On working out place kickers this week:"Yeah, we are. We'll work out a few people tomorrow."
On if working out kickers means that the Redskins will be signing one or just evaluating them:"Graham [Gano], right now is hurting a little bit with his ribs. It's not necessarily because we want to replace Graham, it's just because he's hurting. We've still got a lot of confidence in him even though he had a rough day. As I told him, I think it's more mental than anything else. I've watched him do it consistently in practice, even though he didn't obviously have a good game. I know he's very disappointed. We're disappointed, but I've still got a lot of belief in him. So, hopefully he can clear it up this week."
On the potential he sees from Graham Gano even though he is struggling:"I think we all know that you've got to do it in games. He's made some big kicks for us. I think when he started out in that goal post, I think it got to him a little bit. You've got to be strong enough mentally to say, 'Hey, wipe that out, just like a defensive back builds corners playing bump coverage. You're playing up-bump coverage, you're going to get beat for that long touchdown pass and you've got to be able to wipe it out and still get up and play those wide receivers man-to-man. You've got to have a short memory. That's what I told him today. I said, 'You've got to wipe that out and forget about it. I've watched you do it constantly in practice and you're going to have a good career.' So, he'll try to wipe it out and get ready for the next game."
On if kickers are coming in because of Gano's rib injury or because he needs to be challenged:"We're bringing them in right now because his ribs are sore. If he's full-speed, he'll be our kicker this week. But we're still evaluating a number of people coming in."
On Hunter Smith taking the blame for the bad snap:"I think the snap was a little bit high. It wasn't perfect. There were some tough conditions. It was wet. Could it have been a better snap? Sure. Could he have gotten it down? Sure. Like most winners, you want them to take that blame. Hunter's that type of guy. Could the snap have been a little bit better? Sure, it could have. Extra points, you're thinking 99.9 percent. Obviously it's disappointing when that doesn't happen."
On the offensive line:"I thought the offensive line did an excellent job. Anytime you have that type of yardage in the first half, a lot of people doing a lot of things the right way. We even had a chance to make some bigger plays if we could have gotten some blocks downfield. I was pleased with the overall effort."
On not using the running game more in the second half:"I think sometimes you lose perspective of what happens in the first half. We had the ball 38 plays in the first half. When we went into the last drive, in our two-minute offense with three minutes left in the game, we had the ball 15 plays. Ryan [Torain] had carried the ball six times in the second half and the last drive was two-minutes. When you have the ball 15 plays compared to 38, obviously there are 23 plays in there that are going to go to passes and runs. When you don't get those plays in the second half, obviously the numbers are going to be reduced."
On a drive where the Redskins threw it first, second and third down in one drive:"It was the second drive. The first [drive], obviously, we ran it two times in a row. The second time we threw it three times and went [according to] down and distance. Sometimes we'll use a screen just like a running play. The next time we did run it. But like you said, it's three, three, three and out. So, you lose perspective when you're in a football game compared to the first half. If we would have done the same thing, Ryan Torain probably would have had four carries or three carries. So, it's no different. You've got to get the momentum going. You've got to look at drives. You've got to look at the length of drives. Obviously, you've got to look at the game plan. Our game plan was to get Ryan a bunch of touches in that second half. Obviously, we didn't have the ball long enough and we had a turnover in there as well."
On if the development of the team is going to need more work than he had thought:"I can't say that it's going to take more work, no. Going from four wins to a chance to win the Super Bowl takes some time. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a day-by-day process. There's a lot to do in the offseason relative to the draft and free agency, as we all know. And we've still got three games of evaluation, again, three pretty good and talented football teams. We'll get a good feel of who will be with us after we take a look at the last three games of however players play."
On the decision to run the ball on third-and-goal to get 12 yards:"It was exactly what we were hoping to get. We just didn't get the defensive end. We were hoping to get that defense and most of the time that would be a walk-in and obviously a touchdown. We got a little discombobulated there at the end at the line of scrimmage. You're hoping for that type of blitz that did happen. Obviously, we were short. We don't do it very much, but we do it in certain situations where we think we're going to get in the perfect defense. We did and still weren't able to get it in. I was a little disappointed there."
On if this year served as a rebuilding year:"I don't know why someone would use the word rebuilding. I'm not sure if rebuilding is the right word. Relative to free agency last year, obviously there wasn't any or very little going into the seventh year without the normal CBA with the free agents the way it normally is. That was a little bit different. Next year there should be a normal free agency and normal draft. We'll get a chance to evaluate our players from this season and hopefully we can head in the right direction."
On what his tolerance level is with young players making mistakes while in the growing process:"What you have to do is evaluate these players. If players keep on making mistakes like they're making, then you make a decision to go a different direction. You're hoping that these players grow and at the end of the season are playing pretty good football. They've made mistakes, but they're made full-speed, but you see potential in what they can do. It's all about the process of evaluating these players."
On if he has seen players grow this season:"Sure. A lot of guys are growing. You take a look at our left tackle (Trent Williams)—you've got a rookie there with Kory Lichtensteiger, [he] comes in and does a great job. Will Montgomery has won the position and is playing excellent. That's three guys that we didn't have experience with at the beginning of the season. You take a look at our two running backs—really did a pretty good job. Besides Santana [Moss], you take a look at our wide receivers—they weren't with us a year ago. A lot of guys playing some key roles and doing some good things."
On the importance of a supportive ownership structure:"I think there's only one way to do it and that's the right way. I think everybody knows it's a process. I think [Daniel Snyder] believes in me enough to look at where I've been and what I've done with different organizations and say, 'Hey, we want you to do it the right way.' That's what we're going to try to do."
On if he feels the need to modify his expectations when evaluating the younger players because of their experience level:"I don't know if you ever modify your expectations. Your expectation level better be very high, but you also have to be realistic with the evaluation of your players and where you're at by your win-loss record and how they're playing. It's all a process trying to get the right players in the right positions and sometimes it does take time."
On if it is hard for him to be patient:"Yeah, you're not used to it. You always want to win, especially those close games. You want to find a way to win. It's always disappointing when you don't win. With all the time that you put in and all the effort in the offseason, not only the coaches but the players. It's really hard to lose."
On how close he thinks this team really is to being successful:"You are what you are and what you have to do is, you can't talk about what you're finished goal is. You've got to work every day to eliminate the mistakes you make that cause you to lose. It's easy to say, 'Hey, we all want to win,' but are you really willing as a team to put the effort in to win. It's an ongoing process. That's what we hope to be very consistent doing."
On what Torain's performance shows of his capability:"I'm just hoping Ryan stays healthy. I know what type of back he is. I've been around him. You're getting a chance to see what type of back he is. I've watched him do this in college and I've watched him do this at Denver. So, it really doesn't surprise me that he's playing the way he is. The big question for Ryan is, can he stay healthy and do it constantly? I think we saw yesterday what he's capable of doing, at least in a half. Obviously, you want to see him do it week in and week out over a couple year time frame. So, we'll get a chance to evaluate that as time goes on."
On LaRon Landry and Carlos Rogers' injury statuses:"LaRon, we're going to put on IR. Carlos, I think will be ready to go this weekend."
On how disappointing it is to lose Landry:"We've talked about him throughout the year. I thought during the first half of the season that he'd be MVP with the way he was playing. Hopefully he can get well and be ready to go for next season."
On not seeing as much scrambling from Donovan McNabb:"Quarterbacks never tell you the truth. You're right, he hasn't scrambled a lot. I think it's probably hurting him a little bit more than he's indicating. Quarterbacks I've been around, they'll never admit to being hurt. So, I can't tell you that for sure."
On the positioning of referees and umpires impacting their sight in seeing holding calls:"I think it's just the opposite. The umpire was where he would normally be. He was behind. He wasn't up. If he was up, he would have seen it very easily."
On if he sees any differences in the holding calls that are made due to the new positioning:"I would think that they're in more position to watch holding than they've ever been with the umpire being in that position up, opposite of the referee."
On if he considered going for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game:"No, I didn't."
On if the confusion with timeouts was due to TV timeouts:"We had a timeout and the first one was a TV timeout. They told me it was a TV timeout. The second time I called a timeout, we're sitting there talking and the next thing I know, I look up and we've got eight seconds left. [The referee] said, 'Hey, there's a TV timeout.' I said, 'Well, why don't you share that with me?' I didn't know it. Normally you have your normal timeout you do. I was quite upset at that one."
On why he did not consider going for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game:"Because I thought we controlled the tempo of the game. It really didn't matter if they got the ball or we got the ball, I thought we had control of the football game."
On if McNabb had the authority to call a timeout during the last 50 seconds of the game:"Kyle was calling for him (McNabb) to call a timeout. He couldn't get to the official, so I was trying to get the official's attention. It cost us about five seconds."
On the confusion with having a fifth down at the end of the game:"Believe me, there was no confusion to anybody except the people that were in the press box or the people that were watching it on TV. On the sideline, it said first down right away. I guess on the scoreboard, after looking at the tape, it said second-and-1. I guess the announcers were saying it was second down and they were showing that yard marker on TV and it looked like it was short. It was a combination of those things. But on the field, the one thing we look at is the markers on the sidelines and both markers said first down."
