Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.27.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, injuries, JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) is at the hospital now. We’ll obviously update you guys as we get more information. Very scary anytime that happens. So, thinking about him, I’ll call him here in a little bit, hopefully get him on the phone. He was playing great. Ogbo (Okoronkwo) has a knee injury. Denzel (Ward) is in the concussion protocol. He does have a concussion. I’m just very proud of that football team. We knew were going to have to outlast them. That’s a great team. We knew that. But I’m just, I’m proud of them because of the work that we put into this thing, and you want to get the results when you put in all the work. So, I’m proud of them. And then I had a lot of reasons for wanting to win this game, but one of them was so I can give that game ball to Cheryl Donovan and Meghan Donovan. Jim (Donovan) was so important to this organization. He was a friend of mine. I’m going to miss him. But his enthusiasm, his spirit will never be lost on many and won’t be lost in this football team. But these guys fought like crazy. So, I’m proud to say that I can go give them a game ball. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Can you kind of summed up what Jameis (Winston) brought to this team from a playing standpoint, from maybe an energy standpoint and how the team kind of responded?
“I thought he played well. I thought the protection was outstanding all day. The guys really took the challenge of that, and I thought he got through his reads and the guys got open. He made good decisions. Wasn’t perfect. He’s not going to play perfect; I’m not going to coach perfect, but I thought he played well.”
Take us through that last Baltimore (Ravens) drive.
“Do I have to?”
You called a couple timeouts and of course you held him off there at the end. So, what was that like?
“Well, anytime you’re playing that offense and that quarterback, he’s outstanding. It’s going to be a challenge. And it’s a challenge because he can hurt you with his legs, he can hurt you with his arm, obviously. And just, we had our three timeouts, so tried to use them and give our guys a break and talk through with our coaches, with our players, what the situation was, what we were trying to accomplish in those moments and ultimately, we came through. It was a scary final play.”
The was the difference was obvious; first time you went over 300 yards passing, scoring 20 points. Was it more than just a change of quarterbacks today?
“Yeah, I understand the question, Tony (Grossi). I don’t really get wrapped up in it, honestly. I want to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to score points on offense to help this football team. That’s a great team win there. I think all three phases did their job. Again, did all three phases play perfect? Nope, we didn’t. But we fought like crazy.”
How about Ken Dorsey calling plays for the first time? How did that go for you?
“Yeah, I thought Dors (Ken Dorsey) was great. Just all week that offensive staff, Coach Dors, I thought the guys really did a nice job putting a game plan together. And then on game day, it’s just a very collaborative process. But I thought Dors was great.”
You mentioned the protection. Did you get a chance to see how well you thought Dawand Jones did?
“Not specifically Dawand. It was hard for me to just to focus in on him other than to say, Jeff (Schudel), that I thought the guys really gave Jameis time. I thought he was able to step up in pockets and he was able to get to his second, third, fourth read.”
How about Ced (Cedric) Tillman? A couple nice catches….
“Yeah, Ced’s a guy — you guys have asked me about said before and the opportunities weren’t there, but knew we had a lot of trust in him when those opportunities came. Jameis trusted him on that last play, great call by Dors, and got behind the defense and made a play.”
What was it like for you with not calling plays?
“Normal. And I understand that’s not something that I’ve done, but I just want to help this football team any which way I can.”
It looked like Mohamoud (Diabate) had a bunch of plays all over the field. Did you notice him out there, what he was doing?
“Certainly. And you notice Mohamoud because he plays so fast, he plays so physical. Really fits who we are from a DNA standpoint, running around, hitting everything that moves and he gives you everything he’s got.”
What did you see from Dustin (Hopkins) today with multiple field goals and the extra point?
“Yeah, he came through for the football team when we needed him and that’s why we got him.”
How about just how the defense did on Derrick Henry, Lamar (Jackson), just overall?
“Yeah, it’s an easy game plan to tell you what we’re going to do, it’s hard to execute. And I thought the guys really, and just go back to last week, what our defense did against a really good offense this week. I mean, they’re going to make their plays because they got good players. But I thought Jim (Harbaugh) called a great game. Had the game plan that you need to stop that team, and we outlasted them.”
How did Nick (Chubb) looked today in his second go around and did you take kind of all the pitch count off of him?
“I wouldn’t say we took all the pitch count off. Still want to be smart with Nick in the second game back, but he’s moving well. He feels good. So, we’ll continue to monitor that as we go.”
Do you think he looked better?
“Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, I do.”
How important was this after five losses?
“Very! Exclamation point.”
You were just finally able to hear the crowd roaring, standing on their feet.
“We got to give them something to cheer about. We gave them some unbelievable plays. The effort plays from this team again on offense, defense and special teams. I think our fans react when they see guys playing hard. That’s kind of what this town’s about. So, we gave them something to cheer about.”
What were your emotions watching (Kyle) Hamilton on the last, on the touchdown drive you guys had, watching him drop that interception?
“Yeah, I think the throw just got away from Jameis. Elijah (Moore) ran a good route. I thought Elijah played well today. Yeah, that’s this game. I mean, this game’s hard and they’re going to make their plays, we got to make our plays and sometimes the balls hanging in the air. I thought the tip ball that Shelby (Harris) had, I thought that ball was up there for ages. So probably takes a couple years off the life.”
So that was a called play by Ken to go deep there to go deep there to Cedric on the game-winning touchdown?
“Yes.”
Can we credit some of those incompletions that could have been interceptions to the spirit of Jim Donovan?
“Sure. Absolutely. I think Jim would appreciate that.”