Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (11.22.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, obviously just proud of the effort from last night like we talked about. Knew that it was going to be a hard-fought game, knew that it was going to be a 60-minute game, was going to be physical and it was all those things. So proud of the guys for being able to come out on top and finishing the game like we did. They’ll get a little bit of a break here over this weekend and then we’re right back at it. Monday Night Football versus a very good AFC opponent in Denver. So that’s where our focus will very quickly turn. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
I missed your snow angel last night. Did you get one in?
“No snow angels for me. I’ve done plenty of them as a kid, but none for me last night.”
We’ve covered some of this ground before, but Jameis (Winston) and his infectious personality and obviously the way he’s played the last couple weeks, what kind of effect do you think that’s had on his teammates?
“I think it goes back to, Tom (Withers), Jameis is just a very, very authentic person. He’s the same guy every single day, he’s the same guy at 5 a.m. as he is at 5 p.m., he brings great energy to everything he does, and I think his teammates appreciate that about him.”
Jameis was telling us about Myles’ (Garrett) pregame speech, and it really seems like everyone kind of took that to heart. I mean, we know that Jameis gives a lot of those, but what did you think about Myles kind of standing up and taking and seizing that moment?
“Yeah, I thought he did a nice job with that, Mary Kay (Cabot). I think as leaders of the football team, you have a lot of opportunities to be in front of the team and message the team. And again, Myles spoke from the heart and the guys knew where he was coming from.”
I wanted to ask you about Myles as well and what he’s been able to do over his career. I think he’s the seventh player in NFL history to have seven straight seasons with 10 sacks, and they seem to be coming in bunches for him this year. But just, can you speak on the level of consistency that he brings week in and week out on the field and then also just, behind the scenes, some of the things that we don’t get to see?
“Well, I think the big thing with Myles is obviously he’s a great player. I think that’s obvious to anybody who watches this. I think the thing that you have to remember is he’s doing all that with getting an insane amount of attention from the offense. They are aware of where he is every play. They’re designing plays to not go his way. As play callers, you one-way things on your call sheet because I’m not going to run it at him. Or on third down, we’re going to make sure there’s a tight end over there, we’re going to slide the protection to him or whatever it may be. So, to be able to do all that against the backdrop of teams trying to prevent you from wrecking the game, I think is what’s most impressive.”
And just some housekeeping here. I know you said Cedric (Tillman) suffered the concussion last night. Did everybody else come through that game clean or are there any other additional injury updates today?
“No other updates.”
Just after watching that last play again, just how did you think your guys did defensively when obviously, like, you know the situation, you know Russ (Russell Wilson) is going to be looking for the end zone there?
“I thought we were good. There are definitely still things that we can clean up on that Ashley (Bastock) and we’ll look at the tape and do that. Those are situations that you work every single week. You don’t necessarily work them full speed every single week, but you get a walkthrough rep of those. Those are the little margins of plays that separate winning and losing sometimes. So, you really do have to be on top of your game in those moments.”
And then just what do you think with Greg (Newsome II) matched up with George Pickens there and the little scuffle at the end. Like, what did you think about that?
“Yeah, I thought Greg did a good job on that play. Obviously, he’s a great player. What happened after the play, I can’t say because it was hard to see.”
On that one penalty, it wound up being illegal touching. Did you think or were you worried that was going to be grounding?
“So, what they told me was Michael Dunn, who had reported eligible, was in the area of the throw. So that negated the idea that there’d be grounding.”
And then the Thursday night game in Cincy got flexed today. I know it’s a couple weeks down the road, but does that do anything like from you schedule wise or anything?
“We’ll play any day they tell us to play.”
You’ve now had four games in your new role on Sunday as the head coach without calling plays. I’m wondering are you still getting used to that, or do you have a routine down, or is each game different, or how are you feeling about being the so-called CEO coach on Sunday?
“Yeah, honestly, Tony (Grossi), whatever the result is how I feel. So, I’m feeling good today.”
But the way Jameis is playing, if you guys resign him, you have him for a whole another off-season and if he goes into camp as the number one quarterback, what can that do for you guys?
“Yeah, obviously I’m not there at all, Jeff (Schudel). I’m focused on what happened yesterday so we can talk to the players about that and make corrections and those type of things and then I’ll focus on Denver, but not really thinking about anything past that.”
But the second part though is when you and Ken (Dorsey) are working on the game plan, and it could be snowy again next week in Denver. So how does that affect the way you play games?
“It was an interesting week because you get to Monday and the game’s is on Thursday, so you’re looking at the weather report and you’re feeling that it’s pretty consistent or it’s going to be pretty close because you’re Monday and the game’s coming up here on Thursday. And then as you’re looking at the weather on Monday and then on Tuesday it’s altering a little bit. So, we were very, very aware that the weather could be a factor, both the wind and the precipitation. And when it’s a factor, it obviously affects the ball in the air, but it also affects your footing. You mentioned Ken obviously on offense, but we talked a lot about it on defense and special teams as well. So, the second half really was the game that we thought we may get really all week with the first half being normal conditions and with wind somewhat of a factor. So really had a first half where we stuck to a ‘normal game plan’ and then that second half, there were definitely some adjustments by both teams because of the footing.”
Having gotten to watch it over again, what did you think of how Jack (Conklin) did yesterday against T.J. (Watt)?
“Yeah, I thought Jack was outstanding. Our offensive line was really good throughout the day. I thought Jameis did a nice job in his pocket movement. But to give up one sack versus a very good front and the sack itself, I would put — not on the offensive line. So that was really well done by those guys. And like we’ve talked about all the time, when you’re talking about pass protection, it’s really all the five guys up front. It’s the tight ends and the running backs are involved in that. Certainly, in that game, there’s a lot of chips when you’re playing a team with premier rushers, it’s incumbent on the quarterback to move in the pocket. I thought the pocket movement by Jameis really throughout the night was really good, and then the guys getting open. It becomes an offensive drill, if you will, where it’s so important that every single one of those players is on point when you’re talking about protecting. And I can single out Jack, but he’s going to get fined by his fellow linemen if I do.”
Well, I’m going to see if you will single him out again here too, because we spent so much time talking about Nick (Chubb) and his comeback from his injury. But Jack (Conklin) obviously has had so many injuries and he told us in the off season that this whole ‘shebang’ he called it, with his knee injury. So how impressive is it that he’s back and playing at this level?
“It’s a really good point, Dan (Labbe), and I hope that doesn’t get lost on anybody because he has been through the ringer with this injury and to bounce back and play at the level that he’s playing at has been really impressive. Sorry, Jack.”
Kevin, heading into this one, there’s some guys on defense that said they weren’t satisfied with the effort that they gave in that end of the (New Orleans) Saints game, holding themselves accountable. Did you see that accountability reflected in that full 60-minute game?
“I did. I think when you’re playing this game, obviously there’s a level that you have to play at. It just requires it from the first snap to the last snap. And I thought the guys did a nice job for sure last night.”
I know you just mentioned that one sack, you wouldn’t put it on the offensive line. Just curious was it more of like a snap count thing or…
“It wasn’t on the offensive line, but I’ll protect the names of the innocent.”
I know Jerry Jeudy, you guys liked him, obviously you traded for him, but how have you seen him grow. He seems to really embrace that number one role so much, making plays. Winston goes to him and he comes down with the ball.
“Fred (Greetham), we really trust all those guys. I think you saw last night, Jerry coming open late in that game. It’s man coverage. He had to win on fourth down, on that big third down. But I really do believe Jameis has a ton of trust in all of our pass catchers, to include the tight ends and the running backs on the offense. But Jerry continues to run a variety of routes for us. I think he’s winning down the field. He’s winning on shorter throws as well. So, it’s been… I’m proud of what he can continue to do for this football team because I do think that there’s always more that we can ask of these guys.”
Do you guys have any interest in Daniel Jones, given that you have to sort of figure out your quarterback situation for next year?
“Yeah, respectfully, and I saw that he is available, but respectfully, I’m not going to get into those type of things.”
With Jameis belly diving into the snow and singing Jingle Bells and just his enormous personality and all of the things that he is. Is he just the exact sort of right person that you guys need when you’re 3-8, and it seems like things can be bleak, is he just exactly what the doctor ordered for you guys this year?
“I wouldn’t put it that way, Mary Kay (Cabot). I would just say he’s a veteran who’s handling his role for us and doing what he’s supposed to do, but it really does go back to what we talked about before. He’s just being himself. And when you’re being yourself and you’re playing good football for us on offense, on defense or special teams, that’s going to help this team win.”
But you don’t consider this to be sort of a fun element to what can be otherwise a challenging season that you guys are having?
“The fun in this business is winning Mary Kay (Cabot). So that’s where I get the fun out of it.”
I know since you’ve been here, you’ve used a variety of personnel packages, but last night it struck me, I think there were times it’s four linebackers out there and you had a bunch of three-safeties and Winston (Reid) and (Michael) Dunn on offense. So, I was curious, is that fun for you when you have those kinds of things up and you know you’re going to have to use so many guys and so many different packages?
“I think it speaks Scott to versatility is so important. You know, you mentioned Winston Reid who’s playing fullback for us on the goal line. He’s playing some snaps for us on defense. Michael Dunn is a guy that really has played all across the line for us. So just having those guys that have a versatile ability to slide into different roles because, as you know, each game calls for a different set of plays, a different set of scheme because you’re trying to attack one thing or the other thing. And just having guys that are versatile, I think really does allow us as coaches to move them around.”
With the last week, when you guys give up the three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, this week you find yourselves down in the fourth quarter after you had the lead. Can you just speak more broadly in those last 15 minutes to the resilience of the team and the importance of getting that bounce back when obviously you couldn’t last week in New Orleans?
“Well, yeah, we talked about… I mean, and it wasn’t even a week ago, but that fourth quarter in New Orleans, we didn’t finish and that was really frustrating for us. And that’s nothing we can do about it now. You go into last night, we had the lead in the fourth, and then very quickly, we don’t. And that’s football. So, when you’re talking about being resilient you have to show it. And I thought our guys did that last night and they did it really as a team. I thought that sequence, we had one, 3-and-out in that game from our defense and it was when we needed it the most. It was the second to last possession. Got an incompletion on that third down. And then here comes our special teams and on their one opportunity to rush the punter, they did a great job and forced a bad punt which was good for us. And then our offense takes over and does its job and finishes in the end zone, finishes with a two-point conversion. So, I just think it was an example of complimentary football was the way for us to show that resiliency, if you will.”