look for my first touchdown. On sister, Naya Rivera, cheering him on:Yeah, I was really glad that she got to make it out, and I'm just happy she was here.
On struggles finding the end zone:It's a combination of things, but we've definitely got to go back to the film and watch our mistakes. Really, as an offense, we've got to execute better.
On why Coach Allen said this loss hurt:Yeah, any time you've got a team 14-0, you've just got to find a way to win those games. You can't hurt yourself. We've just got to execute better.
On when he thought game was out of reach: Not really till the end. I always keep faith and I always keep hope. We've just got to get better.
S Charles Woodson
On losing a 14-point lead:It's frustrating. Losing in general is frustrating, especially when you feel like you're in control of a ballgame and then things happen during the course of a game that allows a team back in the game. Then they begin to get momentum, and momentum is a hard thing to stop once it starts going. That kind of happened today.
On the defense's performance:I look at it as we played well in spurts. We played some dominant football at times but you have to be dominant all the time. We allowed a couple of touchdowns and a couple of times they came out in a hurry-up offense and we weren't able to get off the field, and we have to be able to do that. We played well at times but it wasn't a full game where we did what we needed to do.
On QB Terrelle Pryor being inactive:That really doesn't affect us defensively; we still have to play their offense. We understand that they had to go through the proper protocol with Terrelle and, as a team, we have to rally behind who's behind center, it doesn't matter who it is, and we have to try to come up with a win.
On Redskins QB Robert Griffin III:"He's a little different than last year. I think the brace is probably a little cumbersome for him so he's probably not as mobile or as fast as he was without it, but they made enough plays during the game to come out with a win.
On the mounting injuries:Everybody says it on every team: that's part of the game. You're going to lose guys throughout the course of the season, and we've lost some horses, but it has to be the next man up. You can't allow a guy going down to dictate how you play the game, you have to come out every week knowing that it might be your opportunity to get into the game, and when you get in there you have to make the most of it.
