On Friday, July 26, 2013, Redskins HC Mike Shanahan addressed the media following afternoon training camp practice at the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center in Richmond, Va.
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On the suspension of defensive end Jarvis Jenkins:
"Any time a person has a suspension, it's always a tough blow for your football team.*Hopefully our players *will learn that without the label of NSF, you can't take any supplements because you never know what's going to be in those supplements. So we'll pay the price for it. He'll be suspended for four games and hopefully our players will learn from it."
On the defensive end position:
"We've got some depth there. Obviously [Chris] Baker's been playing there. [Kedric] Golston's been playing there. We've got a bunch of competition. We're a lot deeper right now than we have been in the past. Obviously we needed that type of depth for situations like this. But hopefully we can stay healthy. We're going to have some guys that are going to have to step up and play well, take advantage of this opportunity. I always look at it like a guy gets hurt in the last preseason game. He's out. There's nothing you can do about it, so you go on and have these guys step up and take advantage of it."
On if suspensions and injuries in the first few days of training camp have been frustrating:
"You always hate to see something like what happened to Jarvis, because that's something that you can control. That's something that you've got to be well aware of – what you put in your body. Something like Keenan [Robinson], it was a freak accident. I saw it happen early. There was no contact. He just put his arm back. You just feel sorry for him because he's worked so hard to get back and be in great shape. Initially when I saw it, my first reaction was it was his shoulder that he had operated on, but it wasn't. It's just one of those unlucky situations. He's a guy that will work extremely hard to get back and hopefully he can get back in great shape like he did with the other shoulder."
On educating players about banned substances:
"That's something that we do a lot of, obviously not well enough. But it's a constant reminder, just like it was this year, the emphasis is there. It's just not that, there's so many factors. You can't put anything in your body unless it's approved by the National Football League. So if you go to the doctors, you better check with us first before you put something in your body."
On his level of concern about the numbers of players suspended since 2011:
"Every situation's a little bit different. You deal with those situations, try to make the best of it. But it's happening a lot throughout the National Football League and we're trying to do our due diligence to make it right and make it a fair playing level for all players. We've got some strict rules and if you don't abide by those rules you're going to get penalized. Unfortunately, we have emphasized it but maybe not enough. But every year we try to emphasize a little bit better and better."
On the time frame for linebacker Keenan Robinson's return:
"It's really hard to say. When you take a look at 'Rak [linebacker Brian Orakpo] last year, was it seven, eight months recovery time? Probably. You take a look at Keenan, probably in that same area. I've heard people maybe in a three-month time frame getting back. That's the earliest I've ever heard of. Most of the situations I've been around is in the seven, eight month area. Optimistically, could it be three months? Could it be five months? There's a chance, but when I take a look at 'Rak and I took a look at Keenan, it took some time – and very similar injuries to what 'Rak had last year."
On if he anticipates putting Robinson on the Reserve/Injured list:
"We'll talk about that after the operation… He'll be operated on by Dr. [James] Andrews in about a week. He's out of the country right now, and I can tell you a little bit more after that."
On if linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy could replace Robinson:
"Yeah, like I said, we've got a number of names there. That's why you come to camp. Except for the first unit, they're etched there and now we have competitions. We have a number of preseason games. Now we get a chance to see who takes advantage of that opportunity."
On how Chris Baker looked moving to defensive end:
"Chris has been working there for a while. We anticipated Chris playing defensive end this year. He's gotten a lot of reps at defensive end. We've got more depth at the nose tackle position. Chris is the type of athlete that can play the defensive end extremely well with his athletic ability. So we're surely going to give him an opportunity to compete."
On what he needs to see from rookie safety Bacarri Rambo to make him a starter:
"First of all, let's not talk about a starting spot yet. This is what camp is about, especially the first day. If a rookie gets in there right away, it's usually because we don't have a lot of depth at the position and he might have played really well in OTAs and we're giving him an opportunity that first day. But we'll just wait and see how he does. Our safeties – our free safety and strong safety – are interchangeable. What I mean by that, there's a number of situations where the free safety is a strong safety, the strong safety is a free safety, so if somebody really stands out at the strong safety position, he can move over there, as well."
On quarterback Robert Griffin III's practice today:
"I think very similar to what we saw yesterday. He is getting a lot of good work in individual work; he's got thirty minutes there. Then he gets a period of ten plays in 7-on-7. He gets eight of those 10 plays. Sometimes if there's a mistake or something along those lines, he'll get an extra one or two plays. During that 20 minutes of special teams, those two 10- minute periods, he goes over there and every play that he misses in team, he goes over there and runs that play. So he gets a chance to work the whole offense in the first couple of days. He doesn't skip any reps. The only thing we're not doing is putting him in a team situation where we're going against a defense in 11-on-11 for obvious reasons which we talked about yesterday."
On tight end Fred Davis:
"I think Fred is starting to get back in to football shape. He's rusty. You expect him to be rusty when going through the OTAs. It does take a while to get back in shape. But I think this is perfect for him. We have some depth at the tight end position so we're not overworking him. And I think he's taken advantage of how hard he's worked in the offseason to get himself in this position."
On linebacker London Fletcher returning from the first surgeries of his career this offseason:
"When I talked to him about his surgeries, he said that – and it's the first time he's had surgery in the offseason since he's been in the National Football League, which is a miracle in itself – but he said he's feeling much better and the surgery has really helped him. He feels more flexibility. He feels quite good right now. I'm sure like everybody else, getting back into football shape, doing the things you need to do to get yourself ready for the first game. I've been impressed on what he's done over the first couple of days."
On re-signing defensive end Kedric Golston in the offseason:
"Well that's one of the reasons why we signed him, for these types of opportunities. Kedric plays extremely well. I like him, the way he fights, the type of athletic ability that he has. He's a guy that never gives up. When he does play, he always plays well. Those are the guys you need on your football team, for these types of opportunities. A guy like Kedric will probably take advantage of an opportunity like this where he'll get a little bit more playing time in doing the things that you need to do to win. But you want him on your football team in these situations."
On keeping safety Brandon Meriweather out of team drills today:
"I talked to Brandon. I said, 'What I'm trying to do is get you ready for the first game. I know you'll go out and try to participate and I don't want that. I want you to get back in football shape. You know what your body can do. Don't overdo it, don't try to impress the coaches, don't try to impress me – we know you're a football player. And you know when you can go.' So we kept him out today, may go tomorrow. But he's got to kind of react to how his body's feeling, especially a guy that has that type of experience."
On how he will split up snaps at linebacker and defensive end:
"It works out. Some of these guys need a lot of repetitions. Some guys don't need as much. But what we have to do is we have to make sure that they're in football shape. And sometimes you push a guy too hard in the beginning and he's not ready to be pushed and you lose people for the season. We have got a game plan with injuries. We have got a game plan with a lot of these young players, and there's a lot of opportunities between now and our first game."
On if he re-signed Golston knowing about the possible suspension to Jenkins:
"No, we signed Kedric because he's an excellent football player. We want him on our team. We like the way he plays in a reserve role. I like the way he's played in a starting role. You're going to get everything that he's got and he's usually going to play winning football. So to have a guy like that that's not a starter, really makes you feel good about your football team because you do have some depth. But we do have some competition there in the defensive line; losing two guys like [Adam] Carriker and Jenkins, which means you acquired a lot of depth over a couple years."
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