HC Kevin Stefanski (9.29.23)
Opening statement:
“Okay. Excited for the opportunity. Going to be a beautiful day down there on the lake. Can’t wait to see our fans. Can’t wait to hear our fans in the building on Sunday. Really good football team in the Ravens. We know what they’re about. Well-coached, good schemes, all three sides of the ball. So have our work cut out for us, but excited for the challenge. With that. I’ll take any questions.”
Do you expect Deshaun (Watson) to play Sunday?
“I’m hopeful.”
Was he able to throw after we left practice?
“Light throwing. Light.
Was it much worse than you guys may have thought it was after the game?
“Yeah, I think with any injury, I think you’re best served treating them day by day, and that’s just what we’re doing.”
Kevin, it looked like he was wearing something, a brace or something on that shoulder. Is that correct?
“He’ll have something there. Yes.”
Does it stem from the one hit in the red zone, or was this like an accumulation?
“Yeah, I think it was the one play in the red zone. Yes.”
If DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) has to start this game based on what you’ve seen every day in practice and in preseason, how would you feel?
“Yeah, all of our backups have to be ready to play. It’s just the life of a backup. Quarterback backup, linebacker backup anything. You have to prepare yourself to play. And he’s prepared just like everybody else. You got to be ready to play.”
Obviously, running is part of Deshaun’s game. Will he have to tail that back given the injury or given the fact that he just got hurt doing that?
“Yeah, I think you have to be smart. You look around the league, you always have to protect yourself when you can. And I think we’ve talked about that before, and I know around the league you see players that make a ton of plays with their feet, and then you protect yourself. And Deshaun’s done that over the course of his career. So he will always play his style, but you always have to be smart as well.”
If DTR does play, I mean, you basically can run your full playbook and do most of the things that Deshaun can do, right?
“I think with any backup, Mary Kay (Cabot), you really want to make sure that they’re prepared to run the game plan as it is. And it’s [the] coaches’ job to put the game plan together and then call it accordingly. But your backup quarterback is ready to execute your game plan.”
What about the fact that Watson just never misses games with injury? He’s one of those warrior guys, and you talked about his toughness after the last game. I’m guessing that he’ll do anything he possibly can to get out there?
“He will. And he’s been taking care of his body. He knows his body. So that’s why I’m hopeful.”
Was he able to take reps at the ones during the week?
“Yes.”
When you go into a big game like this with that little bit of uncertainty, what’s the mindset? What’s the approach? Kind of not knowing if your starting quarterback is going to be able to play.
“Yeah, I think, again, it goes back to that day-to-day mantra that we have. And you worry about today and then you worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I thought we had a good week of practice. Was really crisp out there today, which I’m pleased with.”
Do you know if this is the kind of injury that could linger?
“I don’t.”
Can you say what exactly is wrong with him?
“Do I have to? What do they do in hockey?”
Can it be more specific?
“Whatever it says on the injury report. I’ll go with that.”
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