HC Kevin Stefanski (8.15.23)
Opening Statement:
“Appreciate you guys being here and changing up the time of practice. Just trying to beat any potential weather that might be out there. Obviously, as you can feel, it’s hot, it’s sticky, it’s humid. So just trying to be smart. So, working with the Eagles and going to reduce some of this practice. But coming off yesterday, I thought it was really good work. I thought both teams competed like crazy, took care of each other, and now another opportunity to do the same today. Have a really good day in the red zone, which also limits some of the distance traveled, some end of game situations, but really want to cap this off with a good day of work as we get ready for Thursday night. And with that, I’ll take any questions.”
The three guys who left yesterday, will they be back out there?
“Myles (Garrett) will practice individual only. Elijah (Moore) will practice individual. We’ll see how he’s feeling. He may go, may not, just based on how he’s feeling. Jack (Conklin) will not practice.”
(Denzel) Ward?
“Denzel will practice.”
Was that just heat related?
“Yes.”
“Is Jack (Conklin) in the concussion protocol?
“He is.”
Greg (Newsome II), how’d you see him respond to getting back out there?
“Yeah, I thought Greg looked good. We held him out of one-on-ones, just used him more in the team periods. I thought he did a nice job. He looks really good to me.”
I thought Mike (Ford), he stepped in for Denzel (Ward) there, made a really nice play on a ball, thrown to, I think, DeVonta (Smith). Just the way you’ve seen him progress this campaign.
“He’s very competitive. Mike Ford is going to give you everything he has in every rep, whether it’s a one-on-one rep, seven-on-seven, or team. Just an extremely competitive guy. I’m glad we have him.”
Will James Hudson or will Dawand (Jones) get any number one reps?
“James will.”
Kevin on day two, how important is this day kind of in the big picture of these joint practices, guys being able to kind of make adjustments?
“Yeah, I just think they’re both important. That first day, you typically do your normal down and distance and then some third down, but you’re doing full field work. So that was a challenging practice in terms of the heat, in terms of the number of reps for our ones, certainly. So today, bringing it down, obviously, with some of the reps. But now you go into the red zone, you get more of your two-minute drives. You’re just trying to check the box on a bunch of good situational work.”
The general consensus from our side was that both defenses looked pretty good yesterday. Was that the same view as the coaches?
“Yeah, I think you really have to watch the tape to look at each play. I think both sides really traded body blows, if you will, there. They had plenty of good plays. Our team had plenty of good plays. But that’s what you get when you get two competitive football teams with a bunch of veterans. I thought the guys practiced really hard together, knew how to take care of each other and make sure that they got their work done. But I don’t think there’s a scoreboard or a scorecard for these types of practices. I think the major thing and the main thing is just to get good work.”
Coach, I saw some nice plays from Deshaun Watson out there. How do you think he’s really coming along ahead of his first season in three years?
“Yeah, Deshaun continues to, as you know, work really hard. He’s out there working right now. He’s making sure that every single day he’s got to focus to get one day better. And I think there were plays yesterday that he made that were really impressive. And I know there are throws and decisions that he wants back, and that’s part of playing quarterback.”
Will (Joshua) Dobbs play in the game?
“He will not.”
Did you reverse the starters?
“Exactly. Reverse the order. So Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) will start the game, then Kellen (Mond) will play the second half.”
When you mentioned that Denzel had a heat thing yesterday and you guys are going to try to maybe tighten things up a little bit today, will you go shorter and are you worried a little bit about heat?
“It will be shorter. Yeah. I mean, you have to take it into account. We really look at this thing, and this is in conjunction with the Eagles, obviously. I had conversations with Nick (Sirianni) this morning just on if we move practice up, what it will look like when we’re out there, what we should do. So, it is a reduced amount of time and reduced reps as well.
Jerome (Ford)? Any update on his prognosis? I know he’s here, but, I mean, what have you seen? What’s he been able to do?
“No update, just rehab.”
Njoku’s been open all summer. Is that anything different in the design or is this just the next step?
“Just the next step. He’s doing everything he’s supposed to do in the run game, the past game, as you know. I think Deshaun (Watson) and David (Njoku) have a good rapport and we’ll always continue to build off of that.”
Any update on Harrison Bryant?
“No update.”
(Amari) Cooper yesterday talked candidly, as usual, about dropping a few balls. He was also candid and saying he doesn’t think he’s there stamina-wise or whatever after his offseason. Do you see that? Training camp for him is what I’m getting at.
“I don’t see that. Yeah, I think for him, Tony (Grossi), we’ve had September 10 circled for him and ramping him up. He’s not where he needs to be right this minute, but he’ll get there and it’s just a matter of working at it. He had those drops yesterday, which was very uncharacteristic of him. So, he’ll continue to work on his playing, conditioning, all those things, but it’s normal ramp up for him.”
I know in that defense, the safeties you guys have been moving around, just how they’ve handled it. And then since we’re hearing from Rodney (McLeod) today, how he’s added to that unit?
“Yeah, I think it’s a really good group, Ashley (Bastock). Just versatility. They all can play down. They all can play the post, they can pressure, they can play man, all those type of things. So Rodney, like he does versus our offense, had some really heady plays. I mean, he seems to know where the ball’s going to go. He diagnoses things before the play unfolds. I thought he’s done a great job.”
Every young receiver seems to mention Marquise Goodwin when they talk about guys in that room that are kind of taking them under their wing. So even though he’s not out there and can’t be out there, how important has it been to kind of have him around with all those young guys?
“Yeah, he’s been outstanding. You hear Marquise, he’s very talkative. He’s like having another coach out there. He’s very positive. He’s rooting his guys on. So, he does an unbelievable job in the meeting room and out here being a sounding board, being an older player that’s seen a lot, he can really rhythm up with all those young guys and tell him what he sees. He’s been invaluable from that perspective.”
How does Deshaun (Watson) handle some of the pressure that he got? I thought I saw two would be sacks from Josh Sweat and how did he handle that?
“Yeah, that’s a really challenging front to block, as everybody knows. So, I thought it was awesome for our guys both to block and then for our quarterbacks to feel that rush. And I thought Deshaun had some really nice moments where he’s navigating the pocket and maybe you escape or make a play. Obviously in these settings, you’re not going to call a sack. You’re also not going to know if a quarterback could scramble out of that and pull out of some of those sacks. But it’s really good work for him and for us just to feel that rush.”
We got to see Martin (Emerson Jr.) matched up a couple of times with Dallas Goedert. When you have a big corner like that, how does that help you when you’re trying to match up against tight end?
“Yeah, that’s a great matchup yesterday, DeVonta Smith versus Denzel Ward. I mean, there’s just pros versus pros out there. And you guys know iron sharpens iron. So, for MJ to go against a really – I don’t know where he ranks, but he’s a topflight tight end is really good work for MJ. And like you mentioned, he can use his length when defending bigger wide receivers and tight ends.”
Having both offenses within sight of each other, the Eagles really threw downfield a lot yesterday. Are you satisfied with how much you’re doing that in practice?
“Yeah, I thought we did as well. And again, I think it goes back to we made some plays, they made some plays, but I think both offenses did a good job of pushing the ball down the field.”
Anthony (Schwartz) made some nice catches down the field yesterday. How important is it for him to just continue to stack nice days like that?
“Exactly. I think he’s stacking days. He’s getting a ton of reps in that role, and that role going down the field, which he’s really taken advantage of.”
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