Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (11.4.24)

 

Opening statement:

“Obviously watching the tape and spending time with that today and with the players pointing it out and finding ways to play better on offense, defense and special teams. There were just too many mistakes and the (Los Angeles) Chargers took advantage of those mistakes and ultimately just did not get the result we needed and worked hard for. So disappointed with that, we’ll learn from it, we’ll make some corrections. Then we’ll use this bye to look at ourselves and self-scout over the next few days and see what we can do better, obviously, heading into the backend of the season. And with that I’ll take any questions.”

 

Hey Kevin, on JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah), we haven’t talked to you since you put him on IR about it. Is it potentially season or even career threatening? I know the neck can be serious.

“Yeah, obviously any injury is serious, a neck injury is serious. I’m really week-to-week. Put him on IR, that puts him out for four games. So, I’ll trust in the medical team here. But with the medical team we will continue to look at that.”

 

And then with Dawand (Jones), how do you think he played in his second start there and do you plan to keep him in that spot?

“Yeah, I do plan on keeping him there. He’s a young player that’s going to continue to get better. It’s not perfect, there’s things he can get better at, but I do believe leaving him there and letting him develop there is the best thing.”

 

Does that say anything about Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.)? I mean he was a former number one pick for you guys.

“No, I’m not trying to say anything about him. I’m just trying to put Dawand out there and let him get better. Jed’s still a player that we believe in and right now he’s got to be ready to go.”

 

How did you think that the breakdowns between Denzel (Ward) and Juan (Thornhill), maybe you can help us understand those a little bit better. It looked like maybe Denzel should have had the second one and maybe Juan the first one, but maybe you can shed some light on that. And then the follow up to that would be should Denzel have been out there just so short after suffering from the concussion?

“I think on the second part there, Mary Kay (Cabot), we trust in the protocols. I believe that they’re in place for the guys to be out there safely. So, I do believe that. As you know and everybody knows, when you have breakdowns like that and people are open like that, there’s clearly been a breakdown of some sort, whether it’s communication or the wrong technique, so to speak. We’ll deal with that internally; we’ll point it out. But we just need to be better. But anytime you have something like that, it’s obviously something that we got to be on the same page.”

 

Is the self-scout that you guys are going to do during the bye week, is that more about looking for ways to make adjustments or changes or just what you guys typically do week-to-week and that’s just identifying mistakes and corrections?

“Well, I think it’s big picture, we need to play better on offense, on defense, on special teams. And this gives you the ability to zoom out for a minute and see what those maybe big adjustments are, small adjustments are that can help you do a better job in all three of those areas. So, it’s something — of course, you do a self-scout every week. I think when you get to this point of your season, you can zoom out and spend a little bit more time there.”

 

And now that the sample size is nine games, your record is what it is, the offensive fall off this season from what we had become accustomed to seeing with you, regardless of who the quarterback was, just why do you think there’s been such a dramatic fall off this year and why it’s been so difficult for you guys to establish any type of consistency on that side of the ball?

“Well, I think obviously we need to play better. We need to coach better. This is something that we all share in when you’re not playing well and something that we believe we can get it fixed. We believe we have the players; we believe we have the scheme, all those things to get this thing fixed and play better. And there’s been certainly glimpses of that, but not enough with how we’re playing on either side of the ball.”

 

Kevin, could you just assess your quarterback situation as it is now?

“In what regard, Jeff (Schudel)?”

 

What gives you confidence that Jameis (Winston) is the right guy or DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) with seven games to go or eight games to go? 

“My focus is on us playing better as a team. Obviously, there were moments yesterday that we fell short. Jameis can play better, he knows that. Turning the ball over is just not a way to win in this league, he knows that. But that’s really where we are, just focused on getting better.”

 

Kevin, you mentioned some of that offensive evaluation and things that you need to clean up. When you go back and look at the film, over the past couple weeks, have you been able to identify maybe things that disconnects with the planning or the execution? Is that something that you guys have been able to at least eye in some regard?

“Well, I think we haven’t been consistent enough, Cam (Justice), so obviously there’s going to be things that we’re just not doing a good enough job. Whether it be in the schematic part of it, whether it be the execution, it’s really an all of the above has to be better. In order to be consistent and score points in this league, you have to be better in a bunch of different areas.”

 

I know it’s kind of a broad question, but I mean, what are the keys to creating consistency in that regard?

“Yeah, I think obviously just playing efficient football. In this case, we’re talking about offense, it requires all of us to do our job and that’s myself, that’s our coaches, that’s our players. It’s complicated, but it’s also as simple as that.”

 

Two weeks ago, you made two pretty big changes, (Jameis) Winston went in there and (Ken) Dorsey took over play calling. Are you contemplating anything major during the bye week, staff wise or otherwise?

“No, but we’ll look at everything, Tony (Grossi), in terms of what we can do better, but no major changes expected.”

 

To follow up on the linebacker situation here, I mean Mohamoud (Diabate) and Winston (Reid) obviously played a lot more than they had previously. Looked like maybe something happened on that 16-yard (J.K.) Dobbins touchdown the second quarter. Was that a linebacker thing and just how do you think those younger guys did in there?

“Yeah, those guys, they played hard. Wasn’t perfect all the time, but I thought they battled. With young players, there’s going to be some mistakes. You know that when you’re playing some young players, but they certainly played hard. Not to get into any specifics on plays, Ashley (Bastock), but I do think there’s certainly things to clean up. But for the most part, guys were where they’re supposed to be. But we can definitely be better.”

 

And then just to follow up on Scott’s (Petrak) Jed question, I mean, this is obviously a situation he hasn’t been in before where he’s healthy and not starting. So, I guess just how have you seen him handle that and what’s his demeanor and attitude that you can see?

“It’s all part of football. You get injured sometimes, and sometimes you go in as a backup, sometimes you’re a starter. That’s just how this game goes. He’s somebody that has played a lot of football for us. We’ve played and won with him. We have confidence in him. But in this case, he’s the swing tackle and he has to be ready to go in at a moment’s notice, and he will be.”

 

After the game, Cedric (Tillman) mentioned the Chargers kind of taking away some of the inbreaking routes that he had had success with. Is that something he and you guys as a staff will have to adjust to?

“Definitely have to adjust both in game and week-to-week based on what defenses are doing. I thought for the majority of the game, I thought there was a good handle on what they were doing versus us, had some of our opportunities. But again, just goes back to being consistent on that side of the ball.”

 

And what’s the schedule for the guys this week?

“They’re here today and tomorrow.”

 

Just wondering, your next opponent, Dennis Allen, was fired today. Can you maybe just address that a little bit and just how much of a business this is and how you guys — it’s just a ‘win now’ business, and anything can happen for anyone at any time like that?

“Yeah, you never like to see that in this profession, obviously, Mary Kay (Cabot). I understand it’s part of it, but never like to see that with fellow coaches around the league. We’ll play them in a couple weeks. We’ll spend some time looking at their team throughout this week as well.”

 

Another big picture question for you. Seeing as you’re 2-7, you have tried to make adjustments here and they haven’t produced the results that you’re looking for. Has there been any discussion about, with the trade deadline being tomorrow, beginning the process of a roster rebuild or a reshuffling of some sort?

“My focus is really on our team finding a way to win a football game week in and week out. That’s really where my focus is.”

 

I actually wanted to ask something about that as well. I mean, obviously you’re focused on this team at hand, but that trade deadline is tomorrow. So as their head coach, especially some of the younger guys that this might be a new process for them. What’s the message for them knowing that maybe some guys could be on the team, maybe there could be changes in this time?

“I think with all sports, when you talk about trades and injuries and all sorts of things that are totally out of your control, you can’t focus on them because of that. You acknowledge that that’s true, but we’ll really just focus on controlling the things that we can control.”

 

I know everybody in the building is super frustrated and disappointed with 2-7. I’m wondering what’s the level of support you’re getting from the owners and have things gotten stressful at all?

“2-7 is stressful for everybody, Tony (Grossi). And you’re right, everybody’s frustrated. I know I’m frustrated, our players are frustrated, I’m sure our fans are frustrated right there with us when you have the record we have. But we’re focused on getting better. We’re focused on using this week to find a way to get better and then go on the road and get a win next week. That’s really where our focus is.”