Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (7.27.23)
Couple of injury updates. Matthew (Adams), in a boot it looked like, and Grant (Delpit) left at one point.
“Yeah, Grant’s fine. Matt Adams has a calf injury. He’ll be out.”
(Amari) Cooper back today?
“Not today, but he’s getting real close.”
Will Matt be out sort of indefinitely?
“A couple weeks, yeah.”
What do you expect to add (to practice) today? What will we see out there today?
“Yes, you’ll see a few more competitive periods. We’re going to work some situations. We’ll be back in the red zone again. I think it’s really important early to get red zone work because, number one, it also takes some running off of your receivers the more you get in there. And I just think it’s important for both sides, offensively and defense, to be locked in down there because we know that’s points.”
When do you start giving DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) more work for camp?
“Yeah, it’s coming today.”
Kevin, you guys brought back Anthony Walker. Just what does he mean, I guess from an intangible standpoint, and then just the work he’s done to come back from that injury?
“Yeah, intangibles hard to describe, obviously, but his presence is felt really throughout the building, meeting rooms, weight room, on the field. He’s a pros pro, and just with his career and what he’s been able to accomplish and plays at a high level and then provides great leadership off the field.”
Kevin, he’s been around for a while, and you have a serious injury like that, what does it say about a guy to say, I’m committed to coming back and continuing to do this?
“Yeah, I’ll tell you what, it’s hard when you’re injured and you’re out of it. It’s so easy to feel like you’re away from the team. And that was never where A-Walk was, even while dealing with the injury last year and then to come back, we were so excited that we were able to bring him back because I think he represents a lot of what we are.”
Kevin, you alluded to it there, but just the fact that he stayed around Berea so much last year. I know you said he moved his flight up after his surgery as soon as he could get back. What’s that meant in hindsight?
“AWalk, he’s a future coach. His dad’s a coach. He’s a coach on the field, but provides great leadership throughout our building. But a lot of what he does, we don’t see. Some of his impact happens, really when no one’s watching.”
Now, you had a lot of injuries there after him. When he went out, were you surprised that those intangibles weren’t filled by others?
“I don’t know. That’s hard to quantify, so to speak, Tony (Grossi). I don’t know that it reflects on anybody else other than to say, Anthony’s a great leader for us. So anytime you’re without him, that obviously is a big hole to fill.”
When you talk about the versatility Elijah (Moore) allows you to have on offense and just what about his skill set allows him to be as versatile as he is?
“Well, in order to be versatile, you got to line up all over the place. So I’d tell you, just intelligence, first of all. With some of our players, the more you can do, we’re going to do it for you. But you got to be able to line up, and you got to be able to hey, you’re playing the X this play, and then you’re playing the Z the next play. So that in of itself, is a high bar to clear, and he’s great at that. And then physically, I mean, you guys see he’s both quick, he’s fast, he’s got very, very, very strong hands. He’s competitive. So there’s the versatility piece of where he can line up, but just the different jobs he can do because of his skill set just is impressive.”
When he runs routes out of the backfield, are those essentially the Kareem Hunt routes, or are they entirely new to your playbook?
“Yeah, I wouldn’t define it as – I wouldn’t call it like a specific set of running back routes. I think, as you know, there’s a thousand things you can do coming out of the backfield. We have great runners to do that. You can put Elijah back there if the matchups dictate, but he’s somebody that we really do see positionless in that you can line them up outside the numbers, inside the numbers. Really no limit to where you can line them up.”
How did the off day go? We saw some of the guys golf and then did you run into some guys? And what kind of feedback are you getting on how this experience is going for them?
“Yeah, I know some guys went to the movies. I know some guys played golf. You also used yesterday, these guys used it to get their bodies right. So a lot of use of the training room here and some of the resources over at the hotel. So it’s a good spot right in the middle of our trip here to kind of refresh and recharge.”
When you see a minicamp OTA and even out here, a lot of pre snap motion. Elijah Moore’s involved in a lot of that, but others are, too. So, Philly, Kansas City, is it just doing – do you have the guys to do what they’re doing and it’s been successful. What effect does it have on defenses?
“You know, it’s interesting, Tony. We look a lot at shifts in motions and want to make sure you’re always doing them with a (purpose), you mentioned Philly. They really didn’t shift in motion last year. They lined up in two by two sets and played great offense that way. So I think there’s so many different ways to skin the cat for us when we feel like there’s an advantage to shifting in motion. And some of those fast motions can be difficult. On the defense. We’ll utilize them, but it’s really based on what we’re trying to accomplish on that give and play?”
What has Za’Darius (Smith) brought even just in this camp from a leadership standpoint and helping young guys and all that sort of stuff?
“Yeah Z has been awesome. Practices really hard, I mean works and he’s after my own heart with how he works out here on the field. So like you mentioned, he’s a leader. He’s done at a high level in this league, he’s been through a lot in this league so I think just him imparting his knowledge of things that he’s seen is so important to our young guys.”
How much has Martin (Emerson Jr.) just grown over the last year?
“I think he looks really good to me physically. He’s doing a nice job both in drills and in the practice reps that he’s getting. As you know, he’s a very long player so he’s a difficult guy for our receivers to get off of when he’s in press, but another diligent worker. So I’m excited for him.”
Do you look at that group and say a lot of guys very skilled in man-to-man coverage where he (MJ Emerson) could actually play to their strengths being that kind of coverage?
“Yeah, I think that remains to be seen. It’s kind of like we talked about on offense, now’s the time to work it all and see what fits guys and what they’re good at. But the more man players you have, the better of course. So it’s something that we’ll continue to work and see where we are once the season starts.”
For DPJ (Donovan Peoples-Jones), just how have you guys seen him grow in this offense and in every capacity?
“Yeah, just, you know, Donovan, as we’ve talked about many times, he’s a very friendly target for the quarterbacks. Both because of his size and length and leaping ability and he’s always going to be where he’s supposed to be. So there’s been plays already this camp where he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do and the ball is making it to number eleven because that’s the result of him doing his job.”
I know it’s early, but has Moore been as advertised or has he been a little better than you thought?
“Yeah, I think it’s early. I mean, we haven’t really put the pads on and that type of thing. We got to get through some preseason games. It’s early really to make any declarations of any player. So we’re so focused on stacking these days and trying to get better. But having said that, he’s been so impressive from how seriously he takes his craft. He really wants to be great. You watch him work both before practice, after practice, in the meeting rooms. He’s a player that you can tell takes his job very seriously.”
What was it about MJ that inspired the coaching staff to trust him as quickly as you guys did last year?
“I think that’s just results of doing your job and performing. A lot of rookies, you feel one way about them and you are confident about them, but they got to go do it. They got to go show you through practices, through preseason games that they’re read, and I think MJ did that last season, and it’s no different than a lot of the rookies now. They’ll earn roles as opposed to given roles.”
Marquise (Goodwin) and Anthony, both kind of sidelined right now, and I don’t know, do you have a void for the vertical stretch guy, or do you need to really look at that?
“Yeah, I think we’re comfortable with where we are, Mary Kay (Cabot), with the players that we have versatility in that room. I know you mentioned Marquise and Anthony and their skill sets, but we’re confident with the guys we have.”
Are there any other younger guys that maybe caught your eye in terms of the progression they’ve made so far in this camp?
“It’s hard to say because it’s early, but this rookie class, I’m impressed with how they take care of their business. They’re not pros yet. They’re going to be rookies for this whole season. But we put a lot on their plates, and they’ve done a nice job in the meeting room, in the weight room, on the practice room.”
The defense is real chatty and understandably so in that seven on seven the other day. I know there’s ebbs and flows to this. From your perspective, when you see a period like that where the offense doesn’t have the success, how do you look at that when you’re going back and kind of dissecting things and then your conversations, like with Deshaun (Watson) and some of the teaching moments?
“Oh, yeah, I mean, that was great work for both sides. Like, today’s gonna be great work for both sides. It’s football. Sometimes the defense is going to win, sometimes the offense is going to win. Luckily, I always win as the head coach, so I’m happy either way. But they are great, great competitive reps to learn from, and that’s going to be true throughout this training camp.”
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