The Washington Football Team is taking on the Seattle Seahawks in a Monday Night Football battle. Here are some of the top quotes from the week, presented by GEICO.
Jack Del Rio on improvements on third down:
"It's an emphasis point. I think rush and coverages come together more consistently in the past several weeks, and we need that to continue. No different this week. It's important for us to be able to get off the field on third down once we get them there and get them to more third and longs if we can will certainly help the cause. Guys have been good, rush and coverage working together."
*Scott Turner on what the difference has been for Taylor Heinicke in these last two games: **"I think for Taylor, but also just for our team in general, being able to convert third downs, finishing in the red zone and then I think Taylor's just playing with confidence. I think the more and more he plays, the more confidence he has. He's been making good decisions. There's been a couple of instances where he's held on to the ball a little too long and has taken some sacks. But, he's being decisive. He's making throws in tight windows, but he's putting them where our guys can make plays or they end up as incomplete passes. I think just the efficiency has been good and that's led to points."
Taylor Heinicke on J.D. McKissic:
"Yeah, he's a good ball player and you hand him the ball off in the backfield it's fun to watch him kinda go through the offensive line and make things happen. And then you kind of put him out as kind of like a receiver and he runs great routes. He's quick, he catches the ball, so he's a huge player for us. He likes to crack some jokes here and there when things are getting tough. He's funny, he keeps things light and he's a good player for us."
Ron Rivera on Jonathan Allen:
"I think he's doing some things even better than he did last year. He's getting a little bit better feel for what we're asking as far as the techniques and the styles we want him to use. But at the same time, it's just him doing the things that he does well. He has gotten great vertical push. He's able to get off the blocker in time. He puts himself in position to affect the quarterback in the middle. He's playing very well. And like you said, because he's getting the sacks, he is getting the attention that he deserves."
Ron Rivera on Taylor Heinicke's growth in the red zone:
He's been really good with the windows in terms of understanding those. The thing I like too has been when he has been throwing outside, he's been throwing it to the spots and not trying to lay it into the spots that if you get the difference, you know. I mentioned to you guys again, the play I always go back to is the Green Bay game when he tried to loft that one in there perfectly to Adam [Humphries], instead of just throwing it to the pylon. And then we saw him do it back to back weeks with Deandre Carter. You know what I'm saying? When he threw that seven route both times for touchdowns to DeAndre, the last two games, and then this past game, you watch him throwing into those windows. That I think is big because he's, he starting to understand, 'Hey, this is the coverage I get. These are the windows I know I have. And I've got to get it there on time.' I mean, if you look at what he did, when he threw that one to Cam [Sims] Jeremy [Chinn] has got it read. It was an RPO. He sticks it down in there. And Jeremy sees this in RPO and he starts to drift to the right but what happened, Taylor waited, excuse me, drift to Taylor's left his right. And Taylor waited and threw it behind him. And Jeremy had no chance to knock it down, but he threw it behind him into the window between the safety and the corner between the other safety and corner. I mean, you see him throwing through those windows, which I think is a big thing."
Taylor Heinicke on how excited he is to get the chance to play on Monday Night Football:
"Yeah, anytime you get to play at night, prime time television, everyone's watching, it's an exciting time and everyone in that locker room understands that it's an opportunity for us to show what we've got to the rest of the world. We played well the last two weeks and we just wanted to keep that rolling and show that on Monday. So, guys are really excited about it and just excited for the opportunity."
The Washington Football Team continues its week of practice in preparation for MNF vs the Seattle Seahawks. (Photos by Emilee Fails/Washington Football Team)
Danny Johnson on his expanded role this year:
"It's been all about opportunity. After being cut, just coming back to the practice squad and just still preparing like there was a chance that I could possibly play just with injuries happening and COVID and everything. I tried to always stay prepared and just wait on an opportunity, and one came. I've just been trying to take advantage of it."
Scott Turner on why he thinks the offensive line has performed so well this season:
"Those guys take a lot of pride in what they do. They're all very prepared. They're pros and we have young guys, we have veterans, but unfortunately we've had guys get banged up and they've had to step in. And as a group as well, they hold themselves accountable. So those guys that come in, they don't want to let their teammates down and they know that there's a high level that they're held to. Our [offensive line] Coach [John] Matsko and [assistant offensive line coach] Travelle [Wharton] do a great job with those guys of keeping them prepared even if they're not starting. We played all eight of our guys that were dressed, played at least one snap or at least two snaps on offense, not just field goal. I think it's just their preparedness and just their attitude of not wanting to let their teammates and the overall team down."
The Washington Football Team begins a week of practice in preparation for MNF vs the Seattle Seahawks. (Photos by Emilee Fails and Karlee Sell/Washington Football Team)
Jack Del Rio on DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett:
"Yeah, really good players. It'll be a challenge for us. Metcalf's huge, physical, can really run. Lockett is really Russell's [QB Russell Wilson] favorite target. His eyes go to him as he extends plays. Both those guys know how to go get open. So it's a challenge. They've got a good group. They run it well. They throw it well. They've got a veteran quarterback that is really, really good. And they've got some real skill out there. So there'll be a challenge for us."
Ron Rivera on Charles Leno:
"He's progressed very well within our scheme. He's a guy that works at it. He's got a little bit of that leadership ability, but it's like he really doesn't want to take the mantles. You can see with the way he practices, the way he works with his teammates. I think he and Ereck [Flowers] have a real good combination, a real good rapport with one another. He's done a very, very good job. He was very physical this past week. When you look at what happened and look at the way he played, it was pretty solid. It was very solid actually. He's been consistent like that all year. And like I said, there really hasn't been a lot of mention of him, so that's a good thing. That's a really good thing."