Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (11.24.25)

Opening Statement:

“Okay, injury front – Alex Wright is, I’d say day to day with the quad injury. We’ll see how this week goes. Dillon Gabriel cleared concussion protocol. Adin Huntington has that quad injury. Brenden Bates with the ankle injury. I’d say both those guys are in the weeks, so they’ll be out this week. We’ll see how that goes, over the next couple days, I’ll have a better sense. Obviously, in the game like we talked about, great to get a road win for this football team. Some really, really good moments on all three sides of the ball and now we got to build on it. We have to have a big one at our place. We’re excited to be back home in front of our fans versus a very good football team who’s playing tonight, so we’ll do some TV scouting this evening. But we gotta be about our business this week, have a great week of practice with Thanksgiving week, obviously there’s always different schedules and that type of thing. So, we have to really be good about our process, this week will be a big focus for us. Shedeur (Sanders) will start this week. Obviously, you know, number one job of quarterback is to win. So excited to get that first win under his belt and then next thing is improvement. And that’s what young players do. Certainly, young quarterbacks do. You get one game better and that’s just from working at it. So that’ll be our focus. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”

 

Yeah, well, I was going to ask if Shedeur was going to start, but now that you announced that for us, just when you went back and you looked at the film, what were some of the things that you felt that he really did good, other than the obvious. We know that he pushed the ball downfield a little bit, but what were some of the other nuances of his game? 

“Well, obviously, first start for any young quarterback, you’re always going to make sure the operation is how you want it, and I thought by and large was good. There’s things that we can clean up and obviously that goes on all of us. That’s coaches, that’s the players, the quarterback, where we can clean up some of our operation. But I thought communication was really good throughout the day with him. And then like you mentioned, the big plays down the field, obviously that first one to I.B. (Isaiah Bond) was very high degree of difficulty with that play. Are there things that he can do better? Absolutely. We’ve already talked about that with him. He has the mentality that he will make the adjustments to the speed of the game, make the adjustments to what people are giving us, to make those improvements.”

 

Hey, Kevin, Shedeur talked about how he didn’t – it took him a while to get adjusted to not being the starter. That was a role that he was not used to. Could you see him get so much more comfortable last week when he was back in that role? 

“Without a doubt. I think, again, there’s such an adjustment for players coming out of college, regardless of position. But think about when you started your whole life in high school and college and then there is that transition and that comes for everybody. But the message we always have around here is you have to stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready. And the life of a backup player, whether quarterback or otherwise, it’s a grind. You really got to work when nobody’s watching and those types of things. Now, once you do get that into that starter role, that’s when the reps come, that’s when the game plan is really built around your comfort level and those types of things. So, it’s only natural that players in that position feel more comfortable. And that’s our job as coaches to continue to tweak and adjust and make sure that we’re leaning into what our players do best.”

 

And how did you see him make a jump in handling pressure/blitzes yesterday from that (Baltimore) Ravens game? 

“Well, obviously, like we talked about, made a big play versus an all-out pressure. That’s going to be something that you always have to anticipate. Defensive coordinators blitz young quarterbacks. It’s just what they do. And we have to look at that as an opportunity certainly in the pass game to make big plays. So that’s a focus for us moving forward.”

 

Hey Kevin, I want to ask you about Jerry Jeudy. Were you pleased with his effort yesterday? Looked to me like he really slowed down before he fumbled that ball. 

“I think he was setting the player in front of him up to make a move there, Jeff (Schudel). He will be better. That’s really a play that we expect him to make. That’s a huge play for our football team. We were about to get seven points, if not three on that drive and that’s a big play for us, and Jerry knows this. And, you know, we remind him and remind our players. It’s always the guy that you can’t see that they’re coming. So, I don’t think it was a loaf. It was a lack of ball security technique.” 

 

And then just to follow that, though, when we talked to him on Wednesday, he was very short with his answers. I know that’s not a big part for you, but his interview lasted less than two minutes. And it was like three- or four-word answers. So, is anything bothering him? 

“No, I think Jerry’s got the right attitude. He wants to win. Obviously, when you’re not winning, that certainly can affect your mood, if you can imagine, but he’s focused on winning.”

 

Hey, Kevin, I guess is there any point with Myles (Garrett)? Is there anything he can do that would surprise you? And, like, Joel (Bitonio) was even joking, three sacks is kind of a down day for him at this point. 

“Yeah, like I talked to you guys before, I would say watch Myles play the run. And listen, I get that sacks get a ton of attention, that’s our game. And, you know, everybody knows the stats and the records and all that thing, but, man, we focus on playing sound, hard football. And I think if you watch Myles play, watch him play the backside of the run in that game where they tried to put a jet sweep in front of him, he closed and made the tackle. I mean, those are high level plays. They don’t get the same attention that the sacks may get, but they’re as important to us as anything. It’s part of our DNA, just playing really hard. And you watch number 95 out there; he is playing really hard down in and down out.”

 

And then just looking at the interior guys on that line and, you know, the fact that you’re getting pressure from Maliek (Collins), Mason (Graham), Mike Hall, Shelby (Harris)…like, is this what you guys envisioned when Jim (Schwartz) got here and wanting that interior pressure? And how has that impacted Myles and really, like, enhanced his production, too? 

“I think whether it’s inside or outside or opposite of Myles or two Myles’ side, I think the relentless nature of which these guys are playing is our DNA. That’s how we play. So, what you’re seeing is our identity on display. And obviously, when you have a player like Myles, he’s going to get a lot of attention. Just watch that game or every game, the tight end is going to which side he’s on. The running back oftentimes will make his way over there. The slide may make its way to his side. So, it only presents opportunities for everybody else. And those are the effects of having a player of Myles’ caliber.”

 

All right, Kevin, I know at this point in the season, you probably don’t consider them rookies, but of all the rookies, seemed like nine of them had prominent games. I mean, all the touchdowns were, in effect, a combination of the rookies, the setup, the touchdowns. Can you just talk about that group, especially on the offensive side? 

“Sure. You know, like we’ve talked really all season long, Fred (Greetham), that these are players that we’re counting on. These are guys that we trust, and they’re wired the right way. And that’s the thing that I get to see on an everyday basis of how they approach their job, how they go to work, how they work on their craft, how they push each other. And then obviously, to make plays on Sundays is a result of all that work. So it’s fun for me as a coach to see the development of these young men with their coaches and how much work they’re putting into it, and then to be able to see that work and see the fruits of the labor, so to speak, on Sunday is a testament to what these guys are doing in this building throughout the season.”

 

Hey, Kevin, I know you talked about Dylan Sampson and his day last night, but what have you seen from him? I know all of the rookies have kind of stood out, but Dylan Sampson feels like a guy that’s kind of waited and worked for his opportunity. What have you seen in regard to him taking advantage of the opportunity when it was presented to him? 

“He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do, Cam (Camryn Justice), going back to the second he was here. We’ve had him do a variety of jobs on offense. He’s now a kick returner for us, so he will really do whatever we ask him to do. He’s always ready. I think we can definitely do a better job of getting him involved early and often with Quinshon (Judkins). We just feel like there’s a lot of opportunities for all these players, and he’s definitely earned a role like that.”

 

I know we kind of only talk about the kicker in misses, but Andre Szmyt has seemed to really have a resurgence after some of those early season struggles. What have you seen from him in terms of bouncing back from some of those things early and being able to be consistent for you guys? 

“Yeah, I think that’s the word, Cam, is consistent, and I think he’s displayed that in games, and I get to see it in practice. I think he’s performed really well in practice. I think he’s got the right mentality; he’s wired the right way. Somebody that we trust to come through for us when called upon.”

 

I just want to do like a little injury roundup and follow up to your stuff. Is IR a possibility for Brenden or Adin Huntington? 

“I’d say possibility, but not sure where that lands.”

 

All right. And then there was a moment when Quinshon got kind of banged up, went to the injury tent. It looked like the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant was in there. Then he tried to come back in. He was taken out. Can you provide some clarity on just what happened there? And was he officially checked and clear for a concussion? 

“Yeah, both times, I think he came out the first time because he fell on the ball. And then they called the independent, doc called from up top, brought him out, checked him, and he was good to go and was cleared again this morning. So, he’s good to go.”

 

Yeah, Kevin, just wondering if this is sort of a week-to-week thing that you’re doing with the quarterbacks now that Dillon has cleared the concussion protocol. Are you just going to watch and see if Shedeur can build on what he did when he plays against the (San Francisco) 49ers and just kind of go from there? 

“Yeah, I’m just going to focus on this week, Mary Kay (Cabot), not going to get much past this week.”

 

Yeah, Kevin, just wondering, it seemed to me, and I still have to watch the game over again another time, but one thing that stood out to me about Shedeur was that he was really tough in the face of the rush. I mean, he had, you know, Maxx Crosby and another guy bearing down on him on the Bond play. And there were other ones where he just, he didn’t flinch. I mean, he just got the ball off when he was just about to be drilled. So, what did he show you about his toughness in that regard? 

“Yeah, I mean, obviously I have no questions about his toughness. That was part of watching the tape, evaluating him, you know, how tough Shedeur is. So, I think the protection, by and large, was good. You know, we took one sack, which was really a coverage sack early in the game. But there’s definitely room for improvement with Shedeur versus the pressures and the movement. There’s definitely room for improvement with how we structure it. So that’s what when I talked earlier about things that we can improve upon. There’s always going to be things that we point out as coaches that we can get better at, but the ability to move within the pocket, withstand against pressure for a young quarterback is always going to be a big point of emphasis.”

 

Did he move about how you thought he would, or did he maybe even exceed your expectations a little bit in the QB movement realm? 

“I think that’s a strength of his Mary Kay, his ability to move and play off schedule. So that’s something, again, that we saw evaluating Shedeur throughout the process.”

 

All right, I’m gonna try to sneak another two for one in here. It looked like there were two occasions where Shedeur tried to attempt some deep passes. One more one was to Jerry. Another one was to Ced (Cedric Tillman) on third down. And it looked like they kind of stopped running in the middle of the route. Just would you characterize that as a miscommunication or what’s kind of the teaching point there? And then why did you decide to punt late in the game? I think it was from the 29, the Raiders 29. Why did you decide to punt instead of kick the field goal? 

“Yeah, the first part of the question. We need to be better. Obviously, we weren’t on the same page and that’s in those third downs, we have to be on the second one. Could have gone for it, could have attempted a field goal, but just felt like with where the game was, just wanted to be conservative there and make sure that game ended shortly thereafter.”

 

All right, and this is the last one from Scott (Petrak), but I’m going to read it to help him with some of his tech issues. He wanted to ask if that was Mason’s (Graham) best game and what did you like about it? 

“Yeah, I thought Mason was very, very disruptive, very active both in the run and the pass. I mean, the entire defensive line obviously was assaulting the pocket throughout the game, but Mason continues to be a player that is harassing the quarterback, is around the ball, is making plays in the run game. So, I do think again, another young player that, like we’ve talked about all season long, these young players get better, they improve. And it’s not just because the calendar is changing, it’s because they’re putting the work in. So, I definitely put Mason in that group of players as well.”

 

 

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