Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (11.18.24)
Opening Statement:
“All right, injury front, Dawand (Jones), that’s a fractured fibula. Very disappointed for the young man. That will require surgery. We’ll support him throughout that rehab. Other stuff, injury wise, Geoff Swaim has a concussion, so he’s in the protocol. He will be out this week. Denzel Ward has rib and ankle injuries. He’ll be day-to-day. Greg Newsome, shoulder injury. He’ll be day to day. As you know, not practicing today on this short week, so we’ll have some injury updates for you as we get going. These Thursday night games don’t allow you really to spend much time thinking about the previous one. You got to get on the next opponent, understand what they’re about as a team, offense, defense, special teams, all those things. So, we need to lock in this week versus a division opponent. Obviously yesterday, like we talked about after the game, very disappointing. Disappointing, going into the fourth quarter with a chance and then not finish that game. We all share in it. It’s an offense, defense, special teams, players and coaches type of thing. So, we’re all sharing it. We have to look at all those things and go back to how you win games in this league and correct those things starting this week so you can go out and find a way to win versus a good (Pittsburgh) Steelers team. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
You mentioned it’s a team effort, but you’re so good on special teams and defense last year and haven’t been able to duplicate that this year. What do you think the issues have been?
“Well, first thing I’d say is every year stands on its own merit and you don’t take previous years with you because you’re different, and that’s the truth. We have high standards for our entire team. We certainly have high standards for our defense, for our special teams. We have played better. There are things that we know we can improve and it’s a combination of a lot of things, Scott (Petrak), that we’re committed to getting fixed.”
And when you went back and watched the film, what did you think of the effort?
“Yeah, I thought we didn’t play well enough to win is really what I saw.”
But did the effort bother you? I know people questioned that you give them 20 points in the fourth quarter, a couple long runs. Did you have any issues with the effort?
“Yeah, I think we got out, executed a couple times where we just didn’t do our job in some moments.”
With Dawand out, and obviously this is such an important position when you’re going against the Steelers, do you think there is a chance that Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.) might be able to play and can you kind of take us through how that went? Because he was full on the injury report all week, so how did that go down?
“Yeah, we’ll work through that this week to see, Mary Kay (Cabot), if Jed can make it to Thursday night. Yeah, he was full, still feeling that injury, so just felt like it was best to get him some more treatment on that over the weekend.”
And do you feel like if he can get out there that maybe he would be your best option to replace Dawand this weekend?
“We’ll see how it goes over the next couple days.”
Kevin, I want to ask you about Denzel (Ward) specifically. Just, you’ve been around him a while. Is he playing his best football right now in your mind?
“He’s played really well over the time I’ve been with him. Certainly, played really well yesterday, making game changing plays. And that’s one of the things, as you guys know, we’ve talked about taking the ball away, and those are two examples of him taking that away, going up and getting it on the interception, ripping it out on the fumble. So, he certainly is playing at a high level.”
Juan Thornhill only played about 23 snaps; I believe. Was that a coaching decision and the decision to only play him that much?
“Yeah, we were rotating Ronnie (Hickman) and Juan in that game. Just, we have a lot of guys that we like at that position, so felt like that was the right thing to do.”
Okay, so I guess my follow up is will that starting spot still kind of be in flux or be under consideration?
“With Ronnie being healthy and obviously there’s been different points where Juan hasn’t been healthy. So, trying to get both of those guys out there as much as we can.”
We’ve asked you guys about things that the players can do to clean things up and execute better, like reducing those penalties, getting takeaways, things like that. As coaches and your coaching staff, what are some of those things that you guys can do to do what you’re trying to do and be better?
“I think it goes back to we want to put our guys in position to make plays, Cam (Justice). I think it’s as simple as that, sometimes in football where our job is to make sure our guys are set up for success. So, whether it’s making sure a guy gets a one-on-one in a blitz or getting a guy open on a pass route, that’s what we’re constantly trying to do, is put our guys in position to go make plays.”
I noticed that Mike Vrabel is on the sideline yesterday, earpiece in his ear. Earlier you told us that he wouldn’t be involved in game days. So, what’s going on there? Has something changed or what?
“No, I mean, Vrabes (Mike Vrabel) is involved in a lot of what we do. He’s out there on home games, he was able to come to this one. He’s listening in on the conversations with us. He’s a great resource for me game day, Monday through Friday, so he will continue to do that.”
Just to follow up on the safeties question, when you say that rotating those guys at that spot is the best thing to do, do you mean it’s the best thing to do to give you a chance to win, or is it a health thing? Like, what do you mean by that, I guess?
“Yeah, I think both of those guys have had injuries, so I think it makes sense to rotate them from that perspective. Both those guys have made plays for us, so it’s an opportunity to get Ronnie out there and get him some reps as well.”
And then just with Dawand, I mean, losing him now, I guess how difficult does that make it to evaluate what he did on that left side of the line in such a small sample size?
“I think it’s an imperfect thing, obviously, when you’re talking about that type of sample size. But we had plenty of practices there, we had game reps there, so it certainly allows you to, at the end of the season, say, ‘Okay, this is what he did on the right side. This is what he did on the left side.'”
You’ve unfortunately had to use ‘disappointing’ a lot this year and talk about making corrections. The results say the corrections aren’t showing up on the field. My question is, why do you think that is and do you have the attention that you require as a coach from this locker room right now?
“Yeah, I think where our record is, Daryl (Ruiter), you’re obviously disappointed. Players, coaches, we all share in that. My focus is really finding a way to get a win this week. Anything else taken away from that, I really can’t speak to it.”
And the inability to score really stands out this season. Yesterday, Jameis (Winston) throws for nearly 400 yards, two touchdowns, takes care of the football, you only get 14 points out of that. How do you fix that going into a short week here against a very formidable and stingy Steelers defense?
“I think it’s always, again, a combination of things, but it’s going to be incumbent upon our players, our coaches give these guys a plan that they can go execute. And typically, when you execute, when you do your job, that’s where those points come from. That’s where those third down conversions come from, points in the red zone, all those things. Very simply give our guys a plan and then execute the plan.”
Just as one of pro football’s oldest rivalries, how unique is the Browns rivalry with the Steelers and how much are you looking forward to getting back in front of the home crowd on Thursday?
“Yeah, this is a great division. As you know, with the AFC North and everybody knows each other so well, and when you have cities in such close proximity, I think that adds to the rivalries because there’s so many people that grew up around here, grew up around Pittsburgh, obviously interact with each other throughout the year. So, it makes it special. Being down at our stadium the last division game was special. I’d expect nothing but the same, especially in the setting of a Thursday night.”
Just wondering what is the feedback or the messaging that you’re getting from management and ownership during these tough times?
“I think all of us, it really goes back to Mary Kay (Cabot), we all share in this. Nobody’s happy being where our record is, but I know all of our focus is on this game and finding a way to get a win in this game.”
Is there any thought to bringing in another kicker?
“No.”
And why did Nick (Chubb) only play, I think, it was 22 snaps yesterday?
“Just still having a plan with these guys, bringing them back, making sure that we’re using both guys.”
Did Thursday, the fact that it’s a quick turnaround have any impact there?
“It did.”
I just want to ask another one about Dustin Hopkins, have you noticed anything about why he’s having more difficulty kicking this year?
“I think there’s always things that whether the kicker, the left guard, the safety, it doesn’t matter. I think there’s always things, technique that we can work on, work through, get better at. There are things that he wants to do. Certainly, we expect him to make those kicks. He expects himself to make those kicks. I’ve seen him make those kicks. He’s been doing this for a very long time, but it’s still technique and he’s always going to be making sure that he’s sharpening his technique, if you will, and he’ll continue to do that for us.”