Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.22.25)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, big week of preparation. Going on the road, facing a very good football team. Winners of their last four, obviously well coached, ton of respect for their staff, and doing a great job on offense with Coach (Josh) McDaniels, young quarterback’s playing really, really well. Multiple weapons in the run, in the pass game. Defensively, you know, Coach (Terrell) Williams, I do want to mention, as you guys know, is on a leave of absence, so we just want to make sure he knows that we’re thinking of him. But that defense is really tough. Physical, really good front, excellent players in the back end, can do multiple things, very versatile. And then special teams wise, it’s a huge challenge. Some really good returners, good core players. So, it’s one of these games where all three phases have to be on point. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
How has (Drake) Maye improved? Where does his biggest improvement come from in your opinion?
“Yeah, in a bunch of areas, honestly. He’s accurate, big arm, very mobile, kind of checks all those boxes. And he’s doing a good job of operating in that offense, and then playing off schedule – he can scramble, he’s very, very fast. So, he’s doing a lot of things well.”
Kevin, how difficult is that, when you combine the deep throwing ability that he has shown with the ability to scramble? Feels like that really stretches the field.
“Yeah, it certainly does. Makes sure that you’re good in the back end, obviously in coverage, and then you have to be great in your rush lanes as well, because he’s a threat to throw and he’s a threat to run.”
Does Mike Vrabel knowing you guys so well give them any extra advantage?
“Yeah, I understand the question. I think having coach here the last year, obviously you share a lot of things to each other. You talk about different philosophies and those types of things, but I don’t know that there’s trade secrets, those types of things.”
Kevin (Stefanski), the (New England) Patriots haven’t allowed a 50-yard rusher this season. As a play caller, what is the impact of getting a guy like Quinshon (Judkins) going early on in the game?
“It’s a very good run defense, which is not a surprise. They’re stout up front, they limit explosives – they don’t let you get explosives in the run game. So, you really just have to be on point. You know, explosives come in the run game when everybody does their job, you can’t just go call the plays that try to get 50-yards. You have got to make sure that everybody is hatted up, doing their job, and then runners need to stay true to their reads.”
With Dave (Njoku) expected to practice today, do you think he will be available to you on Sunday?
“I’m hopeful, Mary Kay (Cabot), but really going to be day-to-day.”
The same with (Jack) Conklin?
“He’s trending. He’s doing well.”
Still in protocol?
“No, out of protocol.”
Kevin, you’ve talked about Tyson Campbell and the transition he’s made, but off the field, what kind of challenges does that provide as you’re trying to balance on the field, you also have to deal with moving and all that?
“I think you need to get to know your teammates. You spend a lot of time, probably, on Google Maps figuring out where to go. But he’s handled all of it really, really well. He’s a great kid. Like I told you guys when we traded for him, I had many people from their staff reach out to me and tell me what type of person this is. So, he’s doing a great job. But it is, like anything else, it’s a whirlwind, and you got to get to know your teammates.”
Building off of last week, with (Dillon) Gabriel going 13-18 in rainy conditions, how does he build upon that? How does the offense build upon that? It’s a Patriots defense that has been prone to the quarterback passing on them.
“Yeah, I think with anything with young players, you’re looking to build on both games and the work you get in practice. I think that’s a big part of this too. So, certainly that game last week was different for a multitude of reasons, but you continue in all facets, whether it’s run game or pass game, just to build on all the work you’re putting in.”
He hasn’t thrown an interception in three games. Can a young quarterback sometimes be too cautious?
“Well, we’ve talked about it over the years or weeks this season, you want to be smart and aggressive. You don’t want to just be conservative for the sake of being conservative. So, it’s a balance there, and we coach our quarterbacks to be aggressive when time calls for it and let it rip, and then also understanding that taking care of the football is a big part of our job.”
Kevin, the takeaways this past week, what needs to happen for that to roll over into this weekend to build on that?
“I think, obviously you score 21 points off of four takeaways, that’s a great recipe for success. I think a big message for our defense, and I’m sure most defenses, is ‘do your job’. And you don’t go looking for an interception, or you use your technique when you’re tackling and the second guy in punches out. So, doing your job, the ball, you’ll be in position to make plays on the ball. And sometimes you have to wait for those opportunities to come, but you don’t go outside the framework of your defense.”
Kevin, what’s different about Josh McDaniels’ offense from the Tom Brady years?
“Yeah, obviously he’s done a great job with the young quarterback. Obviously when you have a veteran quarterback that had been there for so long, I’m sure there were different things that they were getting into, and maybe it’s a little bit more pre-snap type of things. But they’re doing a very good job with this kid, and he’s playing at a high level. He’s, like I mentioned to you guys, he’s operating, he’s accurate, good on third down, and then just the ability to run is unique.”
They seem like they’re spreading the running game around. It’s not just (Rhamondre) Stevenson or (TreVeyon) Henderson or Maye. What’s unique about it, in terms of the balance it seems like they have with multiple runners?
“Yeah, I think they’re just doing a good job, Chris (Easterling). You know, their schemes change week-to-week, their versatility in what they do, but at the end of the day it’s a very physical run outfit. But they’re doing a good job mixing schemes.”
How important is it for you to give Dillon a decent on-ramp to see what he can do over a number of games and not just judge everything too quickly with him?
“No, I think that’s just our focus week-to-week, Mary Kay, is what’s in front of us. With all of our young players, making sure that we’re making constant improvement, that’s on a daily basis, obviously on a weekly basis, but not thinking much past that.”
But is there a recognition that there’s so many rookies around him, he’s a rookie himself, and that this offense is a work in progress and might not be a well-oiled machine in week one or two of him?
“I understand the question. I would just tell you our focus is just getting him up to speed, getting our younger players up to speed. But that’s our job during the work week, at practice, so that we can see constant improvement.”
Quinshon gave a lot of credit to the blocking techniques that were put in front of him. When you look at the offensive line and the changes that it’s gone through with injuries and all of that. Does it feel like over the weeks of dealing with that, they’ve started to gel together? Is that a part of what we saw or is it…
“That’s certainly the hope. As you guys know, if you can have all five play for a bunch of time or an entire season, that’s the ideal, of course, because it helps from a communication standpoint, that type of thing. But no different than talking to Mary Kay about constant improvement. It’s for young players, but it’s for all of our guys, and it’s our guys, when you’re sometimes in and out of the lineup, making sure that when you do stabilize it, that you get the ability to get better weekly.”
When Gabriel was the backup, you said he was getting some number one reps. Is that true with Shedeur (Sanders)?
“No, I mean with a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of reps. Different when you have a veteran like Joe (Flacco), but still getting reps in a bunch of periods.”
You guys kind of started obviously behind the eight-ball record wise. how do you maintain the focus on this next game while also realizing that you have to stack wins to kind of counteract the losses?
“We have amnesia. We have no idea what happened in the past, we’re focused on what’s in front of us.”
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