Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.4.24)
Opening Statement:
“Obviously a short week going into Pittsburgh. Just played these guys a couple weeks ago, so that’s the unique piece of this for both teams. So, division, team that we know well, they know us well and having just played them, it won’t be the same. You don’t pick up where you left off. There’s going to be adjustments that they make, adjustments that we make. There’s guys that will play in this game that weren’t available previously and vice versa. So, we have to really go to school on them again, have a good week of practice and then go on the road and try to find a way to win. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
I saw that Ced (Cedric Tillman) was on the ‘not practice’ list. Is there a chance that he practices and plays this week still, or no?
“I’d say there’s a chance, yes.”
And then Michael Woods played, got a lot of reps the other night, I think his first time playing since the Achilles. What did you see out of him?
“Well, Mike is a guy that we’ve always trusted. He’s played for us in games before and performed well. He’s been, unfortunately, unlucky with some injuries over the course of his career, but is healthy, knows what to do. We move him around in different spots. He has a good rapport with Jameis (Winston), with them having had a lot of reps together throughout the spring and summer. But I thought he did a nice job in that game. Did his job, ran the route, caught the ball when it came to him.”
One of those players who might be in this game that wasn’t in the last one is Alex Highsmith. How good is he and what kind of an impact do you think he would make?
“He’s outstanding. Having gone against him a bunch of these years. He’s terrific as a pass rusher, plays the run hard, great effort. So, we have our work cut out for us for sure.”
Yeah, Kevin, what is it about Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin that they can just play so many varieties and styles of football? From the low scoring, grind it out in the fourth quarter type of games to they can win shootouts as well?
“Well, I think the big thing with the Steelers, certainly this season, is they’re doing a great job of taking care of the ball on offense and taking it away on defense. I believe they’re plus 15 this season and that allows you to be in position to win a lot of games in the fourth quarter. So, I think that’s the biggest piece of it. And then it’s the NFL. You’re going to be in a variety of different games. There are going to be the high scoring games. There are going to be the low scoring games. And setting yourself up with that turnover margin I think is most important.”
And I know you mentioned that with different faces and whatnot in this particular game, but just Russell Wilson and what you saw from him in that game a week and a half ago. I know the second half was a snow bowl, but what can you take away from the first half as you prepare to defend him and that offense in this game?
“Obviously a great player. They’re utilizing him in a way that’s conducive to his skill set. He has a great deep ball. He gets the ball out of his hands in the quick game, makes great decisions. You have to rush him really well and stay in lane with lane discipline because he’s athletic, he can break the pocket and make plays. So, really requires you to play with great discipline.”
I just want to ask about George Pickens and what you guys saw from him a couple weeks ago and then his ability to make big plays. Plus, obviously he can be an emotional player and a bit prone to penalties. So just how you game plan for that aspect of him.
“Yeah, having faced him a bunch of times now, last few years, he’s a challenge in the past game like you mentioned. He’s a contested catch player where he’s always open. The quarterback always feels like he’s open. He can throw it into coverage and they feel like he’s going to come down with the ball. They’ve expanded his routes and where he’s running them, how he’s running them throughout this offense this season. So he’s a very big challenge. You have to understand where he is at all times.”
What about (Nick) Herbig and what you guys saw from him filling in for Highsmith and then obviously he made a really nice play last week against the (Cincinnati) Bengals, so how dangerous can he be?
“Yeah, he’s a very good player. We understand his talent. Another guy that has unique ability to rush the passer, can bend really well, can get to the quarterback and then plays with tremendous effort.”
Hey, Kevin, you mentioned the pass protection yesterday. What do you think has been the key to that being improved over the last few weeks?
“I really think, Jeff (Schudel), it’s a bunch of things. I don’t think it’s ever one thing. When you’re talking about pass protection, it really encompasses so many things. What are we asking the quarterback to do? Is it a seven step, hold the ball, take two hitches and throw it down the field? Is it quick game? Is it five step? How many guys are you keeping in protection? Are you helping via chips? How are the receivers getting open? So, it is just so involved and then the quarterback’s doing a good job making decisions and being where they’re supposed to be in the pocket, I think is key. Obviously, we talked about it the other night, you drop back that many times, you’re going to put yourself at risk of taking sacks and being in those positions. But I think everybody kind of worked in concert and that’s really important.”
Hey, Kevin, a couple questions about Jerry (Jeudy). The other night you pointed to his intelligence as why he’s able to play in so many different spots for you guys. I guess what goes into that for a receiver to be able to line up and pretty much wherever you want to put him, how difficult can that be?
“It can be difficult. I will tell you, first of all, just doing my research into Jerry when we were first thinking about adding him, calling some of his former coaches and they talked about how intelligent he was and how you can put a lot on his plate, and he can handle that. Different systems have different rules and different words that these guys have to get used to, and it’s a challenge. And sometimes you’re playing the X position, sometimes you’re the F, sometimes you’re the Z. You have to know what you are when you enter the huddle. Then you have to listen to where you’re going to line up and ultimately is there a motion that’s involved. So, it’s very involved. I give Jerry a ton of credit. I think his coaches do a great job in preparing him and all of the players. But when you’re talking about being a player that’s going to move around both in the formation and via motion or shift, you have to have that intelligence to be able to handle that.”
For you and Ken (Dorsey) as play designers, how does it help that your number one receiver is a guy that you can kind of put anywhere? The guy that’s going to get a bunch of targets. How does that change things for you guys?
“I think it just speaks to versatility, honestly. I think there are some guys that are best if you leave them at their position. Sometimes it’s, ‘Hey, leave them on this side of the field.’ Sometimes it’s don’t motion them. They’re best by just staying static. So, I think when you have a player with versatility, it does allow you to get on the board and say, ‘Hey, we could move him over here.’ So, it does give you as a play designer, gives Ken the ability to move him around for sure.”
We haven’t had much interaction with Roy Istvan, so I wanted to ask you if what we saw on Hard Knocks was a typical meeting or was that staged up in front of the cameras? There were a lot of F-bombs in there addressing his position. Not a smart Alec question, just want to know is what we’ve seen Roy Istvan’s personality?
“Well, first of all, as it relates to Hard Knocks, nothing staged. I think we’re just — you’re coaching and what they pick up, they pick up. Roy does a great job in our meetings and each one of our coaches has a different area that they present to the players and sometimes you get excitable.”
Just wondering, teams, like I heard Mike Tomlin say that they didn’t do a good enough job of stopping Myles Garrett. It seems like some teams, no matter what they do, can’t stop him. Other teams kind of can shut him down. So, if a team decides they’re going to commit all these resources to him, can they most of the time handle it or why is it so inconsistent like that?
“Well, I don’t want to get to the bottom of it here. I would tell you, everybody with a player of Myles’s caliber, everybody has a plan for him per se and it can come in a variety of different things. Sometimes teams like to run at a great player, sometimes teams like to run away from a great player. That can vary by how they view the player. There are certain things you can do from a protection standpoint, but I also think it has to match up with what you believe in or what your philosophy is on offense, per se. So, he’s always going to get attention from every team, but how they implement those plans will vary.”
Browns have not won a regular season game in Pittsburgh since 2003. Obviously, they always have a good team, but why is it so tough to play there?
“I can’t speak all the way back to then Tom (Withers), but I could just speak for having gone against them, they’re well coached, they have good players, and you go on the road, it’s always a challenge in front of opposing teams’ fans. So, we look forward to the challenge. That’s the fun part of this business is going on the road and trying to find a way to get a win.”
And I don’t want to get too deep into the weeds on this, but crossing patterns, you see them more and you offensive guys are good at getting guys open with like whatever kind of screen or whatever. Particular to like MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.) on Monday night, he seemed to get caught behind a little bit on some of those over the middle crosses. Is that tough for a young player to kind of figure out? Is it almost like an NBA player learning how to go through a screen where you just to try to avoid the traffic?
“It’s a good question. I think when you’re playing man coverage in particular, there’s such a variety of crossing routes. There’s the low version of a crossing route that comes with pick players that aren’t really picking but are trying to move you off your spot, if you will. It also comes in the deep part of the football field. And then you have to be ready because there’s moves off of those deeper routes. So, think of a far cross that the player then slams on the brakes and comes out the other side of it and is faking the far cross, if you will. So, there’s certainly tools that we give our players when they are playing man coverage in terms of the phase that you want to be with said player; how close you want to be to them, on what hip you want to be on them, and then understanding where your help is. That’s a big piece of this as well. But it’s when you’re playing man coverage and teams are going to utilize a lot of picks and crossing routes and when you’re playing zone coverage, they’re typically going to try and get in stationary positions against your zone, and we understand that, and we have our tools to try to defend against that as well.”
How do you coach your guys to handle any of the extra stuff that comes with playing George Pickens, especially given how that Thursday night game ended?
“Yeah, we’re so focused on us, Scott (Petrak). This is a great rivalry. It’s two teams that play hard. We’re excited about the challenge for Sunday.”
And then you mentioned Russell on the deep balls. Why is he such a good deep, I know that he always has been, but like what makes him such a good deep ball thrower?
“I don’t know. I’ve seen it. I think I mentioned you guys before, I was fortunate to coach in the Senior Bowl in whatever his year was, maybe 2012 and he threw a great deep ball back then. I mean, Russell has really, really big hands. That ball looks small in his hands. That may contribute to it. He’s a baseball player so he’s always had a great stroke and how the ball comes out of his hand, but that’s always been a natural part of his game.”