HC Kevin Stefanski (11.5.23)

Opening statement:

“Good team win. Obviously, defensively, pitching a shutout there. Some really great individual effort offensively. Got points there off of some good field position. You know, Amari (Cooper) with five [receptions] for 139 [yards], did a great job. A lot of good things there on offense. Special games, I thought Corey (Bojorquez) was exceptional today. So needed to take care of business, we did, and then got a big one this week, but with that, I’ll take any questions.”

 

How did you think Deshaun (Watson) played today? 

“Yeah, pretty good. Him and Amari drew up that big one at the end there. They saw – they had a good conversation on the sideline, we talked about it. Unbelievable throw. I thought he had some really, really good moments. He ran the ball when he needed to, made plays, so I was really, really pleased for him.”

 

Did you want to see a pass with distance before this day was over? 

“Saw a few of them, didn’t we? Yeah, whatever it takes was kind of going into it. Felt like there’d be some opportunities for underneath – that team plays a lot of zone, but then I thought he ripped one to Amari early in the game. Obviously, the one late to Amari, the throw to Marquise (Goodwin), that was the right read. So yeah, I think the game always calls for what the game calls for, Tony (Grossi), just based on coverage.”

 

How about Dalvin Tomlinson, three sacks? 

“Yeah, I got bad news for you. They just took a sack away from him. He got two and a half.”

 

But still, what opened it up for him so well today? 

“He’s played relentlessly, came off the football, was aggressive. And then when you’re rushing the passer, when you got a bunch of guys that are relentless to the football, sometimes just beating your guy is going to find your way to the quarterback.”

 

How encouraging to not only see Deshaun, throw those three long passes, but for him to come through them and also to take some big hits and withstand those hits? 

“Yeah, like we talked about earlier, Mary Kay (Cabot), if you’re going to be playing, you know that this is a contact sport and you’re going to be, you know, fighting through those things. I thought he did a nice job early, moving in the pocket, made a couple of plays. I can think of the early one to Jerome (Ford) that he dished off late. But really I thought he looked really good and looked like himself to me. And that was important to get out there and get one today, take care of business. And then we got a big one this week, but really pleased with him. And then offensively, I think AVP (Alex Van Pelt) is going to have a pizza party because we didn’t give the ball away, so we’re excited about that as well.”

 

Did you want to work Watson slowly into this game? There were a lot of short tests with a lot of jumbo formations early. 

“Yeah, I think we felt early that we could – felt like we wanted to test out the run game really was [the] biggest thing. And then again, a lot of zone, a lot of too high zone, a lot of shell coverage. So felt like there may be some underneath throws as well.”

 

Just seemed like the defense was smothering. They would stop the run, seven sacks, three takeaways. Can you just talk about that?

“They were. Yeah, they did a great job. Credit to the players, to the coaches – Coach (Jim Schwartz) put together a really good game plan. We played our stuff. We were sound in what we were doing, made plays on the football. But I think really top to bottom,  coverage, to the rush, to the linebackers, I thought the guys really, they did their job was probably what it was.”

 

Any update on Jed Wills?

“No update. We’ll get an MRI in the morning.”

 

Was that the only real unfortunate downer about such a euphoric day and so many good performances, that you potentially losing your left tackle?

“Yeah. Injuries are the worst. It’s part of it, but we don’t like it. But James (Hudson III) stepped in there and did a good job.”

 

(James) Proche seemed to really give you life on that punt return. 

“He did, yeah. Really pleased with him. Obviously, he has a history, and so you can study him and how he runs, but he’s very dependable. I thought he fields the ball exceptionally well. Made really good decisions, got north, south immediately. So yeah, I thought he did a nice job for his first time out there.”

 

There’s been a lot of uncertainty with Deshaun for the last month. So, when did you know that he was going to be able to play and be like himself? 

“Really, we wanted to see three days of practice. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Felt like after Wednesday and Thursday he was trending that way. Had a good practice Friday.”

 

But with that, though, you thought the same thing going into the Colts game. 

“Yeah. Just didn’t have three days of practice.”

 

When in the game did you come to the conclusion that he looked like himself? 

“Pregame.”

 

You mentioned Amari at the beginning. Just how comforting must it be for a quarterback to have him? Because he’s played well for now, for a long time. The last few weeks has had a lot of production, so for Deshaun to have him coming back.

“Yeah, I mean, Amari gets a ton of attention. The big pass, again, that we drew up in the dirt – they drew up in the dirt, I called it. But that was them seeing something, and that was Amari getting doubled. I mean, he ran right through a double team, so he gets a ton of attention. I think if you watch that tape, they’re running to him. It’s single safety, and the safeties are leaning to him. So, we know that it opens up opportunities for other guys, but we’re always trying to find ways to get number two of the ball.”

 

How about the way that he stuck with it on the touchdown pass when it kind of banged off the guy’s facemask? 

“Yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, he’s got great ball skills. You got to get lucky sometimes, we were living right there.”

 

Any update on (Marquise) Goodwin? 

“No update. He’s in the concussion protocol, but no update just yet.”

 

Thoughts on (Cedric) Tillman I mean, I know he only had one target, but big shoes for him to fill.

“Yeah, big shoes. Obviously, we put him in there quite a bit and put him in that role that Donovan (Peoples-Jones) has done for us, which is a lot of dirty work role in the run game. So, first time out there getting some reps under his belt. I think he’ll continue to just get better.”

 

You guys are really starting to protect your lakefront home here and giving your home crowd a lot to care about. 

“Yeah, they were outstanding. They had a beautiful day. So, I guess the Muni Lot was packed early, but they were loud. They were into it, you know, when our defense is playing at that level, they feed off the energy of this crowd. I think that’s without a doubt. So, they did a great job today and we’ll see them when we’re back out here.”

 

Is it just a game ball for a defensive shutout out or do you do something special?

“Well, I mean just the numbers themselves are so good. Just top to bottom, the run game, holding the 17-yards passing, that type of thing. So, we’ll give out game balls tomorrow, but I don’t think we had 30 to give out in there.”

 

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