Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (9.8.25)

Opening Statement:

“Okay, injury front, Jack Conklin is doing better. He got poked in the eye yesterday, but he’s doing much, much better than yesterday. Obviously, like we talked about post-game, really frustrating to not come away with a win in that game. But bottom line is, as we all know, there’s things that we have to do better or you’re not going to win those types of games, so we’ll learn from it. Guys are in meetings right now watching this tape and need to learn from some of the stuff that we can do better, players and coaches, and then get back to work with another division game coming up on Sunday. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”

 

Kevin, just wondering, have you been able to give any more thought yet to what you guys might do about Andre (Szmyt)? Do you think you will stick with him this week or will you kind of bring somebody in or look around a little bit? 

“Yeah, for me, Mary Kay (Cabot), I’m still focused on yesterday. Obviously, Andre (Szmyt) knows we trust him, knows that he’s got to come through for us in those moments. I thought he had a really good warm up. Banged a couple early in the game and, you know, missed those two at the end and those are kicks that we expect him to make. But I’m really just focused on that game and we expect him to come through for us.”

 

Hey, Kevin, was the plan to control the ball as much as you guys did? I think there were four drives of ten plays or more. Was that just a result of what Cincinnati was doing defensively? 

“Yeah, it was just a result, Scott (Petrak). I think you oftentimes go into games, and you think we got to keep the ball away from the other team, but that only happens if you execute. So, I thought the guys executed and were pretty good on third and fourth down, extending some drives.”

 

And when you went back and watched, what did you think the biggest issues with the run game were? 

“Multifaceted. I think you have to give credit to them. We can do a better job as coaches in giving the guys a plan. There are one-on-one matchups that we have to win, and that’s the run game. If you’re not winning in one spot, that person can fall off and make a play. If you do win your one-on-one matchup, those are where big yards can be had. So, we will get back to work there.”

 

Kevin, what is the plan this week with Quinshon Judkins? Can he be ready for Sunday? 

“Yeah, we’ll see, Tony (Grossi). Got to get through this week of practice, but don’t know.”

 

And my second question is, I asked you yesterday about the short yardage creativity you had. Back in the owner’s meetings, you had mentioned that Mike Bloomgren, it was kind of like a pet project of his – short yardage situations. And yesterday you said you haven’t emptied the playbook at all. Could you expand on just your team’s philosophy now on the short yardage packages that you might have? 

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to expand too much, as you can imagine. But I think if you polled every line coach in the NFL, they would be very excited and light up when you talk about short yardage and goal line. So, I think more what I’m speaking there to, Tony (Grossi), is Coach (Mike) Bloomgren’s affinity for physicality and those moments when you need one yard. And I think it’s Coach (Mike) Bloomgren, it’s Ben Wilkerson, it’s Sanders Davis. Our offensive line coaches as a group do a great job in those areas, both by design in how you design those schemes, but also how you coach those schemes, because a lot of times it’s not real complicated, but it is something where it does become a mentality type of football.”

 

Are they also kind of the point men for your two-point package? 

“I’d probably say less so, and I think that’d probably be true around the league.”

 

Hey, Kevin, wanted to ask you how Dawand Jones held up after looking at the film at left tackle. We saw some penalties, some that were negated. But how did he do overall? 

“Yeah, I think there were good moments and some bad moments. He needs to just be consistent for us and play like I know he’s capable of playing. And again, there’s good moments out there versus a very good rusher, but I do feel like he can play better.”

 

What about those young guys behind Denzel (Ward) and Greg Newsome? How’d they do in their first look you know, in the multiple sets in the secondary… Myles Harden, Cam (Cameron) Mitchell, even Rayshawn (Jenkins). 

“Sure, yeah. Young guy wise, obviously Myles (Harden) has played the least of those guys, but I thought he acquitted himself nicely, was good in the run and the pass. Cam’s (Cameron Mitchell) a guy that’s played for us quite a bit. We trust him. And Rayshawn (Jenkins), I thought, was good in his role as well.”

 

Hey, Kevin, just after watching the film so far, how did you think Greg (Newsome II) did on the outside? It looks like on the matchup data from PFF, they got him with two targets facing Ja’Marr Chase. No catches, a pass breakup. So just how do you think he did on the outside? 

“Yeah, he did really well. It was good to see Greg (Newsome II) out there competing. As you guys know, that’s an excellent team. It’s an excellent offense. It’s an excellent pass offense. So, our guys met the challenge and did a nice job.”

 

And then just with the defense as a whole, a couple of the guys talked about, like, even though they played obviously so well in the second half, like starting faster, what does that look like? I guess, is it as simple as game changing plays, takeaways, that sort of thing? Or I guess, how would you define it? 

” Yeah, you know, a lot of it. We probably had more mental errors in the first drive than we did the entire game. So, just weren’t clean and wasn’t a lot, but just too many things that we didn’t have cleaned early on that first drive specifically settled into the game, and I thought did a nice job. But as we all know, this game is a 60-minute game and minute one is as important as minute 60. So, we certainly have to be playing our best ball at the beginning and the end.”

 

Hey, Kevin, I hear you say what you did about Andre (Szmyt), but with a kicker, not specifically just him how difficult is that to know when, “Hey, yeah, we really have to make a change on this guy”? 

“Yeah, I think…listen, we trust our guys. We get to watch our guys work. We get to watch them all off season, all training camp, preseason, practices, games, all those things. So, we trust our guys to come through for us. And I know a lot of credit and blame gets doled out after wins and losses, but this is a team game, and we’ll own this one together as a loss.”

 

Kevin, Dylan Sampson had 12 carries, but he was really involved in that passing game a lot. So, for you guys, did that have a lot to do with what you were able to see from him with that maybe increased workload over the summer with him being so featured with injuries and Quinshon (Judkins) being out? And how did you think that he looked in that one, especially as the game went on? 

“Yeah, I thought, Cam (Camryn Justice), he did a nice job. You know, we’ve all talked about these young players this is their first game, and there’s going to be jitters and all those types of things that go with it. And I expect all these guys, the young guys in particular, to get better with every game. And I thought Dylan (Sampson) did a nice job. He was out there because we trust him. He has the ability in the run and the pass game to affect the game. But it’s all things like you mentioned that we’ve seen in practice.”

 

Asked you about that defensive end opposite of Myles Garrett, whether it be Isaiah McGuire or Alex Wright. Isaiah (McGuire) obviously made a big sack there in that game. What have you seen from him and his development that led you to go with him and have him out there? 

“Yeah, I think that’s just been his body of work, Cam (Camryn Justice). Going back to last season and into the offseason program, into training camp. He’s been a very steady player for us, a very physical football player, and he did a nice job.”

 

Kevin, just going back to the kicker again. Just with you and Bubba (Ventrone) looking at the film. What do you think of the hold and the snap on the two missed kicks? 

“Yeah, again, we’ll just keep coaching our guys up. You know, we’re looking for everybody just to do their job in every phase, but anywhere where we feel like we can do better, we’ll just keep coaching them up.”

 

Okay, and then NextGen had you in one-two personnel a little more than half the time. I think it was your highest rate since your first year in 2020. Just how effective did you think those packages were? And, you know, Harold (Fannin Jr.) had a couple key catches, but what do you think of his blocking? 

“Yeah, I think every game is going to stand on its own in terms of what personnel groupings you feature. And there’s reasons to be in a bunch of different personnel groupings based on the opponent, who your players are, those types of things. And I thought Harold (Fannin Jr.) very similarly to the conversation about Dylan (Sampson), it’s a lot of these young guys in their first extended exposure in a regular season game, were not perfect, but I thought really did a nice job overall, and we’ll only build on that. And Harold (Fannin Jr.), I thought, really competed hard. That’s one of the things you love about him out there. Whether it’s the ball’s in his hand or not, he’s giving you everything he’s got.”

 

Kevin another young guy, Raheim (Sanders) being able to get that touchdown, punch that touchdown in for you guys. What did you just see from him and especially in that set of plays and being able to score that touchdown and just his acclimation to the team since he’s gotten here?

“Yeah, he’s a guy that we’re getting up to speed, Kelsey (Russo), every day. I feel like with his size he was the right person for our short yards goal line package. Again, that’s a week-to-week type of thing. But I thought he ran behind his pads both on the fourth and one, I guess it was, and that and I guess fourth down on the goal line as well.”

 

After getting a chance to watch the film, it’s kind of rare you put so many rookies in pivotal roles like this. So, you know, how impressed were you with their performances kind of going down the line from (Dylan) Sampson to (Carson) Schwesinger? 

“Well, you know, Justin (Cooper), we’ve spent a lot of time this offseason talking about this class of guys and I made the comment, I can’t remember if it was to you guys or not, but I’ve made the comment. In volume, it’s a lot of rookies, but they don’t act like rookies, and I don’t consider them rookies at this point. They’re guys that we’re counting on. They’re guys that really work at their craft and that’s been the case since they got on campus here. And you really can go down the line with all of them. They all are very serious about their job. They all work very hard, and they all will continue to get better.”

 

And then with Harold (Fannin Jr.) there, we saw him take that direct snap at one point in the game. Do you guys plan to use him kind of in that role in short yardages at all, or do you plan on using him in that way anymore this season? 

“Yeah, game dependent. He has a lot of versatility in his game. So, when there’s players with versatility, we’re going to find ways to use them, but very, very game dependent.”

 

Did you guys rep that a lot during camp? 

“You know, a lot of that first week, and I’m sure this is true for every team. There’s a lot of stuff that you have so many reps on going back through the spring into the summer and week one is a lot of quote unquote best of stuff that was good in camp and you want to get it to the field. So, there’s not to say they use everything. It’s not like it’s a 50-play type thing, but there are things that you’re comfortable with because the players are comfortable with it.”

 

Kevin, I actually have two questions if you don’t mind. The first one is, did you catch the end of the Ravens-Bills game last night? And you know, I’m sure you’re familiar with it if not, do you feel like that is going to create even more sense of urgency on their part now to be at home and to go out there and win this game on Sunday? I mean, two teams coming off of tough losses. 

“Yeah, I watched it this morning, Mary Kay (Cabot). Obviously we know it’s a division opponent for us. It’s Baltimore, who we know well, they know us well. We expect it to be hard fought like it always is.”

 

And then my second question is, when you went back and watched the Joe (Flacco) interceptions, I know he was under duress on the first one and I know Jerry (Jeudy) laidd out and tried to make a nice diving catch there, but are these two picks where you kind of cut Joe (Flacco) a little bit of slack because obviously they were both deflected or do these still go on the quarterback side of the ledger? 

“Well, I’m not going to get into specifics necessarily on those two plays, Mary Kay (Cabot), other than to say we trust our guys, we got to be clean, and it takes everybody. I’ve said to you guys before, not all interceptions are created equal. Sometimes the defense makes a great play, sometimes the ball gets batted in the air. All those types of things. We have to just learn from them. There are definitely things that we can do better on those plays, and we have to because those should be completion plays. Both result in a first down and keep our offense on the field. That’s one of the things that is tough because it takes our offense off the field, which, you know, we had a lot of confidence in what we were doing.”

 

Hey, Kevin, was Jack (Conklin) the only injury coming out of yesterday? 

“Yes.”

 

And you know, after the game Joe Flacco said he thought the inexperience showed up a little bit. Did you notice that when you’re watching, whether it’s mistakes that you could say, ‘okay, this is because these guys haven’t played a lot’?

“Yeah, hard to say. We certainly were not perfect yesterday and myself included, our coaches included. We can do better, so we’ll learn from those. But hard to say.”

 

Kevin, a couple players after the game, notably (Joe) Flacco and (Jerry) Jeudy, had the attitude like, we’ll find out a lot more about ourselves, how we react to this adverse loss. Was that the message you carried after the game to them? And do you agree with that?

“Well, there’s a lot of messages after a game like that, Tony (Grossi), and it’s obvious and it’s true. You want to come away with those from those games with a win, and the disappointment is real. The other thing that’s real is we got a game this week and you got to turn the page and that’s what we’ll do as a football team. We’ll learn from this one. But it’s Ravens week for us once we get done with these meetings and that’s where all of our focus will go.”

 

And the other thing was the first drive by Cincinnati. It seemed like either they were double teaming Mason Graham or running right at him, and then he had success as the game went on. Was that the result of adjustments on your part defensively or in general Mason Graham’s game? 

“Yeah, I would tell you there are certainly a lot of adjustments that we were making throughout the game on defense, including post that first drive. A lot of times adjustments are happening during drives or just in between series. But I thought Jim (Schwartz) and the staff did a great job making some adjustments, and I thought Mason (Graham) had a good game. I thought he was disruptive. There’s a couple plays that I know he wants back, and he wants to make plays, but he was playing…did a nice job in his first game in our scheme and all stuff that he can build on.”

 

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