OC Kliff Kingsbury | October 2, 2025 | Press Pass | Washington Commanders | NFL

OC Kliff Kingsbury speaks to the media after today's practice.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Coach, when you look at your wide receiver corps, recently,
in the last couple of weeks, we've seen what appears
to be a lot of growth out of Jalen and
out of Luke. What has led to that process and
how do you feel about your young guns?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah, just the opportunity to play, you know, I think
we've seen it behind closed doors. Just the work they
put in, the improvement they've made, and then it's been
cool to see when the lights come on there. It's
not been too big for him. They made plays and
have competed at a high level. So I'm really proud
of that group when they've been asked to step up.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
They have speak a lot about complementary football for this offense.
When you all are converted on third downs, converting on
fourth downs, time of possession, how does this help the
entire team?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, I mean that's I think what it's all about.
I think as a team thus far, we haven't been
great at raising up together. You know, defense is gonna stop.
We'll go through and out, we'll score a touchdown, they'll
have a touchdown. Special teams and make a play, we
won't convert, and so we just have to raise up together,
and anytime that we're playing well on third down and

(01:00):
staying on the field, it definitely helps the other two phases.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Hey, Cliff up, this is the first time Terry was
back on the field since he was injured.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
I know, just the stretching part of practice, but what
just does his presence add to practice? Yeah, I mean
he's been the hard and soul of this organization for
a long time, so anytime he's around, it lifts guys up.
And you know, you can't replace him, whether it's as
a player or a leader or a mentor for these
young players. So anytime he's out there, whether he's practicing

(01:31):
or not, it goes a long way.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
How does the offense change for you or I guess,
how does it look different when you have a true
tight end play in the role that Trent Scott played
the past couple weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, Trens did a tremendous job. John Bates we feel
like is one of the best inline tight ends in
the league, so to get him back is a huge plus.
But we're going to continue to you know, mix up
personnel groups and try to take advantage of things we
see on film and just maximize the group we got.
I think the old line's done a great job of
moving bodies regardless of who's in there, and the running

(02:01):
backs have you know, hit the right holes and maximized
their attempts. So we just got to keep that rolling, Cliff.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
When you have a quarterback like Jaden who's obviously not
afraid to play outside of the pocket and he's coming
off an injury, are there things that you can do
to sort of hold him back a little bit to
protect him or would that just take away too much
of what makes him special?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah? No, that's I think that's really why we were
overly cautious with him, because we didn't want to put
him out there until he can be Jaden and that's
what he's going to be, and that's how he's going
to play.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
Do you think when it comes to a quarterback like
him that the ability to protect himself is something that's
just instinctive or that he can that's something he'd be
taught and learned over time.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, it's instinctive. I mean guys like him and Kyler,
who's an undersized player that I was with in Arizona,
I mean they played that way their entire life. They
always in Jade's case been a little slimmer than the
other guys, and Kyler's a little smaller, and they know
how to protect themselves and they know where to find
the soft spot, and they've played that way their entire lives,
and so it's like ten thousand hours put into it.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Obviously, you know, Marcus went in there, did a good
job for you and all that. But when Jayden comes back,
what kind of lift does he give this offense?

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, I mean Marcus, I think in the four times
he's played, has played about as well as you can play.
He's scored on I believe seventy percent of our drives
we've we've scored points, which is unheard of. So they're
different styles, and Jayden is a unique, unique talent, like
the way he plays, moves, throws. I mean, he's generational
and so anytime you get him back out there, it's

(03:29):
gonna lift up your team.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
And then with the running back position, how have you
assessed that group? And like, you know, is there any
is there? Do you see a guy maybe emerging at
some point or do you like the kind of the
rotation the committee aspect?

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, they've all been playing at a high level. You know,
Bill is exciting being a young guy. I think the
sky's the limit for him as he continued to improve
without the football, and then Chris, he's doing great things
when he touches that. You saw J mackins the Raiders
had the huge run and he's steady as they come.
So I really like the three man rotation we have
going and and then we'll kind of see who gets

(04:01):
hot as the season goes and where injuries take us
and play it from there. Talking about Luke earlier, where
have you seen him take the biggest strides? Yeah, I
think just understanding the position in our system. You know,
I said it last year. We asked him to play
inside and outside as a rookie, which is not easy
to learn both. And I think year two it's all

(04:22):
slowed down from a lot. He works really hard at it.
He's very smartphotball player, very self conscious and everything he does.
And I just think the confidence from going through that
last year has really helped him this year. And then
he's had success this year and that always breeds success.
Thank y'all.