Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.11.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, awesome challenge this week with two-time defending champs coming to our place. They have great talent as everyone knows. They’re very well coached. So, we have to be about our business. They present a ton of challenges for your offense, for your defense, for your special teams. So, there’s a lot of things that we need to go to school on the Kansas City Chiefs and really get to work on them and that’s what we’ll do. So, with that, I’ll take any questions.”
David Njoku was on the pre-practice report. Is there a concern that he might not play on or is it too early in the game?
“I’d say day-to-day, yeah.”
With Mike Hall being activated to return to practice, how important could these final four games be given he didn’t get to play a bunch this year?
“I think for any young player, reps are so important. That’s your resume, is that tape. So excited if Mike can make it back out there because he’s a young player that we’d love to see more of.”
How is Ced (Cedric Tillman) doing?
“Doing better. Expect him to practice some today.”
Do you think it’s fair that the two-time Super Bowl champions would have so much luck in a season?
“I think you make your own luck. They’re a good football team. They’ve won close games. You win close games by putting yourself in position to go make a play here, make a play there. That puts you over the top.”
Along those lines, they do everything well. But is there something that stands out more than anything for you?
“No, I think it’s that group of players, their core with Coach (Andy) Reid and they’ve really played at a high level over these years, and I think they probably know each other really well just watching their scheme on really all three sides, I think Coach (Dave) Toub, Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) does a great job. I think they’re just really — it’s a well-designed scheme with a lot of players that have a ton of good experience in those schemes.”
They’re really good on third down. Is that simply Patrick (Mahomes) and Travis (Kelce)? Is it more to it than that?
“It’s probably in some ways, yes, it’s that simple. In other ways, no. They have good design in their scheme, they have speed receivers, they have possession receivers. The quarterback does an outstanding job of getting through his progressions, throwing accurate balls. He can extend plays as we all know. So, they present all sorts of challenges.”
With the game on the line, is there any quarterback you can think of in the history of football that’s better than Mahomes?
“I’m probably not the historian to ask other than to say I know what the numbers say with him and how good he’s been, particularly this year in these late games.”
You signed Riley Patterson to the practice squad. Will Dustin (Hopkins) still be the starting kicker on Sunday and what was kind of the thought process of bringing in Riley?
“Yeah, thought process, just bringing in Riley, a guy that we know was in here last year. We’ll work through all those types of decisions this week. Don’t have a final decision. Dustin’s our kicker, but we’ll work through all that.”
With Greg Newsome going on the IR does he needs surgery again on that hamstring?
“I don’t believe he needs surgery on the hamstring, no.”
Going back to the kicker, is it something where you’re taking a look at maybe Dustin would benefit from having a break?
“I think it’s all those things we need to just work through. And like I told you guys the other day, Dustin’s a guy that I trust. He’s a veteran that has been through a lot in his career and he will work through this. We’ll work through this one together.”
What makes Chris Jones such a challenge to match up against?
“Physically, just his size, strength, ability to move laterally at that size, the power when he wants to go through the offensive line. He’s versatile, they can line him up all over. I remember playing these guys a few years back he was playing defensive end. Now he’s playing some more defensive tackle. But he can line up everywhere. Just a force. Physically, a very, very disruptive player.”
The decision to waive Kadarius Toney, is that just because of his antics…
“Just normal roster stuff.”
As far as Travis (Kelce) this year, what are you seeing on film? Is he as dangerous as in the past?
“Yes. Yeah. Extremely talented player. Good versus man. Has a savviness to his routes. Great versus zone. Has a really good feel and obviously a great rapport with the quarterback in how he gets open.”
Kansas City is so good in the final two minutes of halves, especially the fourth quarter. Is there a way to game plan to play keep away from (Patrick) Mahomes and not give him the football last?
“I don’t know that there’s a game plan per se. That’s obviously the goal of all these teams late in the game and we’ve seen it in the Super Bowl even. You do your best to score with no time left on the clock. And easier said than done oftentimes. So, I think it goes back to how you win these football games in these final two minutes and typically all three sides of the ball play a large part in that.”
D.J. Humphries is left tackle for them. How has he stabilized that position? What have you noticed in him?
“Well, he’s a veteran, has done that out there, has produced. Obviously he’s injured, so not sure exactly what his status would be going into this game, but they have a bunch of guys that they can play out there. But he’s talented.”
I’m guessing Cam (Cameron) Mitchell will move into Greg’s (Newsome) spot. What have you seen from Cam, I know he’s been out there some for you this year?
“Cam has played a good bit for us in the last couple seasons. Very smart player, heady, good in coverage, does a nice job from a physical presence as well, but a guy that really understands all the nuances to our defense.”
Along those lines Myles Harden, do you expect him to be activated this week?
“Yes. Yeah, I would expect him back.”
How does Kareem (Hunt) look?
“Kareem looks good. Yeah, I mean, Kareem is obviously a person and a player that I have a ton of respect for. He’s elite in short yardage, which we’ve seen firsthand. He’s elite in the screen game, which we’ve seen firsthand. He runs hard, he looks good.”
Can you explain why he was not kept?
“There’s always roster decisions that get made for a variety of reasons, but it doesn’t change the fact that Kareem was a really important person, a really important part of this football team.”
We haven’t seen D’Onta Foreman, he’s been inactive for quite a few weeks. Did he not just fit in or what’s going on?
“No, I’d say it’s just an inactive numbers game. Special teams factors into that as well, but no reason other than that, Jeff (Schudel).”
You mentioned Andy’s (Reid) scheme and you’ve been looking at it for a long time. What do you like best about it?
“Well, I think what’s interesting when you watch Coach Reid, and I watched a lot of his games early in his career in Philly and he’s evolved so much from 25 years ago. Which is a sign of a great coach and how they scheme up the run game, how they scheme up the pass game, there’s beauty in the simplicity of what they do. There’s also a lot of really creative ways that they get people open, utilize the run game. Everybody steals the Chiefs’ red zone plays because it’s always something a little bit different each week. But just has done an outstanding job, doesn’t need me to tell everybody how good he is.”
Your first year here, you played Kansas City in that divisional playoff game, seems like a long time ago. Think of everything you and the Browns have been through and then there’s the Chiefs still doing it. I mean, what does that say about them?
“Obviously, since Coach Reid’s been there, and with Mahomes at quarterback, they’ve been at the top of this profession. Obviously, they’ve played really well this season. Like we talked about winning these close games, I think that’s the fun part for us to go up against guys that we really respect, guys that we know are at the top of the game right now, and we get an opportunity to go up against them on Sunday.”