Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (9.16.22)
Opening statement:
“A good end of the week there. Excited about the challenge playing against the Jets coming into town. A bunch of playmakers on that team – offense, defense and special teams. I know they are well coached. We have to be about our business, and it is going to be a 60-minute effort. We are excited. We are excited about getting in front of our fans and getting down on the lake. We expect the crowd to be raucous. We are looking forward to that down there Sunday at 1 p.m.”
On if the Browns’ plan for evaluating T Jack Conklin this week is the same as last week:
“Yeah, same plan. Exactly. I think he is really, really close. We will let the next 48 hours determine where we go.”
On how playing next week on Thursday night impact may impact the decision of whether or not Conklin plays this week:
“I think when he is ready, he is going to play is probably the simplest way to put it.”
On if T Chris Hubbard was ruled out of this week’s game due to illness, given Hubbard has also previously been listed on the injury report with an elbow injury:
“Yes. Correct.”
On not seeing LB Tony Fields II or DT Perrion Winfrey on the field during the period of practice open to media:
“Tony was out there. He was excused. Perrion was disciplined.”
On if he will share more details on Winfrey’s discipline and the reason for it:
“No.”
On if Winfrey will play Sunday:
“Not going to get into any more detail.”
On T James Hudson’s performance last week, expectations for Hudson this week if Conklin is unavailable and if Hudson’s performance gives the team more time for Conklin to return:
“I think we will see. Kind of independent of each other. When Jack is ready, he will be out there. James acquitted himself well in that Game 1. He was good in the run game. He was good in his pass pro. When he had one on ones, he was pretty good. Plays with effort. Plays physical. He did a nice job.”
On covering situational-football scenarios with the team on Friday mornings and if that occurs in practice or the meeting rooms:
“It is more in the meeting room. We have an around the league tape that (player development coordinator) Carson Walch puts together and does a really nice job and watches every snap of every game. It is just for us to learn situational awareness together. It is a big thing that we talk about. It is one thing for me to know the situation or one player, but it really has to be everybody – players and coaches, everybody has to know what is going on. We try to spend time Friday mornings going around the league and learning from the various two-minute and four-minute situations that come up.”
On if Winfrey’s discipline will end with Sunday’s game against the Jets:
“I am not going to get into the details.”
On the Browns allowing Browns Legend T Joe Thomas to be around the team and serve as a resource:
“I am a huge fan of Joe the person. Unbelievable player. Future Hall of Famer. For us not to use someone like that, we would be crazy. I have told him I will put an office in here for him when he is ready. The guys enjoy being around him. He has the cred obviously just from being a great player, but he knows the game and he knows the position so I think he is ultra-helpful to those guys.”
On what Thomas said about having an office waiting for him at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus:
“He loves where he lives too much (laughter).
On if he has ever talked to DE Myles Garrett about journaling:
“I have talked to him about a lot of things. I do not know specifically that, but I think that is the thing with Myles we have talked about is he has a lot of interests outside of football. He also loves football. You can do both. He is a great example of somebody who loves football, loves his craft, works at his craft and also has a lot of things outside of football that he also loves.”
On if Garrett’s mindset and perspective on individual success has shifted over the years, given Garrett more recently has talked specifically about how winning is the main priority and individual statistics come second:
“I do not know about the shift, but we have definitely talked about those type of things. Really, my thing with all of our players is I want them to have individual success and we want them to set records at their position and whatever it is, but team success comes first. I think Myles understands that. I think he understands this is the ultimate team game. It takes all 11 on defense, all 11 on offense and all 11 on special teams. He understands the role he plays in that.”
On NY Jets QB Joe Flacco at this point in his career:
“I think he is still a great player. He can make every throw. He still has unbelievable arm talent. He makes great decisions. He sees it very clearly. I think you have a pro who is really, really physically gifted.”
On if there is more of an emphasis to get TE David Njoku the football this week:
“I think the emphasis, like we just talked about team game, we are going to try to win first. Then certainly Dave is a big part of our offense. He was a big part of us having any success on Sunday was tied directly a lot of times to No. 85 and what he was doing. The opportunities in the pass game will certainly come, but most importantly, he is about trying to help this team win.”
On if the Browns will continue to rotate CBs as was done in Week 1:
“I think we are just trying to be mindful of some of the guys who did not play a ton in the preseason and then you got a Thursday night game coming up. That is something that we talked about. May do it in this game, may not.”
On if any Browns CBs have pushed back on the decision to rotate, given many CBs play every or most defensive snaps in a game:
“I think the guys understand what I am trying to do when we do that.”
On how RB Demetric Felton Jr. has done returning punts in practice this week and if the team is sticking with Felton at punt returner:
“Yeah, Demetric did a nice job. Have a lot of trust in him.”
On being a fan of Brownie the Elf and his thoughts about the midfield logo:
“Not my area of expertise (laughter). Great decision, whoever’s decision it was. Are the fans happy about it? (Media: The fans voted for it.) Then I am happy about it. Sounds good.”
On if he is the guy that made Brownie the Elf cool again:
“I do not know about that (laughter).”
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