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Quotes: Jay Gruden and Greg Manusky (12-14-2017)

Head Coach Jay Gruden

On injuries:

"The only changes to the injury report will be limited [were] Morgan Moses and Josh Norman. Everybody else stayed the same."

On if LB Zach Brown is the type of player that could potentially play in a week in which he only practices once:

"He would be a guy that would probably be OK, yes."

On if S Montae Nicholson is still in the concussion protocol:

"Yes, he is still in protocol."

On the severity of Brown's injuries:

"They're hindering him quite a bit. Sickness is starting to clear up a little bit but he's still a little sore. We'll see if he makes any progress tomorrow. It'd have to be pretty significant, but we'll have to wait and see."

Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky

On if he attributes recent struggles to execution or communication:

"I think it's both in both situations. When we [were] supposed to have a post safety, that wasn't there. From our standpoint and I told you early on even in training camp, we all have got to be on the same page across the board and that communication is vital. When it comes down to technique and fundamentals, I mean, that is the basis of any football game. I think you have got to go back and you have to retrain that each and every – probably every week – that we go into practice. We are talking about guys' splits, where they are aligned, technique of, 'Where is our help?' and that's what we failed to do the last couple weeks."

On LB Zach Brown potentially being unavailable this week:

"Well, I think with any player that gets hurt or injured, we have backup players and that's what they are supposed to be there for. I was as a player more of a backup player, and guys went down and you have got to show up and you have got to go in there and you have got to fulfill the requirements that everybody wants you to fill. From my standpoint, those backup players are going to be in a position to get the calls, get them right and then go out there and play their butts off."

On if losing Brown would be a big loss:

"Yeah, definitely when you have got a guy like that that is playing very well and then all of a sudden, he is hurt. It's going to hurt us defensively but those backup players are going to play the best that they can play."

On how the turnover at linebacker has impacted communication:

"Well, I think basically the biggest thing is communication on the back end to the front end. That's the biggest thing. They have got to be all on the same page and I think at times we weren't on the same page. Like I said early on in training camp, it doesn't matter what call that I call as long as we are all on the same page. So it has got to be from the back to the front and then to the front to the back."

On how he is able to reiterate the importance of communication:

"Walkthroughs, walkthroughs, walkthroughs, walkthroughs. And keep on just repetition of going through the calls that we have and having those players see it during practice. Jay gives us enough time during the meeting time and also during the walkthroughs. We actually go out early before practice to get through walkthrough sessions."

On S D.J. Swearinger's comments:

"I think across the board, being with the fourth linebacker, we're going to have some communication and just not-fits that sometimes don't fit up. I think from our standpoint and D.J.'s, I mean, we've got to play better and we've got to communicate better. Every week that we play, that is the prime essence that we go into any game – to make sure that we communicate from the back to the front. We've got to do a better job in going through walkthroughs and going through it. That's how we learn and build the process from there."

On if he has more responsibility as a coach to prepare younger players:

"I think we had young guys early on in the year – with Matt Ioannidis and Jonathan Allen and some of those guys. From our standpoint, it's communicating better. That's going through walkthroughs, going through practice and just getting those fine details of each call and make sure that they understand exactly what it is."

On Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald:

"I mean, he's just a veteran of the game – a great player that still has talent. The quarterback trusts him and he knows where he's going to be. He knows exactly where to run the routes and then from a leverage standpoint, he does a great job of setting players up. Larry does a great job. We've got to defend him along with the other receivers and tight ends that they have."

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