Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (7.27.24)
Kevin, we got to look at Nick (Chubb) running sprints way back yesterday, and I’m sure you’ve seen him do that before, but it makes it seem like he’s pretty close. Is that a wrong assessment, I guess?
“I’m not going to speculate on that part of it other than the staff seeing him run and seeing him work out and he’s right where he needs to be. As we’ve talked about all along, he’s attacking this rehab. He’s in early, staying late. I give a lot of credit to Nick, give a lot of credit to our medical team that are bringing him along, but we’re not going to worry about much past today with that.”
Everyone knows how good Nick is, but have you learned anything different about him? Just seeing him kind of work through this injury and go through this adversity since it’s the first time he’s kind of hit, obviously something like this since you’ve been here?
“I think I know Nick pretty well just being around him. I think his teammates know him really well. They know what he’s about. This is nothing that he can’t handle. It’s adversity. It’s what as a team, we talk about. You want to thrive and persevere through adversity, and I think that’s what they’re seeing Nick do.”
When the pads come on, will Deshaun (Watson) be able to do that from the first day with pads on?
“Throw? Yes.”
He will he be in 11-on-11s that day?
“Correct.”
So, it seems like he’s hitting some pretty nice milestones here.
“He is and we’ll continue, like we talked about, Mary Kay (Cabot), we’ll continue to be smart and there will be days that we pull back a little bit on him, but he’s doing a nice job.”
Has he (Deshaun Watson) been like fully cleared for contact? Would you clarify it as that?
“Yeah, I would just say he’s right where he needs to be. Obviously, quarterbacks don’t have to worry about contact in these practices, but he’s doing a good job. He’s got that colored jersey on that they can’t touch him, but he’s right on track.”
Did they give you an update on how Dalvin’s (Tomlinson) surgery went?
“Everything went well. Yeah. So, Dalvin’s doing well.”
I know it’s early, but considering what happened to your quarterbacks last year, how’s that affecting your decision on a third quarterback on the 53?
“That’s a good question, something that we talk about, Andrew (Berry) and I and the staff. Those are things you work through as you get into preseason, get towards the end of August, but you factor all those things in, but definitely something that you talk about.”
So how may DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) get additional playing time for you to make that decision?
“I think there’s enough practice reps. I think there’s enough preseason reps to go around where yes, I think you can make good decisions on all your guys.”
(Tyler) Huntley was kind of a surprise addition after (Jameis) Winston, you already had DTR. What’s your feeling about him?
“I think Snoop’s (Huntley) done a really nice job since he’s been here, very good in the meeting room, very good on the practice field. He’s a guy that we’ve played against. I know what it feels like when you’re going against Snoop and he’s a really athletic player, can make all the throws, can hurt you with his feet. So excited about what he can bring to our team potential.”
What’s different with DTR coming into his sophomore year in comparison to when he walked in as a rookie?
“Yeah, he’s doing a great job and I think Dorian really grew a lot last season and obviously was in a tough spot that first game, then bounced back won a football game for us. So excited about where he is as well. As you know, a big part of his offseason was getting back from that injury, but excited about where Dorian is.”
Nyheim (Hines) was talking back in OTAs, he hoped to be back. August 1st was sort of a target date. Where is he in kind of in his recovery and are you still pretty confident that we should see him sooner rather than later?
“I don’t have an update on exactly when that will be, but another guy that’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s working very hard. We’ll see when he comes off that list.”
Your very first play out of 11-on-11, even though there were no pads, was under center play action. Is that kind of a statement by you that this is where the offense is going?
“You’ll have to ask Coach (Ken) Dorsey. He scripted that play.”
Who called it though?
“Dors, he scripted it. I mean, most statements being made at practice, we’re just kind of making sure we get through it.”
First plays under center snapped since last season.
“Interesting. Yeah, for me, we’re running our plays. Honestly, I think Dors and the offensive staff do a nice job of making sure early in camp you have to get through a lot of installations. That’s where we are. No statements, Tony (Grossi).”
Kevin what has impressed you so far about Mike Hall going back to rookie minicamp, but even the first two days of minicamp?
“Mike’s done a really nice job. As you guys know, Mike’s a young man, but he’s got some wisdom to him. Very impressed with how he carries himself, very impressed with how he is in the meeting rooms, in the weight room, out there on the field. He takes his job seriously. So, I think Mike’s done a nice job.”
What about Martin (Emerson Jr.) entering year three? It just seems like he’s so much more confident, outwardly comfortable. How have you seen him grow over the last couple of years?
“MJ’s done a really, really nice job since the minute he stepped on campus for us. He’s played well. He’s a guy that loves to practice as you see him play. He’s a guy that likes physical play, fits in with what we do, schematically, fits in with us culturally, but a young player that’s getting better. I would say watch at practice, watch coach (Brandon) Lynch with Martin, with Denzel (Ward), with those young guys. I mean, constantly teaching, constantly learning.”
I know you tweak the offense every season, right? But we talk a lot about the influence of Ken and the other new coaches. So, does it feel like it’s more significant change to the system this year than maybe the previous four?
“I think that’s fair to say with bringing in new voices like that, but, you know, I’m not going to put percentages on it. I think year to year, and we’ve talked about this before, you are constantly trying to stay ahead of it and I’ve talked about offensive football evolves and it evolves year to year. If you go back and watch tape from ten years ago, it really does not look like football nowadays. So where is it going? What are the different things that people are doing? What are the different types of, call motion, different types of run schemes, pass games? Whatever they are. So, for us, every single year we’re looking at that. I think we’re really fortunate to have some really smart football coaches on our offensive staff that have been exposed to different things, that we can put it all together and see what fits us best as opposed to just putting something together, just on the chalkboard, if you will. We want to do things that we feel like fits our guys really well.”
Kevin, when you talk about Quinton (Jefferson), how much does he fit in Jim’s (Schwartz) scheme? That interior pass rush, how important is that to maybe help ease things for the guys off the edge?
“Q’s done a nice job. A veteran, has played in different schemes and systems. Understanding how we play is a big part of it right now, but excited about what he brings. And it’s early in camp, but excited about having a veteran in there and yes, interior pass rush is very important. I think pass rush period is important and when you can push the pocket from inside it’s important as well.”
How is it you have two off days in the span of four days? I thought it was every fifth day you have an off day, so you get one Sunday and then Wednesday?
“Yeah, Wednesday we’re working. Just not necessarily a traditional practice. But we’re working on Wednesday. So, you have a true off day on Sunday with the players.”
So, Wednesday’s not an off day?
“Correct.”
When Elijah (Moore) got here last year during the off-season program, you guys seem to ask a lot of him even during the season, there’s a lot of misdirections. What have you learned about him and, you know, his skillset where maybe you can modify how you use him this year?
“We absolutely learned more about Elijah as the season went on. I think you definitely saw an evolution of how we utilized him. I think he’s a really good football player. Made plays for us throughout the season. I go back to that (New York) Jets game without Amari (Cooper) and we plugged him in there and he was doing all those things that you see a number one guy do. And when I say number one, first in progression, getting open, making plays with the football. So, we’re very aware of his skills and again, it goes back to what we talked about earlier, just utilizing these guys and putting them in the best positions to succeed.”
Kevin, last season Juan Thornhill was kind of battling that calf injury and he’s taking up some time and he’s battling it and fighting back. How has he tackled that this offseason, looking to be fully healthy and give what he’s kind of promised this year?
“Juan’s been great. He’s in very good shape. He’s done a nice job of taking care of his body throughout the spring and into this summer. So, I think he’s feeling healthy. As you know, it’s a challenge to play up to your ability when you’re having a nagging injury, and he had a nagging injury last year. So, he’s feeling very healthy and we’re excited about that for him.”
Deshaun’s going to end up taking a hit on that shoulder at some point. How do you prepare him for that hit while protecting him from hitting it?
“Yeah, it’s inevitable in this game of football. It’s a contact sport, so he’s certainly aware of that. He’s played this game for a long time. So I think for him, it’s understanding those avoidable hits when you can take care of yourself, when you can slide, when you can get out of bounds, those type of things. But also knowing that this is the game of football, it’s physical, and he doesn’t shy away from that at all. So we’re not going to put him through a tackling drill, but we’ll make sure that he’s in position to protect himself when he can and also know how to protect himself when he’s at the end of the run or maybe there’s a play that you have to eat the ball and protect the ball. He’s understanding how to get in the position to protect yourself.”
Have you and Bubba (Ventrone) discussed the possibility of training a defensive player to kick off?
“We have discussed it. You know, there’s pros and cons with everything. We saw our kicker get hurt chasing. So you can get hurt obviously in that. But also, you’ve seen some position players pull muscles when they’re asked to kick the ball. That’s something they’re not used to do. There’s pros and cons. I understand the idea behind it, getting 11 defensive coverage guys, if you will. I don’t know that’s something that we’ll explore right now.”
D’Anthony Bell has background in that. I know he was the guy you put in that Houston game. Would he be somebody?
“If healthy is something that you would consider that, yes. But I think it goes back to ball placement is still important on this play. Landing the ball at the 10 versus the two is eight yards if my math serves me correctly, I could be wrong. But it does matter in terms of how you cover. So, ball placement doesn’t all of a sudden go out the window.”
I don’t think we asked about Jerry Jeudy’s health yesterday. Is he on the same ramp up?
“He is. He’s ramping up. He’s getting better. Yeah, he’s close.”
Same with David (Njoku), or is there something specific?
“I think he’ll be out there today.”
Kevin, we’re going to talk to Jimmy and Dee (Haslam) and I’m guessing stadium is going to come up. When you were in Minnesota, did the new stadium change things dramatically?
“Did it change things dramatically? They did a great job with it. And, you know, with this one, I’m very confident in the people involved. They’ll do a great job. Don’t ask me where, don’t ask me what, but I trust everybody involved.”
You never coached in Metropolitan Stadium did you?
“I didn’t. I coached in the Metrodome, which I can tell some Metrodome stories, but not at Met, no.”
What do you want to see before pads on Monday and what have you liked so far early on?
“Yeah, we’re following a similar script from last year how we ramp up into getting ready for the season. So pads will come on, but you have to understand, when the pads come on, this is still a game that you win with technique. Every coach in America, the first day those pads are on are reminding their players not to let their technique go out the window. So those are the type of things that we constantly talk about with whether we’re wearing helmets, shells, pads, hats, doesn’t matter. Our technique has to be really good.”
Last year your first day with pads was kind of a lighter thing. You said you want them to get used to practicing with pads. So, it won’t be a hard-hitting, old kind of 1980’s style thing?
“We’ll tell some stories about those practices, but yeah, that first day is really just setting the pads, still getting technique is our premium, still conditioning is at a premium and then we’ll transition to going against each other.”
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