HC Kevin Stefanski (8.11.23)

Opening Statement:

“I like how those guys fought to the end. You know, the weather delay, the conditions on the field, I thought was good for us to get that work in. Ultimately coming up short. So anytime they’re keeping score, we want to win these games. So that’s the disappointment. But I thought we saw some really good things, a lot of coachable things, a lot of teachable things. And then we’ll have a great test going into next week, practicing against the Eagles a couple of days next week and then playing them Thursday night. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”

 

What did you think about Deshaun and his one series?

“You know, so much of the focus for us was just operation and getting us in and out and having a good tempo. So, I thought all that was really good. I thought he saw the field really well, made plays with his feet. He was doing a nice job as an operator, and that was really the goal. Get them through the pregame warm up, get them out of the huddle, get them through the first series there. And I thought he did a nice job.”

 

Kevin, obviously you were comfortable with the surface. Was there a thought to maybe not start starters after the delay? 

“Yeah, the surface wasn’t a concern other than good for us to get some work in some wet conditions. If the delay had gone longer – definitely talked about that. We discussed it as a group. Felt confident that with the proper warm up back out there, that everybody could play safely.”

 

Is there any concern about Cade York after another missed field goal? 

“No, I think Cade’s going to, like every young player, going to continue to learn and grow from all these experiences, so no.”

 

On Deshaun (Watson), would you prefer that you save his running for the regular season and not risk it? 

“No, I think when you’re playing this position and when you’re playing these games, you can’t play timid. You really have to be true to it, because otherwise you’ll probably get yourself in a tough spot. So that’s how he’s been playing his whole life.”

 

What did you think of Elijah Moore? And how relieved were you that his ribs weren’t broken? 

“Yeah, wanted to get Elijah the ball early, obviously, and do it in a couple different ways and you know it’s stuff I see in practice every day. So excited to get him out there in front of our fans.”

 

Do you think he’ll be able to practice? 

“We’ll see.”

 

Do you know how he got hurt? 

“I don’t, yeah. I do not.”

 

What did you see out of Za’Darius (Smith)? Obviously the big safety, but seemed pretty active in those first couple series. 

“Yeah, I thought it was important for Z and Dalvin (Tomlinson) to get some reps in this scheme, and I thought he came off the ball and was physical, obviously. Big play down there when we had him backed up but continuing to really just take the practice field to this game field.”

 

Kevin, obviously you believe in Cade (York). Is there any thought about bringing in another kicker, though, to at least bring him competition? 

“No, and I think Cade is working his craft like all young players do, so very confident in him.”

 

Do you know how bad Jacob (Phillips) and AJ’s (Green III) shoulders are? 

“I do not. I don’t”

 

How about Josh (Dobbs) and DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) and how those guys did? It seemed like DTR had another spark.

“You know, you want to score points. So, we did that finally in the second half with Dorian and with Kellen there. The focus is constantly going to be on – are we taking our team down to get points? So, I thought there were some really good moments from all four of the quarterbacks. We gave them the ball a couple of times on offense, which is no bueno, but I thought those guys had some good moments.”

 

It’s three weeks tomorrow, do you think, Deshaun (Watson) and this offense are where you wanted (them) to be or kind of expected to be at this point? 

“What’s three weeks tomorrow?”

 

Since camp started. 

“You know I just got done telling the team, Zach, that we have a long way to go as a team, and now the good news is we’re going to keep our head down and just focus on the work. So we’re not there because we’re not supposed to be there yet. We got a lot of work to do.”

 

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