Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.27.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, great challenge this week. Unique challenge this week with this group; the things that they do on the offensive side of the ball with the pre-snap motion and the speed. Defensively, I think they do a great job in a variety of ways, but they are big and long up front with great length. They’ve got great movement, a bunch of different things they can throw at you. It’s a good special teams group, coached really well. So, a group that certainly we respect and then we have to go play our best brand of football to go find a way to win in front of our fans. We’re excited for the opportunity to go play one last time down there on the lake in front of our fans. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Was Ogbo (Okoronkwo) hurt against the (Cincinnati) Bengals?
“Yes.”
With Jameis (Winston) as questionable, if he’s okay will he be the number two?
“Yes. If he’s okay, yeah. Still working through that.”
Who will be your kicker Sunday?
“Dustin (Hopkins).”
Why go with him after giving him the week off when you had the practice squad kicker a couple weeks ago?
“Yeah, I think regardless of if we have a practice squad kicker on the roster or not, really just he’s our kicker. Like I’ve told you guys, he’s going to continue to work through this like he does, like any player works through technique things. He’s working very hard, and he kicked it really well today. I expect him to kick it really well on Sunday.”
With the three guys who are out, will you have to use IR to bring anybody up?
“I don’t believe so.”
With Dustin, it seemed like the bye week, with him sitting out, you thought that he was pretty confident that he was going to get back to form and just didn’t happen.
“I think with any position, doesn’t matter if it’s kicker, if it’s offensive line, linebacker, you’re constantly working on your technique. That’s no different here with a veteran that working on his craft, getting that swing grooved. Obviously, it didn’t hit the ball how he wanted to the other day, but he continues to work at it and like I told him, we’ll support him, and we’ll work through it together.”
I know he doesn’t have a game status, but how did Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) come through with the calf and everything and how has he looked the last three days?
“Yeah, has looked good.”
We don’t always see this kind of patience with kickers. So where does your, obviously he had that great year last year so that’s probably part of it, but where does that belief in Dustin come from?
“Yeah, demonstrated ability. He’s a veteran. I’ve seen him do it for us, I’ve seen him do it in his career. Like a lot of kickers, sometimes you got to go through it a little bit but doesn’t change how hard he’s working to get through this. But, yeah, veteran guy who’s seen a lot in his career.”
What can you guys do this week to kind of make Dorian’s life a little easier so he can get into the flow of the game a little faster than he did last week?
“Yeah, I think it’s more incumbent on the team to start fast. Obviously, that helps your quarterback when you can put some points on the board early in a game and not put yourself in a hole early. I think that certainly contributes to how you play as an offense.”
He’s really got the ability to pull it and go on those RPOs. What did you think of his decisions on that last week and what does that give you guys going forward?
“Yeah, it’s a real threat when you have that quarterback back there. Kevin Rogers, our coach here, always says when the quarterback hands it off, that’s now 11-on-10 if you don’t have a real viable guy. With Dorian, it’s really an 11-on-11 football, they have to account for him, really, in all those run schemes. And that’s like a lot of quarterbacks in this league. I think you’re seeing guys that are very viable threats in the run game, and it certainly contributes to run game success.”
I know you’re on this year, and Joel (Bitonio) said he’s not thinking about next year, but regardless of what happens, what has he just meant to this building to you these last five years?
“Yeah, obviously I wasn’t here for the beginning part of his career, but just seeing him these last five seasons, first of all, I’ll talk about the person first. Just an amazing person, a guy I rely on a ton when talking about things that have to do with this football team. And just the way he leads, I’m always leaning on him. The player, looks like a Hall of Fame career to me. I’m hoping he’s these not his last few games. I think he’s got a lot left in the tank, and I say that just this is a really, really good football player and I’ve seen some really good ones. He’s right up there.”
Is he like Steve Hutchinson or were they different players?
“They’re different players. Steve was much more of the gap scheme, downhill ‘mauler.’ And I think Joel’s just so athletic, the things that he’s been able to do over the course of his career. He never gets in a bad spot. He’s always moving his guy and has recoverability to get to the second level. But he’s an incredible athlete.”
Tua (Tagovailoa) is one of the better quarterbacks in the league against pressure. What do you see when you watch him on film in terms of that helps him kind of handle the pressure?
“I’d say the ball comes out so fast. I think that’s what helps the pressure. You can blitz him and sometimes you get there, sometimes that ball’s whistling out of there because that’s just how fast they play. And he makes really, really quick decisions, and he has a very, very quick release.”
How much pressure does that put on your secondary when he’s getting it out so fast and there isn’t a lot of time to send that pressure?
“Yeah, I think certainly this scheme puts pressure on every part of your defense. It’s not just the secondary. I think everybody contributes to trying to slow this group down. I think they do a great job getting the ball in the perimeter in a variety of ways, run game, screen game, you name it. Then they do a really good job working the middle of the field as well.”
Where was Ced (Cedric Tillman) at in the protocol and does it at this point, since he’s out this game, make sense just to shut him down for the rest of the year?
“I’m not going there. I’m really just focused on where he is right now and he’s continuing to progress.”
How do you coach up Dorian to still be aggressive and use all of his skills, but also try to stay interception free this game?
“Sure, I mean, I think it goes back to, Mary Kay (Cabot), being smart and aggressive. You don’t want to just be conservative for the sake of being conservative. But you have to understand how important the ball is in these games; how important possession is in these games. So still continue to play his style, make sure he’s doing everything in his power to move the football for our football team and score points, but at the same time not letting them get their hands on it.”
Without Dave (David Njoku) and Ced, who do you need to step up for Dorian in this game?
“I think it’s always a group effort in that regard, Mary Kay (Cabot). I think we really trust our group. We trust the receivers; we trust the tight ends that we have up. We got a good group of running backs up, so the quarterback has to deliver the ball based on what the coverage is dictating, and we trust the guys that the ball is going to.”
Kevin, I saw that Mike (McDaniel) said that Anthony Walker’s not going to play Sunday. For you, obviously, knowing Anthony from this time of year, disappointing not to get to…
“Is he injured? I didn’t know that.”
He’s hurt.
“Got it. Okay, a guy I think very highly of. I’m regretting letting him sit in all those quarterback meetings over the years. He’s popped in there and sat in there for many meetings, and I’m regretting that fact. But he’s one of my favorites. Just a quintessential pro. He’s the guy in the middle of the defense, he’s the guy in the middle of the locker room, just at the center of everything. I think he’s made plays when he’s out there on the football field, but just the impact that he has in the building has been pretty incredible.”
When guys are like that, Kevin, I mean, I understand he’s a son of a coach. Are they generally always that way, or do guys kind of, as they get in a pro routine, do they kind of grow into that?
“I think the son of a coach certainly has a lot to do with it, and Anthony has talked a lot about that, but he’s a gym rat. He loves the game. And again, just his thirst for knowledge, you can ask quarterbacks, he would pop in there and sit in there and just listen. Not really ask questions, but just hear what was being talked about. He’s a cerebral player. You so often hear quarterbacks being talked about being cerebral. When you’re the middle linebacker and you’re in the nerve center, you have to be cerebral, and he certainly is.”