OC Kliff Kingsbury | December 4, 2025 | Press Pass | Washington Commanders | NFL

OC Kliff Kingsbury speaks to the media.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I mean he's a talented player, there's no doubt. Just
the defense having nowhere is out on every play, and
then the playmaking ability you know, and got to have
it situations is key obviously as you saw at the end,
but the practices lift up, intensity ramps up when he's
out there. He's just a difference maker for us. And

(00:23):
so it was nice to obviously get him back and
get the ball to him.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
And then with Jade maybe or may or not play
this week, but likely coming back. How important is it
for him to string together not just to get a
couple of games, but just several games tend to season
and what would that mean?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, I mean he loves to play the game, and
so I think you start there with just his passion
for it, the preparation, the process, all those things. So
it just con continue to learn as a player, continue
to grow as a player, and hopefully you know, have
some of these weapons out there with him that we
can build some more rapport with going into next year.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Hey, coach the office line, it seems like that they
really are jelling right now. But you could you talk
about Josh Connolly and what you've seen out of him
in this late part of the season.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, I'm really impressed by the resiliency. You know, early
on face some really talented rushers and you know, had
some tough moments, which all rookies do. But he's continued
to work hard, hasn't got his head down and just
battled his tail off the entire season, and so you're
starting to see some of the binnest fits of those reps,
and even the tough reps you learn from you become
a better player. And so I've been really impressed by

(01:30):
the work ethic and just the mental toughness that he's
displayed this season wide.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Receiver wise, What will Lenora Brown, if he's able to
go this week mean for this offense.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, he's He's a huge part of it. There's no
doubt his physicality is are out running. I mean, he's
he's super talented player, is a guy who you know,
can really run any type of rock, play inside, play outside,
and has a great knowledge of our system, so he
can help guys get lined up and he's really a steady,
steadying presence for us when he's out there.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
Chris Rodriguez looked pretty good in the run game the
past couple of weeks, what is it about his run
style and what he's been able to do that has
made him successful? And I guess why did it take
until this point in the season for that success to
start coming through.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, he's a guy who tends to get better as
the season goes on, as the game goes on. Physical runner,
I think he's always going to get you what's there,
and then the first guy has a hard time getting
him down. So I think he's a great vision, great
feet for a big, physical back and then, like I said,
that first guy has a hard time bringing him down.
And so with teams kind of packing the box in

(02:38):
the way they were when we were down some guys outside,
I think he was a great answer for us and
it's just kind of carried that forward. As we're getting
these pieces back, I think things will open up for
him and I expect him to continue to have success.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
Coach. Offense looked really good from Afar last weekend. As
a play caller, How does that feel to kind of
see everything beginning to click there and how do you
build off of that one into Minnesota this week?

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, I think Marcus has done a really nice job
when he's been in of orchestrating the offense and throughout
the week, the process, the professionalism, no matter who was
in or which players were trying to get caught up.
He did a good job of leading that group, and
so I thought it started with him and just we
want to play our best football at the end of

(03:23):
the season. It's not the season that we had hoped for,
there's no doubt, but as an offense, you want to
continue to build and get better, and that's what this
group has done. So we'll see get a couple of
these other pieces back and kind of see what we
can be these last five weeks.

Speaker 6 (03:36):
The cliff, what's sort of impact have you seen from
Laramie tells overall this season. I know he has a
history of playing well, but not that you've seen to
have closed on a day.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, he's been phenomenal, more than I could have ever expected.
I'd say just the type of person, the type of character,
the way he works, the way he leads the young guys,
and it's been phenomenal and the play speaks for itself.
I don't you'd be hard to find one that's played
better at that position this season. So he's gonna get
a lot of money.

Speaker 6 (04:03):
I know you spoke about Josh Connelly earlier and how
he's played. How helpful do you think it's been to have,
you know, tackle like tunsel to help me.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Oh, it's been been phenomenal. It's been everything. I think,
especially earlier with some of the tough times, he was
very open with kind of his struggles on the field
and how long it took him to develop and play
at the level that he felt like he really belonged.
And so I think having a guy like that that
he's watching really dominate most days, you know, talk through
going through some of the same things he is, I

(04:29):
think meant a lot to him.

Speaker 7 (04:31):
Heying coach really at any level in your coaching career,
have you ever been in a position with a quarterback.
We just kind of get the sense during the year
that like maybe it's too much information, too much coaching,
too much on their plate, and we just kind of
need to back off to not continue negative trends and
kind of freeze the negativity. Even though you have done
that kind of stop the development.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
At the same time, that's a great question you try
to get ahead of that. I'd say most of the time,
the situations that arise, I think when the play has
gone down or other factors, whether it's injuries or you know,
your struggles in other areas. But I think if you're
doing it right, you'll you'll get ahead of that throughout

(05:13):
training camp, throughout the spring and kind of figure out
what fits him, what he can handle mentally physically, what
type of plays can we run as a run game. Guys,
it's not so I think if you're trying to do
your job at a high level, you can get ahead
of that and not deal with that end season.

Speaker 7 (05:30):
But hypothetical, so I don't know like how much you can
really put into it, but like if you work at that,
to that situation yourself like entering that next offseason not
having gotten ahead of it unfortunately, Like how do you
think you would approach that?

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, I just try to make sure that that we
broke it down to you know, what did he do well,
what did he struggle with, and then make sure that
we started from a place of what he did well
and then build from there. I think that's the key,
is making sure you taylor specifically to that player and
what he does well and play to his strengths and
then sound with really good players.

Speaker 8 (06:02):
Hey, coach, what makes a Brian Flores led defense so
difficult to go up against.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, they're always really physical, really tough, and then he's
so multiple in his fronts and his pressures. Each week
you're seeing something you haven't seen before, and so it's
really hard to prepare for. It's almost like you need
to do what you do well and do it at
a high level because you don't know what's coming. But
I've always been impressed by b flow and the way
those guys play, The tanacity, the physicality, and then just

(06:29):
the scheme is a challenge, just because every week it's
a new pressure and it's a new front doubt up
that you have not prepared for. So a lot of unscattered.

Speaker 8 (06:38):
Looks might put into the kind of the offense this week.
When you go up against a guy like.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
That, Yeah, there's things you're going to try to counteract
it with. And like I said, I think what we
focus on when you're going against a guy who's that
multiple and does so many different things is say what
do we do really well and kind of lean into that.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Have you noticed Sam Cosmy getting healthier as this season
has gone, and how have you seen his relationship with
Josh grow and how has that manifested itself on the
field in terms of communication and being able to block
up that right side.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, definitely, he's his understanding the system is night and day.
First off, from last year, just watching his comfort level
with the operation, the communication at the line of scrimmage,
and then I would say last week you definitely saw
him more comfortable than he's been. I think he's toughed
it out a little bit coming back. It's always a
bit of a process the first few weeks, just confidence

(07:37):
in the knee and playing the way that he can play,
and so I thought that was a big step last week.
I think that's the best game he's played and looked
like the Sam that he can be.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
What have you thought about Benson? It's development as a
pass catcher.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, he can do that, There's no doubt. I mean,
he's a dynamic player in space for that type of position,
can create separation, all those things. It's just it's a
tough room. You have one of the all time grades
in there that that we lean on in those situations.
But he's progressed just the way we want. Thank you all.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Mm hmm.