OC Kliff Kingsbury Speaks to the Media After Today's Practice | Washington Commanders

about the trade what um why the trade what what was John doing in practice that maybe kind of LED you guys believe that maybe you're okay with that yeah I mean I'm going to defer most of those questions to AP and DQ um had a great experience with him he's a great kid I wish him well um excited about some of the other guys progress and where that room's headed and that's what I ask you too about like with between zakus and Jameson and Luke how good do you feel about that group going forward yeah they all are very conscientious working hard um diam's really progress nicely so um it's been it's been a good room uh very competitive room and and so I'm excited to see how once we get in the regular season they kind of continue to to get better um just what was it like working with Jan I know is a limited time but just from your experience what was your time with him like yeah great kid um obviously talented works hard and like I said I like where our room is going and I love the competition in the room and um I think all those guys made each other better and I think moving forward you're going to see that from all of them and zakus in particular what have you seen from him so far in Camp his ability to really play inside outside know the entire system and and be um you know dogged in in blocking and and um DQ's preaching you know our style of play and how we're going to do things and he answers the Bell on every snap whether he's running routes or ask to block or dig out safeties and and so that's really jumped out on film did AP consult you before the move and if so what was that conversation like yeah I mean I'm not going to get into like private conversations on that deal but like I said most of those questions y'all can refer to AP and DQ on if the receiver room stays with the guys you have now into the regular season what's your confidence level in that group uh very confident uh they've made a bunch of plays so far in Camp been impressed like I said with how they've gotten better since the spring and continue to improve and um very hardworking competitive room being back in the pros working with the rookie quarterback how do you feel like your offense is is is gaining your abilities at this stage where do you think they are I mean throughout Camp you install you know in preseason is to really run base stuff and and see if we can uh win man coverage and see if we can win up front um on our blocks and our double teams and things like that so uh once we get to the game planning we'll kind of see what we feel like we can handle and who we are as a team once the final roster set and how we Max those guys but as far as handling the install Jaden's been fantastic I mean his work ethic is through the roof and gets here early stays late and must study it all the time because he's been on point and with the preseason kind of truncated now and and guys playing less how how do you figure out when to actually see what Jaden can do and plays you want for week one week two versus not wanting to show a whole lot yeah I mean we're mixing them in as we go mean thoughts we may run against Tampa Bay um through our training camp we'll mix in here and there and and then next week is really a mock game week to get that rolling but we've seen plenty from him to know what he's about and uh now it's just making sure we give him stuff he's comfortable with and can go out and execute at a high level one more on on Jaden Joe wit was just in here and he told us that he's going back and forth of them saying he's doing an incredible job protecting the ball um can you kind of talk about what the experience has been going against this defense maybe the Jets maybe Miami as he gets ready to be the starter opening day yeah he takes a lot of pride in that he he takes a lot of and playing the game the right way you know knowing the protections knowing where his Huts are knowing where his dirty throwaways are when it's not there and not taking sacks and um that's a big part of his game I'm not I don't remember how many interceptions he threw last year at LSU but it wasn't many and he was playing at a high level and a great conference um so yeah I have a great appreciation for that and as a young guy that's Paramount it's not always going to go great but if you can not turn the ball over and not take sacks on first second down you're going to give your team a chance in most most games spending time away from the end NFL game how is your thought process on marrying your your run looks and your play action looks gone for you like how important do you think that is to marry those too yeah it's very important I think when you have um The Backs we have and um the concepts that we're going to have in pass game wise run game wise um you know you can do some things you can have some explosive plays and um that's what's been great about having Anthony Lynn here Brian Johnson here guys who have a lot of experience um you know Bobby Johnson coming from different places have done it a lot of different ways and uh marrying that all together has been a lot of fun and and I've learned a lot I hope they have too a lot of competition in the wide receiver room from your Vantage Point what do you think is the most important you know two or three traits that you know your starting group needs to have DQ style of play they want to be physical and and uh you know play hard without the ball I think that's what we preach is like everybody's going to run routes and make catches at this level but how do you play without the ball and you at some of the top teams in the league the Chiefs for the 49ers when they transition a block when their teammates have the football I mean that's kind of the secret sauce that takes you to the next level and and we've been preaching that and those guys have done a good job responding you mentioned jayen in the amount that he studies where have you seen him grow the most I guess from like a recall or just film room standpoint and then translating it onto the field really just the ability with the amount of insa we're putting in we keep pushing the limit with them day in day out um with these installs and it's not like it's a ton of repeat I mean you you'll dress things up and and have the same concept but run it a different way different Personnel Group and he handles it really well I mean whatever we've thrown at him he's handled it and hasn't blinked and um that's that's encouraging we want to make sure we don't try to overload him and allow we don't allow him to use his natural gifts and play fast and be attacking and confident in what he does but so far he's handled everything um with flying colors coach what are your overall thoughts on the running back room right now really excited Austin ekler has been fantastic I think there's a narrative out there that maybe he lost a step or something was off and that's couldn't be farther from the truth from what I've seen from him and his ability in the pass game or Run game to create separation and make plays and then B Rob is he's a you know he's a number one back in this league there's no doubt I mean he's I think after this season if he stays healthy people will recognize what he can do in the Run game and the pass game and uh some of those young guys are coming on and then to have Coach Lynn coaching that room working with those guys who's been a head coach who's been an offensive coordinator it's it's been fantastic um to watch that group grow coach how much uh how much of your offense would you say that you've run in the preseason game so far uh not I mean not much like big on base Concepts and running the same stuff kind of over and over and allowing those guys to see if they can defeat different coverages and win one-on-one matchups and that to me is about evaluation you know we get the first group we'll do a couple things um to try and get them going and then you know we're trying to get evow on a lot of these guys and then obviously you have a lot of experiences not just in the NFL but kind of specifically going back to having a rookie quarterback in Arizona how much has all that experience just kind of helped you shape who you're going to be this go round as an NFL coordinator I would say the installs and and the offense and where it's at this first training camp compared was where it was at that first training camp in Arizona just night and day I mean I didn't I had never coached in the NFL so we kind of brought what we brought mixed it with some NFL Concepts and kind of grew together with Kyler and he handled it really well but but um having this offensive staff we have and my previous experience we've been able to jump ahead and and I feel like put a uh good install together and these guys are hailing it well take two more back to the the running backs and B Rob uh he's had some pretty physical runs this preseason how how much does that change an offense or how much does that help you uh as an offensive coordinator when you have a back like that yeah it's similar to having a quarterback that can extend the play and get into that second second phase it's it doesn't have to be locked perfectly for him to finish downhill and and that that's huge and he takes a lot of pride in that and he's a physical Runner and um so yeah I've been very impressed with his style of play and the way he's handled everything thus far Cliff you had spent time with David Blau before um he's a guy who said he's always looked up to coaches whether it was high school college beyond what did you see in him that made you think he'd be a solid coach and kind of what has he added in terms of he's throwing the ball to guys and those five you know those five route combinations and kind of just fill in all these different spots as a former player he is yeah he's been fantastic I think we had him there a couple days and um you know he basically knew the Playbook and was asked to play um on like a day's notice without really even practicing went in against Atlanta played really good and I just watched the way he worked and practiced and studied and um you could tell he if he wanted to coach he had a bright future he was a really good player but um decided to get into coaching the sky's a limit his great rapport with the players Jaden really trusts him the other quarterbacks really trust him because he's lived those experiences and he's maximized himself as a player he got every ounce of himself and that's through studying and and understanding defenses and coverages and all the nuances of playing the position so he's been fantastic and um yeah he's going to move up quick in this this game last Casmir Allen you got him working with the backs what was sort of the thinking behind that and how's he done so far he's done good I mean he's an explosive player uh in high school I think he said the C California record a national record for touchdowns um as a running back so he's a guy that we could see you know similar I'm not comparing you know but Debo type role to move him around do different things because he has that type of explosiveness um and ability to play in the slot or you can hand it to them cool thanks thank y'all