HC Kevin Stefanski (10.29.20)
Head Coach Kevin Stefanski:
On if DE Myles Garrett will practice today:
“He is not going to practice today. We are outside so just want to be cautious. He will get some work done inside.”
On if Garrett tweaked his ankle on Sunday:
“Exactly, nothing more than that.”
On if he expects Garrett to practice tomorrow:
“I do.”
On if any Browns players will return to practice today:
“(C) JC (Tretter) will be out there. Not sure how much he will be doing.”
On G Wyatt Teller’s status for Sunday:
“I would say it is doubtful.”
On if WR Jarvis Landry will put more pressure on himself with WR Odell Beckham Jr. out:
“I do not think so. He is a veteran. He has been around this game for a while. He understands the work that he puts in to get ready for Sunday. He understands his role as a leader. I do not see any additional pressure, no.”
On if Beckham’s injury has had any lingering effects on Landry:
“No. Obviously, I think he wants his friend and wants his teammate out there, but he understands what needs to be done.”
On Raiders QB Derek Carr’s low interception numbers this season:
“He does push the ball down the field, but he is extremely accurate. When he is throwing it into windows, he can throw into tight windows with his accuracy. Ultimately, it is so much a product of decision making, and he is making very good decisions with the ball.”
On S Andrew Sendejo’s performance and if Sendejo is ‘getting more grief than he deserves’:
“I can’t speak to the grief he is getting. We grade all of our players every week, and he is a player that has some good plays and has some bad plays, and you can really chalk that up to every single one of our players. He has done a nice job for us in the meeting rooms and on the practice field. He provides leadership. To say that any defensive back is not going to miss a play, I do not think is accurate.”
On Raiders TE Darren Waller:
“I see a very rare combination of size and speed. He at time looks like a wide receiver, a very good one at that, and at time he looks like a tight end blocking people, and a good one at that. There is versatility there.”
On how Waller helps open up the Raiders’ outside receivers:
“With anything, that goes together – the outside and the inside, whether you are talking about a slot receiver or a tight end. When you can be a threat on the inside it really takes the defense’s attention towards you. If that is the case, there is safety that is helping on the inside and he can’t help on the outside.”
On the significance of the ‘Stay in the Game’ t-shirt coaches and players are wearing today:
“The message behind it is we want to make sure your kids are in school. There is a problem with absenteeism. We want to make sure that we are encouraging the kids and we are encouraging the schools to make sure that those kids are staying in school. We know how important that is for them to be in there day to day. There are just too many examples of when kids are not in school so we are really trying to encourage them to make sure that they are taking advantage of the education that is available to them.”
On how many of the Browns defense’s preseason objectives have been achieved thus far and if that has been complicated by injuries:
“I would say we are in the first year of systems on both sides so I do not think either side of the ball, offense or defense, is where we ultimately want to be. Obviously, special teams plays a huge factor into this. (Special teams coordinator) Coach (Mike) Priefer still being here, that system was remaining the same. I think we are getting there. I do think we put such an emphasis on taking the ball away, and to be able to do it how we have this first seven games in, we have to make sure that we continue to do that because that is part of our DNA.”
On how giving WR Rashard Higgins a clean slate to start the season has helped Higgins and his first impressions of Higgins:
“I gave everybody a clean slate. Since the moment he has been with us, whether on Zoom calls back in the spring or out here on the practice field when we finally got together at training camp, he does his job. It is somewhat as simple as that. He does his job, and he makes sure whatever the team needs, he is going to do”
On if Higgins goes above and beyond in practice:
“He does do a nice job. We have the mile per hour numbers on all the guys and the yardage that they go based on GPS. He is one of those guys that can just run all day, and I do appreciate that about him.”
On how impressive DE Myles Garrett has been this month when named AFC Defensive Player of the Month and how Garrett has increased takeaway production year:
“He has been a game-changer. He has changed the game many times this season. That is those sack fumbles – he has four – that is changing the game. It is changing the outcome of games. He knows that we are counting on, he is a great football player, and we are going to need him for the rest of this season to continue to apply pressure to the Q, get the ball out. He is the straw that stirs the drink there.”
On having another WR pass against the Bengals and if there is an element of fun to calling those types of plays:
“Yeah, I think there is an element of fun there. I think it gets our players’ attention in practice, which is sometimes hard to do. When you install those plays early on a Wednesday morning, they kind of perk up and sit up in their chair. Not going to say we are doing it every game. Maybe we will. I think it just adds another element that the defense has to get ready for.”
On if Landry’s pitch to RB Kareem Hunt was a designed option play:
“It was. You are going to call some of those and you are going to hope for a look, and sometimes you do not get exactly what you want. The outcome was we retained possession of the ball, which is important. We do not anticipate that every single time we do something outside the box that it is going to be a big hit. We are just going to keep testing the limits and thinking outside the box, and again, just try to make ourselves tough to defend.”
On his level of concern with the team’s points allowed:
“We look at it every week. We pull this thing apart. We are almost eight games into this thing, and we will really do a deep dive when you get there eight games in. There are areas that we absolutely want to improve. Obviously, starting with scoring points and not allowing points, it makes sense to me to start there. I think we are going to really drill into what we can do better in a bunch of areas that contribute maybe to the points scored and points allowed.”
On how quickly the Browns need to pivot off the Raiders game to focus on the trade deadline:
“I think that is why (Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager) Andrew Berry and his staff do a great job. They are not waiting until the deadline to think about this. They are constantly talking, and they have a plan. We will just make sure that we stay in communication. I know Andrew is going to do what is best for the team.”
On his Bengals postgame speech to the team when he said he would take care of the team during the bye week and if it is harder to take care of players on a bye week this year than in past years, given COVID-19 protocols will not permit them to go out of town:
“That is unique. Guys are testing every day during the bye. There are rules based on what you can and can’t do during that week, which are the same for every team. I think more than anything, the guys understand that there is a very, very big challenge in front of us with the Las Vegas Raiders and that is first and foremost. They need to get our best shot. This is a good team coming in here so anything that happens after that, that will get our focus, but not before the Raiders get our focus.”
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