Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.31.22)
Opening statement:
“Great team effort. Very proud of the guys. I thought some really, really impressive individual efforts by a bunch of guys. I thought the guys had a great week of practice, pushed each other and pushed it to make it to the game, a few guys battling injuries. They just played really, really hard. Always things to clean up. Totally understand that. Just proud of that team and proud of their effort.”
On if he feels the Browns have turned the corner defensively:
“Played great football tonight and great defense tonight. Rush and coverage were really good. We just have to keep stacking them. We just have to – like anything offense, defense and special teams – give these guys a plan they can go execute, execute at a high level, play fast and those type of things. I thought that was on display tonight.”
On the Browns generating pressure on Bengals QB Joe Burrow tonight:
“I think a nice gameplan by (defensive coordinator) Joe (Woods) and the staff. I thought some of the things that they did really tested their protections and tested some of their line movement, if you will. Again, individual effort. (DE) Myles (Garrett) was very good.”
On if the Bengals losing three CBs due to injury changed the Browns defense’s play calling:
“No, we knew that they were down into their depth at corner. Just it was a three-score lead at a certain point, as well. Just trying to be smart.”
On Garrett setting the tone in tonight’s game:
“He does what No. 95 does. He was playing dominant out there. He is very difficult for people to block one on one. He gets a ton of attention, and when that happens, others are getting one on ones.”
On RB Nick Chubb’s effort tonight:
“You are the wordsmith – I can’t come up with the adjectives. He is a special player, a special person. Great leadership throughout the week. Runs so hard. Again, I think you can point out Nick, but I just think individual efforts across the board, just some of the guys up front that strained and the finish was really impressive.”
On the connection between QB Jacoby Brissett and WR Amari Cooper tonight:
“Amari was awesome. Jacoby was seeing it well. That is a good defense. That is a good rush. We at times tried to block it up. They did a nice job. Found Coop a few times. That catch there at the end was unbelievable. Coop is another guy – I know you are talking about Nick – but another pro’s pro. He shows up, gets his work done and leads by example.”
On if there is a different sense of resolve winning a division game tonight after a few challenging weeks:
“We really do put the blinders on. Whoever we play next is another big one. This is Monday Night Football, and to your point, it is a division opponent so obviously everybody is very excited for the matchup in front of our crowd, which by the way the crowd was outstanding tonight. They really made a difference. The games themselves, we just know how every single game is its own season.”
On if he would like the organization to keep RB Kareem Hunt, given reports about Hunt surrounding tomorrow’s trade deadline and Hunt’s performance tonight:
“As you can imagine, I don’t get into those type of things. I will tell you, Kareem had an unbelievable run today. He was dead to rights and jumped out of it – a huge first down. He fights like crazy. He is a great part of this team. These guys just whatever is in front of them they are fighting like crazy.”
On the Browns ‘keeping their foot on the gas’ in the second half:
“Our defense was playing at such a high level throughout. We are just trying on offense to complement what they were doing. To double dip at the end of the half to get the three points and then come back with a touchdown drive I think was a big part of that game. That only happens with complementary football.”
On being short-handed at TE this week and the number of T-eligible plays ran tonight:
“That was fun. We knew without Dave (TE David Njoku), other guys were going to have to step up – Harry (TE Harrison Bryant) and (TE) Pharaoh (Brown) for sure. Then felt that we could get big at times with (G) Michael (Dunn) and even (T) James Hudson (III). It is always really gameplan specific with what you do, but those guys gave us some really good reps.”
On Cooper throwing an interception on a trick play and if the offense decided to go ‘back to the basics’ after it:
“Obviously, when they don’t work, you ask for yourself why you called that. We have had trick plays work before. We are just trying to move the ball. They made a nice play. No. 55 (Bengals LB Logan Wilson) was on Amari. Amari said he was trying to throw it out of bounds. He didn’t realize how hard that is (laughter). It is what it is. Again, won’t stop us from trying to be aggressive in the future.”
On if it was intentional that the Browns looked to establish the run after the first turnover:
“It honestly becomes a rhythm of the game at times. Specifically, to that point, there were some things that we wanted to get going into the run game. Obviously, wanted to get Nick going, and I think we did. When you start hitting some of those plays, you stay on the field. A lot of times if you throw an interception or you don’t convert on third down, it is hard to get in a rhythm and get into those plays where your guys are touching the ball.”
On individual performances appearing contagious from one player to another on defense:
“(LB Sione) Takitaki was unbelievable. He was all over the field making tackles. I think you can go up and down the roster. When you get big wins like this and get great team wins, there are always individual efforts that you should point out and that we will point out, but ultimately, the way that these guys fight for each other in a team win is what matters.”
On the significance of the Browns’ takeaways and points off turnovers tonight:
“Awesome. We want to score touchdowns on all of those. Unfortunately, I think we had a penalty that brought us back and had a holding penalty after the first turnover, which was unfortunate. You have to turn those takeaways into points, and that is seven points preferably. That is always going to be our mindset. The more we get, the better. We did think there would be opportunities in this game based on some of the things we were doing, and they came to fruition.”
On what entering the bye week with a victory can do for the team after a few challenging weeks:
“I don’t know that we need to make grand statements, honestly. We came in, did what we were supposed to do and got a win. Then we will rest up and work on the next one.”
On tonight potentially being Brissett’s last start against a division opponent and if Brissett performed as expected:
“I don’t even go there. With Jacoby, as you know, he is the pro’s pro. He works really, really hard at his craft. He is a great leader. Played well tonight. We are going to be continuing to count on him. He is a big part of this team.”
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