HC Kevin Stefanski (10.15.23)
Opening Statement:
“Well. Just proud of that team. Just proud of the fight. We knew what we were in for. We knew the challenge. I told you guys all week. We knew how good that team is. I have a ton of respect for Coach Shanahan, all his coaches, that team, that’s a good football team. And the truth is, we’re a good football team. We’re not perfect, we know that, but we fought like crazy today and I’m just proud of so many guys. I thought the coaches put together a great game plan. Obviously, the guys out there battling their butts off, but awesome to do it in front of our fans. They were incredible today. We get such a shot in the arm from their energy and I felt them when were on defense, obviously. I think that made life hard on their offense, but really, just proud of this football team. With that, I’ll take any questions.”
How did you think P.J. (Walker) played?
“I felt proud of him. He battled. He’s going to tell you he wishes he had a couple of plays back like all quarterbacks do. That’s kind of what we talk about. We’re striving for perfection, but it’s hard to attain it. But he made some throws, he made some plays, he ran the show. So that’s what he does. He’s a battler. He’s a tough kid.”
What was the key, Kevin, to the way you guys ran the ball so successfully?
“Yeah, I thought, you know, I give credit to Coach (Bill) Callahan. I thought he put together a great game plan and then the guys executed. We had guys up front, Michael Dunn comes to mind – talk about battler. He’s hobbled, he’s given us everything he has, and that’s indicative of the football team. But really, the plan was put together well by the coaches and then executed.”
The defense, Kevin, obviously, San Francisco came in scoring a ton of points. What did you see out of them that you were able to keep that in control?
“Yeah. I mean, Coach (Jim) Schwartz and the defensive staff were outstanding all week, really. I go back to our Wednesday practice. I told the team after practice, I said, if you measure a practice by how it sounds, we had the best practice of our season because the energy was off the charts and it was led by the defense. It’s led by Ogbo (Okoronkwo) and Z (Za’Darius Smith) and Dalvin (Tomlinson) and Juan (Thornhill) and all those guys – JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) you name them, they brought the energy all week. They were so excited for this challenge and I thought Coach [Schwartz] put those guys in position to go make plays.”
Can you just talk about the way you kind of mentioned but, I mean, you guys were the underdogs at home. You call up your practice squad quarterback to come in and play the game. It just seemed like everything was against you – Joel Bitonio doesn’t play.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s football, Mary Kay (Cabot). I don’t pay much attention to what the outside feels about a game. You know I’m aware of the lines. I’m aware of whether we’re a favorite or an underdog, those type of things. But I know the team we have. I felt good about this one. I’m pessimistic by nature, excuse me, I’m optimistic by nature, but I felt good about this one. And again, like I told the team all week, we’re not perfect but we’re going to fight like crazy. And I thought they did today.”
You talked about fighting. What about the pregame?
“Yeah, I didn’t mean that, Tony (Grossi) [laughing].”
It seemed like they had a chip on their shoulder the whole game.
“We had it going into the game. It wasn’t bad. I mean, we don’t want that. That’s not something that we’re looking to do, try to get in the middle of it, get the guys out of there. But it’s football. Emotions run high.”
Was there any worry that there was going to be a penalty or anything from that?
“Yes, of course, you’re thinking about that. But maybe I’ll get a phone call tomorrow.”
Kevin, because you won, you can laugh about it but the pass in the end zone just before the field goal. What were you thinking? What was he thinking?
“Well, again, P.J. (Walker), he played great today. He ran around like crazy. He was running the show. He knew he was not supposed to throw that ball. He knew it right away, but that kid, he’s a fighter. And I don’t know if you guys know this, but Kevin Rogers on our staff, K. Roger, recruited P.J. coming out of high school and was part of the staff that got him to go to Temple. K. Rogers sat in that kid’s living room. He’s been with his family, he knows what that kid’s about and he’s told me about him. So, I knew what P.J. was about coming into this, when he came onto our team. And then I just figured that kid’s been fighting for everything his whole life, his whole career and that’s kind of what we needed this week.”
How about Kevin? I mean, Dustin Hopkins? Can you talk about the way he came in?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s huge. And we went backward there for, I think the last one and made him kick a harder one or whatever it was – second to last one. But credit to AB (Andrew Berry) for getting Dustin here. Really felt like we needed a guy and we’re excited we have him.”
And what were you thinking after M.J. Emerson got flagged there?
“Listen, we knew that it was going to be tough – the way were going to play and the skill players that they have, we were going to have to fight like crazy on defense, literally just fighting through picks and bunches and those type of things. I thought the DB’s stepped up again, just battled like crazy”
Coach, it seemed like Kareem Hunt had a little bit more, as we call it, giddy up. Did you notice that as well? Do you think that’s a good sign going forward in the season?
“I do. And I think we’ve talked about Kareem getting back into football shape and he’s there or he’s getting there. He hadn’t been tackled in a while, but felt like we wanted to get him going early so started him in this game and got him a screen early, but I can’t say enough about Kareem and Jerome (Ford). Those guys are running hard, hitting it. It’s not always pretty, but I’m really proud of those guys.”
Kevin, did you kind of envision what you guys would need the blueprint to win this game?
“What was the final score?”
19-17.
“Yeah, that’s about what I thought, really.”
Would be a boost to get Deshaun Watson back this week. With the way you guys are playing defensively, do you have any update on where that stands? Do you expect him to practice?
“I don’t have an update. As you know, we’re taking that one day-to-day, being smart. He’s doing a great job. He’s an awesome teammate today, supporting his guys. He was awesome all week with P.J. (Walker), making sure he was in tune with the game plan. He was another voice in there all week, so we’ll see how it goes. Obviously, he’s fighting like crazy to get back out there, but we’ll be smart about it.”
Kevin, the way Jim (Schwartz) has played (Kyle) Shanahan, did you learn something about defending that defense all week long from him?
“Yeah, a little bit. It’s interesting how many similarities there are between the two defenses, and then we go against that defense all spring and summer, and we’ve obviously gone against Coach Schwartz in the past. So that certainly informs you when you put together a game plan.”
Kevin, you mentioned JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) and his energy?
“Name everybody, name every defense player.”
But it looked like he (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) was all over the field making a couple of big plays for you.
“Yeah, he’s playing strong. He’s playing fast. He’s a heat-seeking missile to that football when he sees it. he’s playing on a high level for us.”
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