Head Coach Jay Gruden
Opening statement:
"Perry Riley will be out. Andre Roberts will be out with his knee. Questionable will be [Jason] Hatcher, Jeron Johnson, Chris Thompson and Keenan Robinson. All others will be probable."
On LB Keenan Robinson:
"He's getting closer to 100 percent, which is good. He's done everything right in the training room. He's starting to get back out in practice and all that stuff. Right now we're going to stick with Mason and Will as the starting linebackers and then slowly work him back into some packages. We'll see where he is next week."
On WR Andre Roberts:
"He's going to go through the weekend and I think talk to his agent, talk to his doctor and our doctor and make a decision on whether he wants to have the surgery or not, depending on the pain and all that stuff."
On if TE Alex Smith could play this Sunday:
"Well, it depends on what package we're in. I think I feel good about him in a two-tight-end package, a three-tight-end package and a base package. So I think he has got a chance to play a significant amount of time. He'll likely be our second tight end if we decide to go that route and he'll get some action."
On Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan's tendency to blitz and how that affects play-calling:
"I think there's a time and a place for everything. I think our offense we really want to have the thought of blitzing them and not getting blitzed. That's the mentality that we want to have. There's a time and a place for everything. We still think we can get some of our runs in there. I think I'll just play it by ear. Rex does an excellent job of disguising his intent with the blitzes, giving you different fronts and different coverages, let alone the Cover 0 all-out blitzes. I think the recognition with our quarterback and the offensive line and center is going to be huge. But there will be times we'll some shots, no question."
On the importance of C Josh LeRibeus recognizing blitzes this week:
"No question, and in the run game too just because he [Ryan] is so multiple in the way he uses his fronts. It's going to be very important for Josh to really recognize it and make the right calls so we get up to the right people – and the quarterback also in the passing game helping with the coverages, fronts and the blitz packages and pickups."
On his level of confidence in RB Pierre Thomas if RB Chris Thompson can't play:
"Yeah, I feel fine with Pierre. Pierre is good. He's picked it up fast. He could play the whole game if he wants to. He's good."
On if all four running backs could be active:
"We'll probably go with three halfbacks and one fullback. That's what we've been doing. So the decision will be between Chris and obviously Pierre. So we'll go from there."
Offensive Coordinator Sean McVay
On if it seems running backs are increasingly more comfortable running out of shotgun:
"Yeah, I think it is. I think, like you mentioned, you see that a lot in the college game where there's a lot of the offset gun runs. What I think it allows you to do to is when you want to be able to throw the football out of the shotgun, if you have the ability to marry some of your run and pass game out of those looks, you don't have too many tendencies. So that's always something that we're looking to do is try to keep that balance in run-pass with some of those formations when you are in the shotgun."
On the Redskins' success running out of the shotgun:
"Yeah, I think you get a little bit different looks where defenses are more prone to play some of the pass where you might not get a loaded box. We got some clean looks against Chicago last week. You look at Matt [Jones] coming from Florida, he had a lot of experience in the offset gun and I think he's done a nice job in that area. Alfred had a big third down conversion on one of those runs last week as well."
On the Bills' defense:
"When you flip on the tape this is an excellent defense. They've got players all over their front that can win one-on-one matchups. I think they're excellent on the back end. Coach Ryan does a great job mixing it up. He has the ability to bring a bunch of different people with their blitzes and exotic walk-around looks. Then they can play loaded zone and just rush three and play eight guys in coverage. So they do a great job of mixing it up, playing good situational football. They've got some excellent individuals players on that side. It's going to be a good challenge for us."
On RB Pierre Thomas:
"He is a guy that I think he's so conscientious. He's done a really good job picking up the system. Like we mentioned, there are some similarities in the way that we'll use him to what he's done over the course of his career in New Orleans. He is a guy that you can expect to see more of this week because of that maturation in that week's process."
On how TE Jordan Reed avoided penalties last week:
"I think it's just being aware of it. You can see he's made a real concerted effort to get his hands inside, do a good job with his technique in the running game. Jordan's a guy I have a lot of history with being able to coach him when he was a rookie. I've always been a huge fan of his. I think he's an excellent player where he's going to continue to grow. He's real conscientious. I was real pleased to see what he was able to do. He was a huge part of why we were able to win that game last week."
