Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.24.25)
Opening Statement:
“All right, great challenge in front of us. Very good football team, on the road, our conference. So, excited about that challenge. Have had a good week with meetings, practice, you name it. The guys have done a nice job. So, we’ll get on that airplane and then got to go play our best on Sunday. With that, I’ll take any questions.”
Kevin (Stefanski), Mike Hall (Jr.) isn’t listed on the injury report, does that mean he’s going to make his season debut?
“Yes.”
How excited are you to see him, and have you seen, the last couple of weeks, him get more physically ready?
“Yeah, like I talked to you guys about throughout his rehab, I mean, he’s worked very hard. It was a very serious injury that he’s worked back from. He continued to take every single day and give it everything that he had, whether it was on the practice field or the weight room – you name it. He’s been at this thing, and he’s looked good.”
Jack (Conklin) coming back, just the opportunity to potentially…
“Is that your donut right there?”
I haven’t eaten it yet.
“Looks great from here, Chris (Easterling).”
With Jack coming back, the opportunity to maybe finally get some continuity there. How big, I mean, for not just the pass protection, but the offense is that?
“Jack’s played a lot of football for us, a lot of good football for us, so getting him back is a big deal. And you’re right, an offensive line with all five guys, you want them to play together as much as you can. Obviously working Cam (Robinson) in there in the last few weeks, he’s performed really well. So of course, you want the same five guys for as long as you can do that.”
Will you have Mike on some kind of a pitch count or something like that?
“Well, it’s his first game, so obviously you want to be smart, Mary Kay (Cabot), and we’ve talked about those things internally, but we’ll see how the game goes.”
Their run defense – I know you talked a little bit about it on Wednesday. Just what is it about that unit, why they are so good?
“I think it’s multifaceted. I think they have good players, they have a good scheme, they line up in different fronts from different personnel groupings. I think they’re really good in their line movement, their run stunts, they have guys that tackle well. When you don’t give up explosive runs, obviously you’re doing something right, and I think they’re doing a really nice job also of just tackling once that ball should get to the second level.”
While we’re talking D-tackles, what kind of impact have you seen Maliek (Collins) make, whether it’s on the field or even behind the scenes?
“He’s been outstanding. He’s, first and foremost, a pros pro. He’s just that guy that comes to work every day, taking notes in meetings, out there early on the practice field to work on his craft, and he’s playing really, really good football for us. But the leadership he provides to this football team, to the young players, that’s an example of a guy who does it the right way.”
Kevin, what about David (Njoku)? How did he just come through the week, and what’s the process over the next 48 hours?
“Yeah, similar conversation there – Dave’s worked very hard. Obviously, he’s pushing through this rehab and has looked like himself, but want to always be smart with all these types of injuries.”
How important is it for, if Dave can play, for Dave and Jerry (Jeudy) to come through and help support Dillon (Gabriel) as much as possible, with so many other young guys around him?
“Yeah, I think we trust all of our guys, Mary Kay, in the pass department, whether it’s running backs, wide receivers, tight ends. We trust them to get open, catch the ball, those types of things. And we have some veterans that we’re counting on that have done a great job, we’ve got guys that we’re counting on that have done a great job. So, just got to continue to work everybody in there and get comfortable.”
Dillon’s obviously done a good job of protecting the football, not throwing the interceptions. How do you balance protecting the football, but wanting the quarterback to take some chances, especially when you’re trying to get downfield?
“Yeah, I think I mentioned that on, I think it was Wednesday, but you want to be smart-aggressive. You don’t want to be aggressive for the sake of it, you don’t want to be too conservative just for the sake of it. Obviously, we know how important the football is to winning and losing. On defense, we’re trying to take it away on every single down. As a quarterback, you have to play each play as its own thing. You know, every play has an intent and you have to trust your progressions, trust your eyes, ultimately, and then deliver accurate footballs. But you’re making those types of decisions play in and play out, about when you can let it rip and when you have to be smart. That’s a thing that every quarterback goes through in the course of 60 minutes.”
When you look at the (New England) Patriots’ offense, the way they use Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, how does that add to their pass catching unit? Because you have two tight ends that they use in different ways.
“Yeah, they do a great job with their tight ends. Hunter Henry’s outstanding. A couple guys here have played with him and can talk about his skill set, and he’s a real impressive player. Obviously, we know Hoop really well – very, very versatile, good in the run game, good in the pass game. So, it allows them to deploy those guys in a variety of ways – whether they’re in line, they’re blocking or they’re opened up, they can do a bunch of different things.”
We talked about moving Myles (Garrett) around and what that can do to a defense. For you guys, is there also a balance there between that, and just anchoring at one spot, and what that does for you defensively?
“I think it’s so dependent on the game, dependent on the matchup. There’s so many factors that go into it. There’s great rushers around the league that move around, there’s great rushers around the league that don’t. But it’s so dependent on the factors of that particular game.”
So, we talked about the advantages that Mike (Vrabel) might have being in this building last year. Is there any advantage for you guys, having him in this building, on your side?
“I think it’s probably overstated on both sides of that. You know, we have had a lot of conversations over the course of time about football, and philosophy, game situations, what you would do here, what we would do there. But I think at the end of the day, it’s a game that they’re preparing for with a full week’s worth of practice. We’re preparing for with a full week’s worth of practice, less so of insights from the past. I just don’t think that that’s as much as it might seem that way. I think once you get into a game, you can give somebody your playbook. When the plays come off the sheet, you don’t know.”
You faced Mike before when he was in Tennessee (Titans), and I realize personnel changes. Taking that into account, do you notice a difference in what they do, maybe philosophically, than maybe what the Titans did with him?
“I think there’s definitely similarities, but I think every team evolves year-to-year and the personnel is different. So, some schemes that maybe you leaned into previously, your personnel is different, so you don’t. So, of course there’s going to be similarities, but there’s a bunch of differences too.”
We’ve had some young coaches, you know, Tommy (Rees), Ephraim (Banda), talk about just being around Mike last year. Just in that regard, how did that help having him in this building?
“That was one of the things, you know, in my conversations with Vrabes when we first got started in shaping this role, I wanted him to be a resource to our young coaches. So, we kind of set up different things that he did with the coaches, almost mock interviews in some ways, and then just be a resource throughout the season. And I’ve done that over the years – Kevin Rogers did that for me for a bunch of years, but I think it’s really helpful. Speaking from when I was a young coach, it’s helpful to have people in the building that have been through it, have been coaches, been head coaches, have been coordinators, those types of things. And I think young coaches, as quality control coaches or assistants, you can get so wrapped up in your current job, and I think it’s nice to every once in a while, have somebody that can provide perspective and provide support as you go through this profession.”
You guys haven’t won on the road yet this year. So, what is the philosophy or the strategy for trying to switch that?
“Yeah, obviously what wins on the road also wins at home. You got to play good football on all three sides of it, you have to take care of the ball, you got to take it away. It’s one of those things that you still have to play great football regardless of whether the crowd’s behind you or not.”
Ephraim mentioned that Drake Maye feels like a combo between Ben Roethlisberger and Josh Allen, with his ability to throw the football but also be a mobile quarterback that can move a little bit. Just what type of challenges does that present to defense when you got to account and plan for both of those things?
“Historically, just having faced quarterbacks like the guys you mentioned, you see around the league, it’s difficult when you have quarterbacks that can, ‘it’s not there – go do something with it and can tuck it’. It’s very hard on defenses, it’s hard to cover for that long, and then obviously you have to be able to tackle that player. So, there’s definitely a dual threat element to his game. Now, he can make every throw, he’s making great decisions, he’s very accurate. So, this is a situation where, he’s going through his progressions and he’s delivering in a timely manner, but he also has that element where he can get out and go. So, it’s a challenge for a defense.”
What about heading into the bye week? Does that change anything? Are you guys going to open anything up more?
“I didn’t realize we were going into the bye.”
Hey Kevin. As I recall, Reggie White was your guy.
“He was.”
Myles is on the verge of surpassing him for the most sacks by any player under 30. First of all, is that okay?
“Yeah, I’ll allow it for this one. Yes.”
How would you compare their two games?
“Obviously, Yeah, I mean, well, Myles is a future Hall of Famer, so there’s other people, probably more accomplished than me, that can speak to what he looks like compared to one of the greatest in Reggie White. But yeah, what Myles does on a game-to-game basis, I’ve said to you guys, and I believe this – I don’t think it gets enough notoriety, enough praise for what he’s doing in the course of these games where he’s being doubled and triple teamed. And so, he’s playing at a high level for us, he’s done this for a bunch of years, and at his age, to be able to say where he stands among the greats is. Is pretty impressive.”
Have you seen some similarities between the two or anything that would be surprising?
“I mean, obviously I was not around Reggie in person, I got a good look from the TV screen. But you know, Miles’ combination of size, speed, power when you’re up close is unbelievable. I remember the first time seeing Miles at practice – It was during COVID, because we didn’t have an offseason, so training camp was the first time I’m seeing him in person. I remember watching him in the very initial D-line drills of that day, the individual period, and I was pretty amazed that somebody that looks like that, can bend like that, can have the get off that he has. It’s pretty incredible.”
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