Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (11.29.24)
I noticed Juan (Thornhill) didn’t practice yesterday. Is that just management of the calf or is there a concern?
“Yeah, he had an injury on Monday, so remains to be seen if he makes it this week. He’s trending in the right direction, but we’ll see where it goes.”
Germain Ifedi popped up on the injury report, too. How’s he looking for Denver?
“He should be fine.”
So, with Juan, is this different than what he’s been suffering from that had him on IR?
“Well, it’s the same body part. So, it’s a calf injury, but he’s getting better.”
Can you talk about this altitude room? I didn’t know you had until one Tuesday.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I’m the right person to talk about it. Don’t understand the science behind it, but it’s a great resource that we have in that regen room among many resources for the guys. It’s been a popular room this week, of course, but when you’re dealing with elements and elevation, in this case being the element, I think the guys do a really good job of having a plan. And then when you get to Sunday or Monday in this case, you just play ball. But just being aware of getting some training in there this week, the guys have done a nice job.”
Early in the season, we asked you a lot about the sacks that were being accumulated offensively. It seems to have kind of died down here in recent weeks. You’re going up against a team that can get after the quarterback. Just what have you seen from Jameis (Winston) and the symmetry or whatever that he’s had with the offensive line to really operate and limit getting taken down as much?
“Well as you know, this team we’re facing, the Denver Broncos lead the league in sacks. They have a bunch of guys that have been productive, so protection is a huge part of this game and every game. But like we’ve talked about really in the past, protection is an 11-man thing. It’s important for the everybody to do their job whether you’re protecting, or you’re running routes, or you’re the quarterback and moving and those type of things. So, all those guys have to work in concert.”
Are you expecting Ced (Cedric Tillman) to practice today, or no?
“No.”
Are you going to rule him out?
“Yeah, not ruling him out.”
If he doesn’t play, do you feel like it’d be guys who haven’t played a whole bunch for you this year, Jamari (Thrash), whatever? So how do you get those guys ready? How comfortable are you with them?
“Yeah, I think about that quote, ‘You have to stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.’ That’s what our backups do. Whether you’re on the practice squad or Jamari’s been active and hasn’t played a ton, but he stays ready. He practices really hard, has done a nice job in his opportunities.”
Is Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.) practicing today?
“No.”
I know it’s one game, one play at a time. Do you think guys get extra juiced up for Monday Night Football?
“I think anytime you’re under the lights, I think guys enjoy that. I think everybody takes themselves back to Friday Night Lights when they’re growing up and playing under the lights. It was a big deal then; I think it’s a big deal now.”
If Ced and/or Jed can get back over the next couple of days, is there still a chance you feel like they can get out there?
“Yes.”
If Jed is healthy, would you prefer him as your starting left tackle?
“Yeah, we’ll just deal with that day-to-day, Mary Kay (Cabot), as we see how Jed works through it.”
How is it dealing with the injuries to Germain and Jedrick? How have you seen over the past couple of weeks the offensive line kind of navigate through what they were, the highs and lows of the first part of the season?
“Well, I think if you look back, we’ve used a lot of guys up there and there’s been different combinations and that’s football, that’s not unique to us at all. But I think when you have new players in there, you have to get really good at communication. I think that’s a big piece of this is the left tackle talking to the left guard and the center talking to the right guard, those type of things. I think continuity helps a lot in that regard.”
At the end of the (Chicago) Bears – (Detroit) Lions game, I’m just kind of curious, do you have a specific where you work on like specific situational end of game stuff and is it kind of tough, maybe sometimes? Like how do you kind of draw up the possibilities and scenarios? Because it seems like, especially with the Bears, in recent weeks we’ve kind of seen some like very unique ways and unique game management situations.
“Games come down to the final two minutes so much. We work our two-minute drill on Fridays with the team. We watch around the league tape on Fridays with the team and just try to learn from different situations, whether it be a two minute or a certain penalty that’s called. So, you’re always trying to educate the guys about those moments.”
(Bo) Nix is their second leading rusher. How are they using him maybe uniquely in the run game or is there sort of a comp to what they’re doing with them?
“He’s very, very athletic. I think he has the most scrambles in the NFL. So, he’s a guy that you have to do your best to contain him. You have to tackle him when he’s on the move. He can throw it on the move really well. And then they can run design runs with him as well. Just, he’s a very athletic player.”
With David (Njoku), it feels like his season has kind of been inconsistent, and I’m sure the injury at the beginning has a part of it. So how tough is that when you have something right to jump and then do you feel like he’s kind of getting back to the guy that he was last year?
“I do. I think he’s feeling healthy for sure, and I think he’ll continue to be a big part of what we do.”
Going back to Daniel’s (Oyefusi) question just about game management stuff. How often do you, like, do you meet with your staff about that stuff? Do you go over — I mean, how often do you do that?
“It’s different. I think every building is different. Sometimes game management can just be popping into a coach’s office and saying, ‘Hey, what do you think we should do here? You’re watching a play.’ There are, I think, Fridays are the day where really, I try to put as much tape from around the league in front of our players and coaches, so we can all be on the same page. One of the things we talk about is shared situational awareness and it’s not good enough just for me to know the situation or just the quarterback, it’s got to be everybody on the same page. So, I’d say Friday is really the day that we dive into that.”
Jerry Jeudy, he’s on pace for a career year this year. Just what have you seen from him in the way he has evolved and especially in recent weeks, the way he’s been able to step up and make good plays?
“Yeah, I think he’s done a nice job all season long; runs really good routes, savviness, separates, catches the ball. Well, I think we talked last week how he has really a versatile route tree. I think he can run every route, and he really has run every route this season for us.”