Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.20.25)
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, you know, excited coming off that win for this football team. A bunch of things that you love to see on the field and in particular, obviously, going plus four in the turnover margin was a very big deal. And then just how hard that football team played yesterday in all phases from minute one to minute 60, guys are flying around. So, we’re in here now watching the tape with the guys to make those necessary corrections. And then we’ll move on very quickly to New England. You know, big road game for us, so we’ll have to have a great week of practice. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Yeah Kevin, Joel (Bitonio) was telling us after the game about your sort of fiery, intense speech that you gave on Monday to sort of set the tone and get the offense rolling a little bit. Was this something that you don’t normally do? Is this different than your usual team meeting to set up a week?
“Joel’s not supposed to tell you that, Mary Kay (Cabot). Yeah, listen, there’s times when you message your football team – I should say this, I message the football team every single day. And there’s sometimes you use different tools to get their attention.”
And have you ever been that intense? The way he described it is that you gave it to them pretty good.
“The Philly comes out every once in a while. Yes.”
Hey, Kevin, did that feel like one of the better games that Grant (Delpit) has played? And just how does his versatility help you?
“He was awesome. I mean, there’s a lot of superlatives on the defense, Scott (Petrak), but man, Grant was flying around. That whole safety position. But again, I could go up and down the roster. But, yeah, Grant, playing at a really high level, a leader for us, just great on and off the field, but, man, he’s playing physical.”
And why did you give a ball, a game ball to Jim (Schwartz)? And don’t you have a dress code for…
“We do now. We do have a dress code now. That was, yeah. Well, the entire defense got a game ball, but I just wanted to point out, Jim, I thought it was a really smart plan and obviously very well executed.”
Hey, Kevin, I know you say you never look back, but how much easier is it to prepare for a game when you’re coming off one like that?
“Yeah, I think it’s just so important in this game of football that you have that same mentality every single week. And that’s something we talk about with our football team. You know, you don’t take last week with you – win, lose or draw. So, you know, obviously you celebrate those wins. But 24-hour rule is going to kick in here pretty soon, and you got to move on.”
What made the running game work as well as it did yesterday?
“Yeah, I think there’s still things we can definitely be better in the run game that we’re going to make sure we clean up. But I think, as you saw, when it’s blocked well, we have runners, plural, and obviously Quinshon (Judkins) yesterday, but we got guys that can run away from defenders, can break tackles, those types of things. So really pleased to see those guys be on point with everything in the run game.”
Kevin, do you believe when it comes to the running game that rushing attempts are sometimes more important than average yards per rush? Just having the attempts serves a purpose.
“Well, there’s the old adage of rush attempts, you know, plus completions. I think the bigger challenge, Tony (Grossi), to get those rush attempts is oftentimes when you have a lead, when you can get that lead and play to that lead, I think those rush attempts certainly factor in.”
Hey, Kevin, you talked yesterday about sort of installing the Wildcat on Thursday night. And so when you guys, when you’re sort of game planning for the weather, the way that it was going to be a factor this week, how much do you have to sort of scrap what you normally want to do conceptually on offense to account for those conditions of the same way that you know, utilize the Wildcat and sort of put that in there?
“Yeah, I think that’s just part of, you know, dealing with the elements of football. You know, sometimes you get to Friday and there’s a late scratch of a player and you got to get somebody ready to play. You know, there’s always constant adjustments that have to be made both during the weekend, during the game. And then with the weather, you have to get down there and see what it’s like. The second half was much different than the first half. The first half was difficult conditions, as you saw for both sides and the specialists. The long snapper to the holder to the kicker, that’s not easy in those conditions. So, I thought the guys really handled those well. And then obviously it became a different weather in the second half.”
And I was just going to ask if there was an update on Adin (Huntington) and then what the outlook sort of is for David Njoku this week?
“Yeah, Adin is in the concussion protocol and then Dave is really day to day.”
Hey, Kevin, what was it about Rayshawn Jenkins that you guys saw in this matchup that you thought he could be so effective in?
“Yeah, just, again, just different things. When you go into games thinking about matchups and how you want to deploy your players based on what they have done going into a game, so there’s certain personnel groupings that you want to match with your own personnel groupings. So that’s something I think that Jim and the defensive staff are constantly thinking about. And then Rayshawn’s always ready. He’s played meaningful snaps for us in all these ball games, plays meaningful snaps on special teams. So, I thought he played a really good football game yesterday.”
And then Tyson (Campbell) just chasing down (De’Von) Achane to save that touchdown yesterday, I guess, like, how aware were you of his speed? Obviously, he talked about being a former high school track star and everything, but just to see like the want to from a guy like that who just got in the building last week. How impressed were you?
“Yeah, that was legit speed on both sides. I haven’t seen the miles per hour yet, but those guys…Tyson, thank God he’s that fast because he was flying. But I really, you know, talk about Tyson’s speed, but, man, he plays physical, too. Just love how…and he’s a bigger corner, love how he throws his weight around, how he tackles. Yeah, I thought he was flying all over the field yesterday.”
Hey, Kevin, can you elaborate a little bit on how challenging it is to keep the cohesion and chemistry with an offensive line where you guys have dealt with the injuries you had, and you’ve had seven different starting offensive line iterations in seven games.
“Yeah, that’s just part of our job as coaches to get guys ready to play. And then obviously, what you do and how you install, how you meet, how you structure a game plan to maximize the ability to learn, knowing that there could be some guys in some different spots.”
Then how did you guys grade out Harold Fannin’s (Jr.) performance yesterday?
“Yeah, Harold was very good. You know, asked him to do a couple different things than he has done, but I thought he competed like crazy. That’s the one thing I would always point out with Harold is just how hard this kid plays. He competes in the run game when the ball’s in his hand, he’s hard to bring down. When the ball’s not in his hand, he’s running down to help his teammates find a block. So, he’s playing really hard for us.”
Yeah, Kevin, just wondering how tough will it be for you guys to go into New England and face a Mike Vrabel-coached team? Obviously, he knows you guys very well and I know the respect that you have for him. So, what might this be like?
“Yeah, it’s going to be a great challenge. Coach Vrabes is somebody that I admire in this profession, how he goes about his business. You know, he was very impactful for us while he was here, while we borrowed him for a bit. But they’re playing really good football and they’re talented on all three sides of the ball. They’re well coached. So, it’s going to be a great challenge for our football team.”
Kevin, there’s that one play where Carson (Schwesinger) kind of picked up Achane and brought him to the ground. I know you’ve talked about it, but what kind of a physical presence has Carson brought?
“Yeah, that’s right away, Scott, the ability to run and hit at that position is paramount. And he does both really well. I’d also just point out his ability to get us in and out of our defense. And I think there’s a…we talk about the nerve center of our defense being our linebackers and our safeties and when you have that green dot and you’re making the calls and you’re orchestrating, to be able to do that as a young player is very, very rare. So, in addition to his physicality and his play speed and how he’s doing that, I think just the ability to be the leader of the defense at such a young age or at such an early point in his career is very impressive.”
And with Mike Hall, with the bye coming up after this game. Will that affect whether or not he plays on this Sunday?
“Yeah, he’s getting better every single day. So, we’ll see how it goes throughout this week but really focused on this week more so than anything in the future.”
Hey, Kevin, you talked about a lot of them – Quinshon, Harold, Carson. With your rookie class, they’ve started off so strong. What is that more of a testament to the talent and what kind of a testament is that to your coaching staff as they got them developed and ready to make an impact so early?
“Yeah, I think we’ve talked about these guys, Cam (Justice), where it is…they are young, but they have the right attitude, these guys. So, you know, credit certainly goes to the players, and the assistant coaches have done an outstanding job of getting these guys ready to roll. But all these guys have the right attitude, which is such a big part of it.”
I got two questions. The first one is, Kevin, obviously, the passing game isn’t where you want it to be ultimately. So how do you go about growing a passing game with a rookie quarterback while still game planning a specific opponent and trying to win games?
“Yeah, I think bottom line, Tony (Grossi), is you go into every game with a plan to try to attack the defense and wherever you feel like they may be vulnerable. But we certainly want to grow in all aspects of our offensive attack, run game and pass game. And, you know, I think with a young quarterback, obviously practice is very important. So how we work here is real important. Wednesday through Friday, getting those reps. I think you can make strides, certainly in all the work you’re putting in.”
And the other question about Vrabel last year. Obviously, he was a very accomplished coach, and from the onset, you were very comfortable with having him in the building. Why were you so comfortable and not threatened at all that Vrabel could somehow end up with a permanent job here?
“Yeah, you know, Vrabes is a good friend. Wanted him around the building as much as we could get him last year. Like I told you guys when we brought him in, there’s only so many times you can go skiing. So, he was excited to get back to work. But, yeah, I think it’s. It’s just the friendship there, Tony, and somebody I trust.”
Yeah, I was gonna ask about the passing game as well, but I’ll try to kind of follow up on it here. What have you sort of learned about Dillon (Gabriel) over the past couple of games, the past three games, including yesterday, when you couldn’t really necessarily evaluate the passing game thoroughly in that kind of weather. But maybe what did you learn about him yesterday and in the previous two games that you guys think that you can build on moving forward?
“Yeah, I think with all of our young players, Mary Kay (Cabot), we’re learning about them every day they’re in the building. Obviously, these games are important for them and putting them in different situations. So obviously, Dillon’s only three games into his career, and it’s had some unique challenges, but to be able to play clean and take care of the football for this football team and obviously get his first win as a starting quarterback yesterday, I thought was, you know, good for him. Obviously, that’s something that you always remember.”
And has the mobility been about what you expected it to be, just in terms of, you know, his speed at this level of football? I mean, is that going the way you expected it to and or are you finding it’s maybe even better than you perhaps thought it might be?
“Yeah, I think he’s. He’s done a nice job moving in the pocket. I thought the play to Jamari (Thrash) was really high level yesterday to break, contained to the left and have Jamari coming across the field – I think a 23-yard gain on third down. So those are the type of things that when you’re talking about scramble drill, it really does. It’s important for everybody to be on the same page. I thought it was good rep by both Dillon and Jamari yesterday.”
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