Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.15.25)
Opening Statement:
“Injury front: Really only update is Teven Jenkins is day to day with that shoulder injury. So, we’ll see how he responds in the next 48 hours or so as we get ready for the week. Obviously, that ball game is disappointing to start that way. You’re down 14-nothing the first quarter and then trying to dig out of that hole, that’s hard to do on the road versus a good football team. So, we came up short. We got to own that and watch the tape and look at it and learn from it and find a way to correct some of those things that happen early in the game so you can be in that game and give yourself a chance to win that game. So that’s our focus, but I’ll take any questions you guys got.”
Hey, Kevin, after watching the film, what were your impressions of Shedeur (Sanders), how he played?
“Yeah, obviously some good throws down the field, made some explosive plays. There’s definitely plays that he wants back, that he can be better, whether it’s a decision or a ball or those types of things. But I thought he fought till the end and has the right attitude that he’ll just keep learning from all of these experiences.”
And those two interceptions, not the one to Jerry (Jeudy), the other two, what did you see on those? Was the first one a good play by the defense or should he see the guy dropping there?
“Yeah, it’s always – I think you learn from all those, Scott (Petrak), and at times you tip your cap to the defense and you say they made a play, and other times you talk to the quarterback, hey, could be footwork, could be who you’re keying, could be decision, all those things. So, I do think you have to give them credit and say that they’re making plays, but I think how we coach our guys is, ‘hey, next time we did it, here’s some things that we would do differently.’ But obviously that’s going against a good defense that takes the ball away. You know, you got to give them credit as well.”
Kevin, after a sort of a blowout loss like that and where you guys stand with everything right now, have you been given any assurances by management that your job is safe or anything like that?
“Yeah, I don’t get into those type of things, Mary Kay (Cabot). I would just tell you my focus, our football team’s focus is solely on the Buffalo Bills and obviously, watching the tape today, that’s our focus, but that’s all we really care about.”
So, you haven’t asked for anything like that, for any kind of a vote of confidence that you’ll be able to continue on after this or anything?
“Yeah, I’m not going to get in those type of things, Mary Kay. Not my focus.”
Kevin, I wanted to ask for a clarification on what happened with Shedeur’s wristband yesterday after you went up podium. He said that a card fell out, but the sideline reporter for Fox said that cards were being swapped out. Like, can you provide some clarity on it, seems like two different answers from you guys?
“Yeah. What happened was the – obviously had the wristband. It was good on the first drive. At some point after the first drive, one of the cards must have fallen out of Shedeur’s wristband. So, when he went to that panel to look for it, it wasn’t in there. Obviously grabbed it. You know, we have Bailey (Zappe) on the sideline, have Dillon (Gabriel) on the sideline where he can swap out and grab their wristband. So, you always have to be prepared for those types of things. You have to be prepared for if the headset goes out. You have to have those automatics that you have to get to if the headset goes out. And similarly, while that’s very rare, you have to be ready if something like that were to occur.”
And that’s the reason why he had to kind of get the call from you on that one play. Like, I guess the headset had gone out at that point, right?
“That’s right, exactly. So just I was giving them the wristband number, but like I said, the coach to quarterback wasn’t out. So, you can still communicate that way until 15 seconds.”
Kevin, with all the injuries you have on your offensive line, I don’t know if any of those guys will be back. But how do you prepare a game plan knowing that your line is not what you hoped it would be?
“Yeah, I don’t look at it necessarily that way, Jeff (Schudel). Just the guys who are available, come Sunday, we go to battle with them, and we work really hard during the week to make sure we have contingency plans and guys are ready to go, backups stay ready, and that’s what we do.”
How does that affect your run blocking yesterday in particular?
“Yeah, I would just tell you, anybody who’s in there, we trust them to get their jobs done. And we as coaches are always thinking about ways that we can put our guys in positions to have success.”
Kevin, kind of off that, similar with the offensive line. In particular, the injuries that you have, how does that maybe change the way that you are able to evaluate different positions outside of just the offensive line? I know that these are things that come with the game, but when you’re trying to evaluate the production level of a running back or a quarterback, how do you navigate that with maybe a line that’s not full of starters that you typically would have?
“Yeah, I think again, for us, Cam (Camryn Justice), is the guys that are in there, we trust them. We’re focused on the game that’s in front of us. We’re worried about getting production in the next ballgame, not so worried about ‘evaluation.’ We’re just trying to make sure that we give our guys a chance in every one of these ball games.”
And then when you’re looking for that production for that next week, when you have games where Jerry Jeudy doesn’t come down with that ball, obviously want him to hold himself accountable, you want to hold him accountable. What does that look like in terms of making sure it doesn’t spiral into something while still maybe holding players accountable for things that happen on the football field?
“Yeah, I think our players understand this game. It’s a 60-minute game, and there’s plays in every game that you’re going to want back. From a coaching perspective, from a playing perspective, all we ask and what our guys give is everything they got. Not to say that we’re going to be perfect, but we’ll just keep fighting when there’s time on the clock.”
I also wanted to ask about the pressure rate in Shedeur’s four starts. I think it’s at 43%, which is, you know, top two in the NFL. Obviously, like, the offensive line has gone through a lot of changes, injuries and whatnot, but when you’re looking at it like, how much is falling on the offensive line, how much is it guys not, separating early enough. How much is it Shedeur holding onto the ball? Like, what are you seeing that’s resulting in the highest-pressure rate in the NFL in his four starts?
“Yeah. Again, I think it goes back to each one of these games presents different challenges. Each defense is different in how they’re playing the game, how they deploy fronts, how they deploy coverages, if you will. So, we’re focused on trying to give our guys a game plan that we can go execute, play fast, and go find a way to score points. And there’s gonna be varying factors to each one of those games, whether it’s the opponent, whether it’s guys that are available or unavailable. And we just got to do our jobs and give our guys a game plan to go let them play fast.”
So, there hasn’t been, like, a commonality or common link that you’ve seen in Shedeur’s four starts that you kind of focus on in terms of limiting the pressure rates?
“Yeah, obviously our focus for our passing game is to keep the quarterback clean and obviously get the ball out on time. There’s various ways and various play types to get into Daniel (Oyefusi), to try to mitigate pass rush, but it’s so dependent on the team you’re playing and the challenges that they present.”
Yeah, Kevin, just wondering, with Bill Musgrave talking to us about how Deshaun (Watson) kind of stepped-up last week and he took on some scout team and some other things like that. As you guys move closer through that 21-day window, are you getting ready to or, you know, put him on the 53-man roster anytime soon?
“Yeah, I would say not my focus, Mary Kay. For right now, I’m very pleased with the progress that Deshaun’s making on the field, in the classroom. He’s doing a really good job.”
Hey, Kevin, do you expect any of the guys that didn’t play Sunday due to injuries to be able to go this week?
“I’m hopeful on some of these guys, Scott, but not entirely sure yet. I think we gotta get through the next couple days, see how everybody’s responding to some of the rehab that we’re doing, and I’ll have a better answer for you on Wednesday.”
And then with the run game, it hasn’t been consistent throughout the year right. There’s been good weeks and bad weeks, one of the bad ones was yesterday. Have you been able to identify just why it hasn’t had the consistency I’m sure you’re looking for?
“Yeah, you know, I wish it was one thing, and you could fix one thing, but we just, in order to have success via the air or the ground, you have to be really sound in everything you’re doing. And it’s on us as coaches to give these guys a plan that they can go execute and then obviously, you want to give your guys…put them in advantageous positions. Sometimes you’re going to go up against good defenses and that type of thing. But that is definitely a focus for us, is finding a way to be efficient and explosive on the ground.”
Kevin, what are the challenges for you as a head coach to keep your players playing hard in a season when you guys are now 3-11?
“Yeah, obviously we know what our record is. We understand that. We don’t hide from that. You own it. But we also know how important this game is to us and the work that has to go into it each week and what we pour into it each week. The payoff is going out there on Sunday and playing and coaching. So, we get where we are not going to hide from that. But that’s not, part of what we do is going to compete, and that will never change.”
Hey, Kevin, like, when you look at these four stars with Shedeur, it seems like teams have been kind of reluctant to blitz him. And maybe that’s because of what he showed in that (Las Vegas) Raiders game, beating the cover zero and blitz like that, but they’re playing a ton of zone coverages. So, what has maybe given him and the offense struggle when facing those zone coverages? And what do you have to be better at in terms of executing in the pass game against those zone coverages? And maybe why are teams playing like, almost 50% zone coverage against him instead of blitzing and playing man?
“I can’t speak to the why. I would just tell you in the pass game, whether it’s man, whether it’s zone, whether it’s one-high, two-high, blitz, no blitz, sim blitz, all the above. Obviously, we have to be on the same page in all areas, whether it’s protection, whether it’s routes run, decision making, you name it. So, we’re working very hard certainly to get everybody in those areas. And when you’re going up against zone defense and again, various types of zones, but when you’re going up against zone defense, you have to be great in those zones and at your route depth, at where you’re supposed to be and quarterbacks making great decisions versus those zones. So, it’s a multifaceted to have success versus zone in the pass game.”
Kevin, just wondering, you talked a little bit about this after the game yesterday, but you kind of alluded to the fact that a rookie quarterback is going to have maybe a game like this or is going to have some setbacks, and it’s not always just going to be an upward trajectory when you’re developing these young guys. So just wanted you to address that notion a little bit. And, you know, was a game like this maybe expected or, you know, did you anticipate it? And why is the earth not, why is the sky not falling after something like that?
“Yeah, sky’s not falling. I think with young players, Mary Kay, there’s growing and there’s learning that happens. And, you know, look at history for, I don’t care what the position is, but look at history in terms of young players, and sometimes there’s moments that aren’t going to go your way, and you learn from those. So that’s no different for any position, no different for Shedeur versus any other player. There’s going to be really good games. There’s going to be games you want back. There’s going to be plays you want back, great plays. So, I look at it for a young player to be able to go into a really tough spot, have some really good moments, some moments that you want back. We’ll learn from those, we’ll grow from those, and we’ll be better from those.”
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