Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.10.23)
Opening statement:
“Okay. Injury front, Juan (Thornhill) tweaked his hamstring, excuse me, tweaked his calf in pregame warm-ups, was not able to go. Ethan Pocic has a stinger. Grant (Delpit) has a groin injury. Obviously, have to do tests on all those. Just very proud of that football team. Knew it was going to be that type of game. That’s a playoff team coming in here, AFC opponent. It was hard, we knew that. But really fought to the end and just guys making big plays when we needed them. Defense taking the ball away four times was outstanding. Obviously, MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.) getting two of those and then just again everybody coming through for the football team when they needed to. The atmosphere was awesome. Our crowd was into it from the jump so it was great to be down here and then obviously we’ll learn from it. There are things that we know we can clean up and then we want to be playing our best football in December. So that’s our goal. We’ll clean up some of those things. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Kevin, you ready to say that Joe (Flacco) is going to be the starting QB the rest of the year?
“Yes.”
What did you think came through today? Second week here and throws for three touchdowns at 311 (yards).
“Yeah, played well. I think you expect him to get better as he gets more comfortable in our system with our players, those types of things. But we just talked about him and all of our guys doing their job, giving us their best and I thought that’s what he did.”
What’s your reaction to winning games with four different quarterbacks? It’s very unusual.
“Not much of a reaction. Just it is what it is. We play with who’s ever available.”
Kevin, your decision to go for that field goal there at the end, did you think about punting?
“I did. We have a guy who is now eight-for-eight from back there. So you always think about players and thinkabout Dustin (Hopkins) and him coming through for the football team, that’s what he did.”
What about that fourth and three decision? Go for it, get the touchdown.
“Yeah. That was outstanding. Unbelievable play by the quarterback. He’s not hot, he’s hotter than Hades on that play and we did not have that blitz picked up and he drifted to his right. Great field by David Bell and then an unbelievable play.”
How great is it for you guys to be in this heated AFC race in this stretch and then come up with a quarterback like Joe who can do big games like this?
“Yeah, I think focus is a little bit more narrow for us, Mary Kay (Cabot). Obviously, today we knew that today was not a playoff game, but it’s going to feel like a playoff game. And it was because that’s a very good football team. So we knew what this game was going to be about. We knew what type of matchup it was, knew what type of fight it was going to be. And then to your point, Joe’s been in big games, so feel comfortable with him leading the football team.”
What is it about Joe, other than his experience, that has allowed him to come in and be able to be so effective so fast?
“Yeah, I think a player that’s been around and has had the career that he’s had, he can really lean on his experiences, lean on his games that he’s played, the different systems he’s been in and he just told that to the football team. Just some of the things that he’s been through and now we as a team have been through. It is good for you in the end.”
Kevin, you said you wanted to play your best football in December. Do you think you are? Do you think your team is at it’s best?
“We’re not there yet. I mean, that’s the goal. We need to get better. Offense, defense, special teams. We need to get better, continue to get better. There’s a variety of ways to do that, and that’s what it’ll be.”
Kevin, it’s only the eighth time in NFL history that four starting quarterbacks have won a game in a season. What is it about this team that they’ve been able to adapt that way to quarterbacks and then you kind of adjusting the difference?
“No, I think the stats, well, that stat is about the players. I mean, it tells me that we have a team that is ready to win regardless of who’s playing that position. And we’ve found this season that we have to deal with injuries just like the rest of the NFL. Everybody’s dealing with injuries and we always use it as an opportunity. I think that’s what we’re doing.”
How proud are you of your defense, considering they were dropping like flies and Denzel (Ward) wasn’t there and Juan wasn’t there?
“Yeah, we had a bunch of guys injured going into the game, lost some guys in that game, as you saw, kind of in and out of the lineup. And I thought Coach (Jim Schwartz) called a great game. Coach Schwartz did a great job. Those takeaways were absolutely key. I don’t know how many points we scored off of them, but those were key. He was aggressive. There were a couple of sacks there where we knocked them out of field goal range. So, I thought Coach was outstanding today.”
Have you been involved in a game that lasted so long and without going into overtime?
“I’ll check and get back to you, Jeff (Schudel). Off the top of my head, I’m not sure, but that was like an NBA game those last five minutes.”
The three rookies played a vital role today. You had Cameron Mitchell, you had Ronnie Hickman starting the game. Talk about their contributions. And a lot of times people always say, next man up. But your team embodies that. Can you talk about that as well?
“Yeah, well, they’re not rookies anymore. Sorry, you’re too late in the season to be rookies. So, they’re pros now and we’re counting on them. And that’s how it works in this season. We’ve had a lot of rookies play already this season, guys that – and we trust them because they’ve been through it with us and we’re going to need them down the stretch as well.”
Kevin, how close was Denzel to playing today?
“He was questionable, so 50/50. But he’s getting better.”
On that fourth and three, did you know the whole time you’re going to go for it?
“Yes.”
And then you said you didn’t have the blitz picked up, so what are you thinking…?
“Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you have an opportunity to check into a different protection, if you will. They brought a good pressure that we could not pick up with six-man protection. Joe recognized that right away. David Bell recognized that. And I just thought Joe being able to drift, throw off his back foot, that’s a very heady play by a veteran.”
Kevin, all your fourth down decisions paid off today. So how important was it for you heading in just to be aggressive and how rewarding is it to see your guys?
“Yeah, Nate (Ulrich), it’s always about whatever it takes to win that game that you’re playing. So, we felt there were going to be opportunities there where we wanted to be smart, aggressive. We’re not just going to be aggressive for the sake of being aggressive, but we thought there would be opportunities to keep our offense out there and keep a drive going, come away with points against a very good football team.”
Obviously, it would be hard for Joe to be completely mistake-free coming in just three weeks ago, but obviously, he’s got to stay away from those turnovers.
“Yeah, I put him in some bad spots. So again, that’s what I talk about learning from some of these. There’s some concepts maybe that are good, but we got to do a better job of giving the quarterback and all of our players stuff that they got reps on.”
Kevin, you guys have eight guys involved in pass catchers today, kind of similar last week, reading the ball around. How important is that? Kind of moving forward to evolve the pass game.
“You know, we have a lot of guys that we trust. There are guys that we know when the ball is in their hands, they light up and that’s what we’re trying to do and you know, obviously, we got some guys like Amari (Cooper) that are going to be getting a ton of attention from the defense. And that’s a lot of what happened today. A lot of what happens in these games. As Amari gets more attention, it opens up opportunities for the other guys.”
What did you think of David Njoku? And that third and one early is the hope that nobody runs with him when he releases like that.
“That is the hope, yes. We installed it saying, ‘Hope nobody runs with you, Dave,’ [laughter]. In that personnel grouping, it’s very heavy run, I’m sure. So that’s what they were playing so, it’s just to get a guy open like that – the defense obviously made a mistake, but Dave’s a guy, another guy who gets a ton of attention. He always comes through and makes plays for us and made a great play there.”
I think you guys have lost the turnover battle like nine times. Winning today and that stat just has to be pass and be the way that it goes the rest of the way, right?
“It’s so important, Mary Kay. And we can learn, Amari can learn from that rep. I mean, he knows that he’s got to have better technique. It’s not like you just got put away. He’s just got to better with his technique on that play. So we will continue to coach it. We’ll continue to clean up our technique when it’s there. But for our defense to go take the ball away four times, harassing the quarterback, hitting the quarterback, who’s a very, very tough kid, that was a big part of this game.”
When did you know earlier in the week that you’d be defending against (Trevor) Lawrence?
“We assumed the whole time that he’d be the guy.”
You said Friday you trust any of the backups on the O line? Well, you wind up using three guys that aren’t your starting lineup. So what’s it say about them? Just your team in general, that you can do what you did.
“Yeah, that’s the name of the game. Again, December football. Number one, all the guys in there are dealing with something, nobody’s 100%. Unfortunately, you’re going to have some guys in and out of the lineup. But I give credit to our players for staying ready all along that front. Those guys are ready to jump in at a moment’s notice. Nick Harris being a prime example today. And then the coaches, I think the coaches do a great job of making sure all their guys are ready to go.”
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