HC Kevin Stefanski (8.25.20)
Head Coach Kevin Stefanski:
Opening statement:
“I know you all saw the news on (S) Grant Delpit. Very disappointed for Grant. He is disappointed, but I think he has the right mindset to bounce back. Unfortunate to see that, but we are fully supporting him, and then we will make sure that he attacks his rehab.”
On WR Jarvis Landry leaving practice early:
“No update. Jarvis is getting his work in. When he goes off, he is still getting work with our group inside.”
On how to keep everyone’s spirits up when injuries start to accumulate:
“We care about our teammates. We care about these guys. We do not like to see that. Injuries are part of this game. They have happened for a very long time. They will continue to be part of this game. As much as you hate to hear it, it is next man up. They have heard it from me. They have heard it from every coach going back to Pee Wee. I think they know the message that we have a lot of work to, do and we have work to be done. We hate to lose those guys, but we have to get back to that work.”
On if the Browns will plan certain days in practice to be simulated games or if the team spreads those situations out through drills and situations:
“I think we are going to continue to add drills and add situations to practice. I will say that our practices that we have planned for the stadium will kind of be placeholders for where games maybe were in the past so we will do even more scrimmage-like work. We are still practicing and you will still see an individual period, but you will see a lot of situational work when we get to those practices.”
On how the Browns can overcome the mental impact of losing players to injuries:
“I think we have a resilient bunch. I think that they have all been on teams throughout their lives where injuries occur. It does not make us like it. I feel awful for guys that have long-term injuries. Then other guys, you are going to get nicked up, you push through it, you get your treatment and you are back out there. I do not worry about the mentality though of our team.”
On if CB Greedy Williams will miss a significant amount of time with the shoulder injury:
“I would say we will see. Still evaluating.”
On how multiple injuries within a position group affect practice:
“As a staff, we talk about what we need to practice and then we may adjust a period or two to make sure that we do not run the guys that are practicing into the ground. We just have to be so mindful of that and how we structure practice.”
On if the Browns and Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry will consider signing players who may have potential character questions or if the team will only consider ‘green check’ players, given the culture and chemistry the team wants to create in the locker room:
“I would not speculate necessarily. I would just tell you with Andrew and his staff, we talk about a lot of players. It is a case-by-case basis on every position player that we discuss.”
On if the Browns would be interested in signing free agent S Earl Thomas, in reference to the previous question:
“I would leave that in Andrew’s court.”
On his dad, Pistons Senior Advisor Ed Stefanski, being in Austin, Texas when he visited QB Baker Mayfield in February:
“That was a very strange coincidence. I called my dad, and I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ He goes, ‘I am packing a bag. I am heading to Austin tomorrow.’ I said, ‘You are kidding me.’ I am calling him to tell him I am heading to Austin tomorrow. We found out we were staying in the same exact hotel. It goes to show how much we talk to each other (laughter). It was very strange. I got there, and he was there. We made sure that we met up. Saw him after dinner and hung out a little bit for the next day. A very, very strange coincidence.”
On if his dad went with him to see Mayfield and his family:
“No, he of course found out where I was having dinner and could not help himself so he came over to say hi.”
On if it was just Mayfield and him at the dinner or if their families were also in attendance:
“Just the two [of us]. He could not help himself (laughter).”
On evaluating the team at this point in training camp:
“I would say we are 10 days into it, 10 practices into it. You hit these rhythms and these beats of training camp. You get hot days out there like it was today and yesterday, you get a day off then you tell the guys, ‘Hey, we are right back out here after the off day in pads for another hard one.’ There is an element of the dog days of training, which everybody knows what that feels like and what that looks like. We just have to push through it. We are where we need to be from an installation standpoint. Guys are pushing through and getting into football shape as it may come in these next few weeks. I can’t peg it necessarily, but I can just tell you that we are kind of hitting all the mileposts.”
On his sense of WR Odell Beckham Jr’s mindset and how their relationship has evolved:
“He has been great. He is very communicative. We text a lot. He makes sure that we are talking about different plays that he likes. He is all in on ball. He is a veteran. He has kind of seen it all so he has some great insights. He pushes out there. You know he is out there because you hear him, and he has great juice out there on the field and enthusiasm for this. Really appreciate what he brings to the practice field.”
On TE Harrison Bryant:
“He is a very locked-in young man. He is on top of his assignments. He plays with great effort. Very pleased with where he is. He has a ton of work to do. Everything that he is doing is happening for the first time for him, but pleased with his progression.”
On if it is hard to catch up on time missed due to changes to Sunday’s practice:
“We looked at that, and like you said, we just have to catch up that time that we missed. Just some minor adjustments over the next few days, and I think we will catch up.”
On if the Browns planned to do live tackling during Sunday’s practice and if that is something the team still plans to do at some point in training camp:
“It is. We are trying to make sure that we are getting our work in safely. Even some of the drills we did there, we will do ball security drills and we will do tackling drills that are thud and are not necessarily live but are just getting used to setting our pads. It is something that we will continue as we progress into this.”
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