Head Coach Jay Gruden
On injuries:
"Matt Ioannidis is going to have surgery on Wednesday. There's a possibility he could return. He has a fracture of his fourth metacarpal. Niles Paul is in the concussion protocol, possibility he could miss some time. [Stefan] McClure has a hamstring strain, could miss some time. Jordan Reed – hamstring strain – same. Shawn Lauvao – stinger – decreased strength in arm. He could miss some time. T.J. Clemmings has an ankle sprain, he'll be day-to-day. [Bashaud] Breeland has a knee [injury] and also developed some groin soreness, he's day-to-day. [Jamison] Crowder has a hamstring and lower-leg contusion, he'll be day-to-day. [Montae] Nicholson has a stinger and AC joint aggravation. And then updates, [Spencer] Long will be week-to-week. Trent Williams – knee – he's going to see how he feels during the week. Ty Nsekhe is going to increase his workload and see if he can practice. And then [Brandon] Scherff will be the same; hopefully we can increase his work and see if he can go or not."
On if DL Matt Ioannidis' injury is season-ending or if he will be able to return:
"We're hoping he can come back, cast it up and play, but we have to get it fixed."
On when Ioannidis might be available again:
"Not this week, but maybe next week or the week after."
On if there's anyone he knows he can rule out for Sunday:
"Know for sure? I would probably guess Reed, Ioannidis. Other than that, we'll have to wait and see. The issue is we have got 13 guys that are questionable and we only have seven guys that we can put inactive. That's the major issue that we have right now. We have to try to get six of those guys up – at least – somehow."
On if he can remember an injury situation like this:
"No, I really can't. You try to prepare for that with your depth in training camp and obviously your practice squad guys, you try to get them ready. But, when you get overwhelmed on the offensive line and now at tight end and safety now with [Stefan] McClure and obviously [Montae] Nicholson banged up, tight ends, like I said, it becomes a challenge. But we're going to keep fighting on and put some guys out there and get them ready to play. That's all we can do."
On how the injuries are affecting depth:
"Yeah, it obviously hurts, not only on your offense and defense but on your special teams also. You can see that effect trickle down a little bit with our special teams play yesterday unfortunately. It's our job as a staff to get these guys up to speed and get them ready to play. That's the only thing we can do. We got it on our shirt – we've got, 'By any means,' so we've got to just get it done, have great effort, attitude and preparation, and hopefully we'll figure out a way to get it done."
On the details of CB Bashaud Breeland's hamstring:
"Hamstring strain."
On if Breeland's MRI results showed anything:
"No. He'll just be day-to-day, I guess. We'll see."
On if he felt like the team "could have stolen one" yesterday if not for the turnovers:
"Yeah, no question about it. When you have this many injuries, you need to play well and protect the football. That was a major emphasis going into the game – ball security. Obviously the blocked kick we were a little bit light on the left side and it was a low kick, but the fumble, the two fumbles were unfortunate. One was a pass protection breakdown and the other one was just helmet on the ball – unfortunate by Chris [Thompson]. When you're playing a very good football team like that who's really healthy, you've got to protect the football. And had we protected the football better, things could've been different."
On the play of LBs Martrell Spaight and Will Compton:
"I think they played good, really. Obviously they rushed for 150 yards, so we had issues at certain other places. They have a great offensive line and obviously Zeke [Elliott] is a heck of a player and [they have] a good scheme over there, but I think our linebackers stepped in there and Compton and Spaight did a fine job."
On if he'll keep rotating Spaight and Compton:
"I think so. I think both of them are playing [with] a little bit of issues themselves, physically, so I think it's good to get them some reps and get them some rest and keep them fresh, really. And Zach Brown's playing pretty well, so I think it's a good three-headed monster there – they just have to continue to sub in and keep each other fresh and play well."
On if he has given consideration to the physicality of practice for this week:
"We're going to have a meeting at 3:45 to go over the injury report with the staff and then talk about the practice schedule for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a walkthrough Tuesday. Then Wednesday, Thursday will be tough ones – we've got to figure it out."
On if he would be OK with allowing his starters on the offensive line to play Sunday even if they are unable to practice during the week:
"Yeah, I'd jump for joy, to be honest with you, so yeah. We love to get them work, there's no doubt about it, but the most important thing is to try and get them ready for the game. I don't know, if we'd go out to practice tomorrow, I don't know who my left tackle would be. I really don't have one right now. If T.J. [Clemmings] can't practice and obviously Trent [Williams] can't practice and Ty Nsekhe can't practice, we'll probably have to put [Tyler] Catalina out there – he finished the game at left tackle. Kind of need him at guard. [Arie] Kouandjio finished the game at left guard and obviously Chase [Roullier] did a really good job at center – very bright spot there. And then Morgan [Moses] is still playing on his gimpy right and left ankles. So, got to get some guys in there, compete and play."
On how TE Jordan Reed's loss impacts the offensive scheme:
"It impacts it. You have to figure out what personnel packages you're going to feature and go from there. Hopefully we will get good news on Niles and then we have [Jeremy] Sprinkle ready to go and obviously Vernon [Davis] is the ageless one who has done a nice job of staying healthy."
On getting receivers more involved with the injuries to the tight ends:
"Yeah, without a doubt we are going to have to. Crowder had a good game. He had over 100 yards receiving but he is banged up a little bit. So without Crowder possibly and without Jordan, I think Chris Thompson will still have a major workload and obviously the receivers are going to have to step up. Ryan [Grant] had some clutch catches again. Obviously we have got to get [Josh] Doctson going and Terrelle [Pryor]. Maybe it is [Brian] Quick, whoever it is."
On if strength and conditioning coaches could do more injury prevention if given more time with the players:
"We are looking into every possible scenario of what we can do to help these players get ready and take care of their bodies. There are so many different injuries on this list that I don't know if they're strength and conditioning related. Can't put the blame on Chad [Englehart] or Larry [Hess] in this regard. I just think we are looking into some things that we can do to maybe prevent injuries after games on Monday to try and get them in here and do some more things. But they have a mandatory one day off and what they do with that day is up to them. I don't know what to say about all of these injuries. I just A) I want these guys to get well, B) we want to make sure we get them ready as fast as possible and then in the future figure out ways to prevent them and I don't know what the answer is there."
On if he thinks the irregularity of the team's schedule has contributed to the injuries:
"I mean, it could. I mean, it is a physical game, without a doubt. You saw the way Niles got hurt and Jordan just had an unlucky pulled muscle. Lauvao, we tried a trap play and the ends spiked on him and met him in the hole. That was a fluke one. T.J. got his ankle rolled up. Breeland pulled his groin and hurt his knee on a fluke deal on a guy coming out to cut him a couple weeks ago. Nicholson, obviously, has been hurt in that shoulder for a couple weeks now. That's hit-related. Long is the same thing and Williams has just been wear and tear over the course of time. There's not a lot we can do with all these."
On the offensive line's performance yesterday:
"I think obviously Morgan stuck it out and played well. Tyler did a nice job at right guard for the most part early on. Then later on we gave up a couple stunts that were unfortunate that we didn't pass off very well. Then obviously I mentioned Chase, he played well I think at center. Then left guard, Kouandjio had to come in there for Shawn and actually played pretty darn good for getting out of his car on Saturday afternoon, you know? Then left tackle, I think T.J., same thing, we missed a couple stunts. They do a good job with their movement, their T-E games and their pick games and all that stuff. We missed a couple of those but he competed and did some good things."
On if he anticipates any moves prior to the trade deadline:
"Well, we don't have a lot of spots right now, so I don't know. We are going to have to figure out ways to… we obviously are short defensive linemen right now. So we have to add a defensive lineman somewhere somehow. We are short at safety possibly. Obviously offensive line, we are in limbo because we are waiting to see who can play and who can't play. But we can't really make a lot of roster moves because of all these injuries. You can't put any of these guys on IR and you can't cut any of these guys. They are all major parts of our football team. So we will have to figure it out and we will do it."
