Head Coach Jay Gruden

* The following is a transcript of Gruden's conference call with local reporters this afternoon.*

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On if the play of quarterback Colt McCoy eases pressure on the possible return of Robert Griffin III:

"Well, we are not going to rush Robert back no matter what happens. You know, we are going to make sure that he is 100 percent, and until we feel like he is 100 percent, Colt will still play. And Colt did a great job obviously leading us to victory against Dallas, but it's all going to be predicated on when the doctors say he is 100 percent, when Robert feels like he is 100 percent and when I feel like he is ready to take the game time reps."

On anything that stood out to him about McCoy's play:

"I like the way he competed, No. 1. You know, he wasn't perfect by any stretch but he competed his butt off, made some huge throws, some good scrambles, you know, a great quarterback draw for a touchdown – dove in there. Just a great competitor, you love to have that competitive spirit at your quarterback position. You never really quite know until you see him out there with the lights on and under pressure, so I just love his competitive spirit and the way he handled the pressure."

On if he was trying to motivate running back Alfred Morris by giving Silas Redd, Jr. a series:

"No, I think it was just – if it motivated him good, but it wasn't anything to punish Alfred. It was just to get Silas Redd a couple carries and we like to have – we feel good about all three of those backs. I haven't been good enough to get Silas some touches throughout the game so far. I think he showed in Jacksonville he has got a great knack for finding holes, he's got great feet and in the preseason did some really good things. We just haven't had a lot of opportunities to get another back in there with the way Roy [Helu, Jr.] and Alfred have been playing, but I thought it was a good time to take a look at Silas. Unfortunately, he put the ball on the ground but it was reviewed and we got it back. It was nothing meant to say, 'Hey Alfred, we are trying to replace you' or anything like that. I was just subbing guys in there and keeping backs fresh."

On if he is starting to feel more comfortable with the performance in the running game:

"Yeah, I do, I do. It was a good night. We stuck with it and got some good clips, it was a good to see Alfred break one, had a 20-something yarder. Roy had a couple good hits, got a good one on the draw, got a good one on the one-back power-type thing. So, there is something to be very optimistic about in our running game. The most important thing is to show that we can run it. Obviously when can run it you have to make a decision defensively. Are you going to have that guy in the box or are you going to bring that extra defender which opens up DeSean [Jackson] and Pierre [Garçon] in a big way?"

On how McCoy responded to the interception:

"He was upset at himself, no question about it. But, I think his demeanor was great the whole time. He was pretty much poised – I think early in the game he might have been a little bit overexcited, pumped up – You know what I mean? Playing back in Texas and Monday Night Football – but after the first couple series where he had a rough start so to speak, he still had a calm demeanor about himself and was talking about the next series. Really nothing of cause of alarm, we just had to get him settled down and play the position the right way."

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On if there was a play that stood out from McCoy's performance:

"Oh, the quarterback draw. You know, it was blocked pretty good but to find that crease and dive in the end zone is pretty gutsy, you know, to dive in head first on third down and six or seven at the seven-yard line. Makes that type of call look very genius by myself, but really he made it all happen. Great block by Jordan Reed, Kory [Lichtensteiger] got up on the safety and Colt did the rest."

On if he has grasped the magnitude of this win and what it could mean for the season:"I read somewhere after we lost our fifth game that we were playing meaningless games from here on out, which is pretty far from the truth. You know, we wanted to come out against Tennessee and get a win, and then obviously come out and compete against Dallas on Monday Night Football and prove that we aren't dead, you know? We still have a pulse, our heart is still beating, and we have a lot to play for still. And that's what that game meant for us, man. It showed the hard work that we put in. The resilience that we're showing is paying off, and we've just got to keep it going. You know, we dug ourselves in a mighty hole at 1-5, and we understand that moving forward, but we're not dead. We still have a little bit of a pulse left."

On if Griffin III and McCoy will likely split first-team reps in practices this week:
"Yeah. Tomorrow's a typical Wednesday for us, but we can't really go full speed. Because we played Monday night and we got in so late, we'll probably have to have more of a jog-through, walkthrough-type tempo tomorrow. So that's going to take a little bit off. It'll be a little bit of an issue. But Thursday we'll get some really good work, Friday we'll get some real good work, and then we'll make the decision. I think Robert is very, very, very close, and we just have to decide if he's ready. Physically, I think he'll be ready to go. Doctors are feeling pretty good about it — they still want to see him running around this week until they make their final determination as far as clearing him, but I just want to make sure he feels good in the pocket moving forward with everything."

On if he can look forward to a possible opportunity to continue the momentum the next couple games:
"That's what the intent is. You know, we're not looking really beyond the Vikings. You know, they're obviously a very good defensive football team. I know Mike Zimmer very well and what he does with those players on defense. I was with him the past three years in Cincinnati, and he coaches them extremely well, and they have some good personnel over there. And then offensively they have a rookie quarterback, but he's very talented, and they've got some skill over there. So for us to look past the Vikings at 3-5 would kind of be pretty stupid, so we have to focus all our energy and time on the Minnesota Vikings this week, and then what happens after the bye happens after the bye. But this is a huge game for us — they all are because we dug ourselves into this hole. We were 1-5, and we've got to pretty much win and win often to have a chance. So one game a time is our motto. I know it's cliche, but that's the only way we can go about things."

On using motivational techniques for the Cowboys and how he can motivate the team against the Vikings:"I just think you have to continue to build off what you were doing. You know, the success that we had against Dallas, you know, our ability to come back against Tennessee… Like I said, get that big stop for our defense, and I think to get the ball back and go down and get the winning field goal against Tennessee, build off of that momentum, go to Dallas on the road, win on Monday night. We just have  to continue to build off of the momentum. You know, the blocks that we're paving — we've just got to continue to build and get better and better, and I think when you start seeing success, you start seeing the work that you're putting in paying off. The concepts that are working offensively; defensively, the blitzes, the coverages, all that stuff — when players see, 'OK, this is how it's supposed to be done, when you do it right, this is what it's supposed to look like,' it's pretty exciting, and guys are excited to come to work and see what's next — 'Hey, what plays you got in for me this week? What defense you got? What blitzes you got?' So I think we can continue to build on that moving forward. I think guys are excited to come back in here to work and, you know, success can really do wonders for players' psyches. You know, they come in with a little bit bounce in their step and they're ready to roll. I think every pro football game — I know the Dallas Cowboys is a special deal; Monday Night Football, at Dallas, division rivalry, all of that good stuff — but every game is very, very important. Every game is very, very hard, and if you overlook anybody, you're going to do is get beat. We're not in a position to do that by any stretch."

On the delay of game penalties:
"I think one time we caused it, we were late getting the play in early in the game, and that was on us. But the other one, the last one at the end, you know, we had 18-19 seconds left as they broke the huddle, and the quarterback's got to know the play clock at some point. We just were really slow getting to the line, and that's something that's got to be addressed — our tempo, breaking the huddle, calling the play, breaking the huddle, getting to the line. Getting the play in isn't the issue. It's breaking the huddle, the receivers' have got to get to the line quicker, we've got to send our motion quicker, and we always, as a quarterback, have to know what the shot clock is, and get the play off. I mean, that's what the quarterback – that's one of their responsibilities. And when I saw it going down to 3, 2, 1, I had the one timeout left — I wanted to save it — but I thought we were going to get it off, and then I was too far from the referee to call a timeout with one second and we got a delay of game. That's one, in my mind, if you're going to critique Colt for his interception, and then the two delay of game penalties, you can't have as a quarterback. You don't see veteran quarterbacks take delay of games very often."

On the learning curve for the quarterbacks in gauging DeSean Jackson's speed:

"We throw to him plenty in practice, but sometimes he gets on that fast track – that turf out there – and then he's rolling. We've just got to get them out there. We've got to get them out there to him and continue to work him. Sometimes he gets jammed at the line of scrimmage and doesn't get going quite as fast, but when the ball's in the air, he's got unbelievable speed and tracking ability to go get it. So we've just got to understand as quarterbacks, all of them, they can lay it out there a lot farther than they think they can. I think we've only overthrown him maybe twice since I've been here in practice. It's pretty incredible. That's an incredible guy tracking the ball. The first deep one, if he throws it out there, it's a touchdown, but at least we completed the dang thing."

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On what he said to the offense to quell their frustration at halftime:

"It's a tough deal. It's Monday Night Football and everybody wants to show up and show that they've put in the time and work and they really want to help this football team win. When their number's not called and they're not getting looks, getting the ball thrown to them, they get frustrated. So would I if I was playing wide receiver. I probably would've been in the same situation with them. As competitors, as football players, you want to have every opportunity to help the team win and move the ball. When you have three points and you're 0-for-4 on third down and you haven't got a touch or get the ball thrown your way, you'd be mad if you've had success that some of these guys have had in their careers. It's just a matter of calming them down, trying to tell them to hang in there, we still have another half to play and we'll get it to them. They have to trust that. Sometimes you've got to let them vent a little bit, but ultimately it's a 60-minute game and we had to have them for the second half play at a high level and I think they all did that despite being a little frustrated in the first half."

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On cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland and David Amerson:

"They were outstanding, both of them. Not so much in the cover ability, which they both covered extremely well, but tackling. They were great tacklers. There were some open field tackles, and really you look at Breeland, you see all the plays that he had were good – the pass breakups, the tackles – but I thought the most impressive play he had was coming all the way over from the other side of the field and tackling DeMarco Murray at the five-yard line on his long run. A lot of players might have taken that one off, and if he wasn't hustling and flying from the other side of the field, he scores there. Instead of him scoring, we held them to three points on that possession. That's the two plays that Breeland broke up on [Dez] Bryant back to back. That whole series right there was very impressive for Breeland. Amerson was steady, as always, but the guy who really didn't get a lot of love was [Brandon] Meriweather. He had probably his best game since I've been here. He had tackles. He had sacks. He had fumbles, fumble recoveries, forced fumble, he was all over the place so it was great to see him show up in a big way the way he did."

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On the backup quarterback if Griffin III returns:

"That's a good question. We'd love to dress three quarterbacks. They're all worthy of playing, man. I said this before, Kirk's did some great things, man, and I think his career is still going to be very good in the NFL, it's just that Colt has shown – you see what Colt does. He's done that every day in practice that he's been out here. He's a viable option, also. When we're struggling with the turnovers and the third down percentage, I thought Colt had earned the right to have a crack at it and he proved that he can do it. If Robert comes back, then we'll have to make a decision the second quarterback, whoever that it is, or dress all three of them and that'll be determined when Robert comes back."

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On if he could feel confidence building for a team throughout a game and if he could feel that last night:

"Yeah, you could feel it. I think that really, to me, it stemmed from our defense. Our offense did some decent things – the first half we weren't very good – but when your defense is flying around, sacking the quarterback, doing what they were doing, it's pretty exciting. Then our special teams did some good things. You just feel you always have a chance to win the game when your defense is playing like that. It gave our offense a chance to get going. We were a little slow started – offense – in the first half. We took the ball and drove 80 yards to start the third quarter which really gave our defense even more reason to fly around to the football. It gave everybody confidence. I think the opening drive in the third quarter was huge, but that wouldn't have been possible without the defense playing the way they did in the first half to keep us in there."

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On if there were any noteworthy injuries from last night:

"No, not really. Like I said, [Ryan] Kerrigan's going to be fine, [Kedric] Golston's got some stitches in his nose, Colt came in and his calves were sore, but he's going to be fine. Nothing really of note."

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On safety Ryan Clark saying he's been playing with a torn bicep:

"Yeah, he's been dealing with that a little bit, but he's OK."

On how much input he had in Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett's game plan last night:

"Well, we work on stuff during the week. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, we have the periods of blitzes and coverages that they install and we watch practice and that's what the plan is and that was the plan going in. He dialed them up. Sometimes I closed my eyes and watched them but I was ready for them and I had total faith in what they were doing because I saw them during the week and I thought they'd be successful also. So he has total control of the defense and did a great job."

On if he feels rewarded by his faith in kicker Kai Forbath heading into the season:

"Yeah, he's done a good job. He's one of those guys that in practice you say, 'You know, we should probably look at another kicker,' but game day, he rises to the occasion all the time. He tells me all the time, 'Hey, don't worry about it. I'm a gamer. If I miss a couple in practice or pregame warmup – I don't think he made a kick – I'm good. I'll make them in the game.' 'OK, Kai.' Sure enough, he makes them in a game. We just have to take that into consideration, man. He's been a gamer. Him and Tress [Way] both, man, have been very, very impressive helping out our kicking game. Obviously Akeem [Davis] did some great things covering kicks and made a big block for Andre [Roberts], so special teams has been a bright spot the last couple of weeks. They're coming on and doing what they're supposed to do and it's led by the kickers."

On the 15-yard substitution penalty:

"I guess since he was in the huddle, they thought we were trying to deceive the other team. It was a deception substitution, so they gave us a 15-yard penalty. I had never heard of that one, so it was a rookie move on my part. We sent in Niles [Paul] late. We had a special play call for Niles, and [Offensive Coordinator] Sean [McVay] thought he was already in there. I thought he was already in there, but Logan was in there so we tried to make a quick substitution and got flagged for it. That was a mistake on both our parts and it was a costly one. We had coaching errors – offensively, defensively – that we need to correct also in big games like that. That substitution penalty, my not taking a timeout there at the end of the regulation when I should have been standing closer to the ref, those are costly. We can't have those happen."