Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (12.8.25)
Opening Statement:
“All right, injury front. Just an update: Ethan Pocic will be out for the season. He’s getting surgery, he tore his Achilles. So obviously feeling for Ethan. He’s a huge part of our team, of our offense. We’ve relied heavily on him, having a veteran center in there. So disappointed for him, but I know he will bounce back. He’s got the right attitude, as you guys would imagine, but disappointed for Ethan. Obviously that game doesn’t go our way. And just trying to talk through it with the team this morning on the things that…you know, the reasons for that and the things that we can do better, the things that we have to do better as a football team – offense, defense, special teams, player, coaches, things that we have to improve upon in games like that. So, it’s frustrating. We got to learn from it and then we’ll move on to Chicago. With that, I’ll take any questions.”
Yeah, Kevin, just wondering, is Shedeur Sanders your starter now for the rest of the season?
“Yes.”
Okay. And what is your thinking behind that?
“I think all along, Mary Kay (Cabot), as you know, with our quarterbacks and our young players, you’re always making sure that you’re making the right decisions for our guys. And I think he has constantly and consistently gotten better in each one of these games and how he’s approached his game. He’s been working very hard, so I feel good about where his development is heading. He knows there are always going to be plays that he can be better and those types of things, but he’s very intentional about getting better each and every game he’s out there.”
Has anything surprised you about his development over these past three starts?
“No. I don’t know surprise is the right word, Mary Kay. I think again, we’ve been around each other now going back to April, so I’ve seen constant improvement in a bunch of areas. But I also saw in that game some areas of improvement in some areas that we asked them to improve upon. And I think that’s the fun part of coaching is developing players and giving them the tools to improve in certain areas, if you will. And I think the fun part is when you have players like Shedeur, like our rookies, whomever it may be, that are very intentional about their own development as well.”
Yeah, Kevin, I wanted to ask about the two-point conversion philosophy. I know that you guys use the probabilities and all those types of things when making those particular decisions about going for two. I guess my question is, like, you guys have been doing this for a long time, and the wins and losses don’t seem to be equating that. My question is how much of game flow and that factor in and can they outweigh just the probability, “Hey, you’re down 14, you just scored, go ahead and go for two.” So it informs you whether or not you should kick one or two on that second touchdown. I’m trying to understand, like, the process and the philosophy there with going for two on that first touchdown scored when you’re down 14.
“Yeah, well, I think you understand the philosophy behind it. I think I have to go into every game understanding our team, their team, the matchups, the plays that we have available to us. Do we like them? Do we not? Those are the type of decisions that factor into the game. Obviously, you take all that information in Daryl (Ruiter), as you know, in all your decisions that you make, but ultimately you’re making decisions based on the game that you’re playing and what’s in front of you.”
And then just a question about Shedeur and just his progress, similar to what Mary Kay was asking. The fact that he put up four touchdowns in just his third start versus what he did in that first start at Las Vegas. Just how pleasantly surprised are you with his progression in such a short timeline, considering maybe how far he might have been behind in training camp and maybe the first quarter of the season.
“Yeah, again, not that maybe the terms I’d use, other than tell you I’ve been really impressed by his work ethic. And that’s going back to since the moment he got here. That’s what we’ve been striving to work with him and with all of our guys. As you know, it’s been a huge area for us is player development of all of our players. And I think the guys, when they embrace it, that’s the fun part where you get to see these guys making strides. So, he’s still very early into his career, and he would tell you the same. You want to have constant improvement in everything you’re doing. There’s moments in these games that come up that are hard to replicate in practice. You can talk through them on tape, you can talk through them in a walk through, and then you get the rep in a game, and that’s the most valuable learning tool you can have. And I think he will only take all of that and use that to his development moving forward.”
Hey, Kevin, a couple other injury questions. Do you have an update on Denzel (Ward) and David (Njoku) coming out of the game?
“Yeah, no update other than to say we’ll see how they are come Wednesday.”
Jack (Conklin) still in the protocol?
“Yes.”
Wyatt (Teller) out this week?
“Yes.”
With time to reflect on it, the idea of going with the hot hand with Shedeur on that last two-point conversion, like, do you have any second thoughts about it? I understand, you know, why you went to the Wildcat, but the fact that he’d been playing so well, does that make you think twice about it?
“Listen, when you come up short like you do, you think about everything and what you could do differently. Obviously, when you get in those moments you have the calls ready to roll and plays that you’ve talked about pre-game and throughout the week. There are going to be times where you want a call back. There’ll be times where you have success, and it didn’t come off exactly how you wanted it, but bottom line is, we came up short in both those tries. And that’s where I have to look at it and say, are there things that we can do better? And that’s my job, to look at it constantly.”
Hey, Kevin, I wanted to ask you about, with Ethan out, I’m assuming Luke (Wypler) will be the starter against Chicago?
“Yes.”
Is there some benefit, at least in the transition, that Shedeur has worked a lot with Luke over the course of the off season and everything, you know, in terms of that connection between the quarterback and center?
“Yeah, I understand the question. Potentially, but I think those guys all work really well together. You know, throughout this offseason, Chris (Easterling), they’ve all kind of gotten reps with different guys. So, I think Luke’s somebody that, when you’re playing that position, the center position, we put a lot on your plate and when you’re working with Po (Ethan Pocic), and you’re Po’s backup, you really have to lock in and understand all that. And Luke has worked very hard, so he’s done a nice job of making sure he’s ready to roll in any instance that we may need him. And I think he’ll be ready to roll in this one.”
One last question then, on Shedeur and just his pocket presence and one of the issues it seemed like he had early on was drifting a lot and drifting backwards. It seems like he’s doing a better job, more consistent job of staying within the pocket, getting out obviously when he needs to. But just how have you seen him grow in that regard in his game?
“Yeah, that’s definitely been an area of focus for him that I think he continues to improve. I think there were multiple plays in that game where there was really good evidence of really good footwork. Footwork that you can coach off of that you want to, you know, point out that this is exactly drill work. This is what you’re working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s showing up here on Sunday.”
Was it a mistake not to start Shedeur earlier?
“Yeah, I’m not going to get into those type of things, Tony (Grossi). I’m obviously focused on what’s in front of us.”
About the second two-point conversion, (Joel) Bitonio said after the game you guys were repping that play back in Philadelphia. I remember seeing it myself. But the fact is (Quinshon) Judkins was not with you in Philadelphia. So, did he get reps Friday on that play?
“He did.”
How’d he do?
“We ran the play, so, you know, Tony (Grossi), bottom line is we’ll always look at things that we can do better. But I trust our guys. We work hard during the week to rep plays that we may play that you may show in the game. But that was not the issue there.”
Hey, Kevin, I had a question about the first two-point conversion attempt. So, I guess following up on what Chris was asking. Was there an issue with the snap with Luke being in at that point and Ethan having come out. And was there any confusion just on the snap itself?
“Yeah, no confusion on the snap. Obviously, you know, center-quarterback exchanges, you don’t want them to show up in a game like that. Those guys have had plenty of reps together. You get reps before and after a series, those types of things. So that was unfortunate for that to happen at that moment.”
And then like when the ball came out, it looked like kind of like multiple guys on both teams just standing around for a second or two. Like was there just confusion on like the rules or what do you think happened?
“We actually just watched a play on Friday from the Miami, New Orleans game where there was an interception that went back on a two-point play which, you know, is a pick two. You get two points for it. So, we just looked at that. It appeared to me like we touched him down. Now we didn’t look at it any closer because the result was what it was. But the guys know the rules there.”
Hey, Kevin, I have two questions. Two years ago, your special teams were really good. Why do you think there have been so many issues this year?
“Yeah, it’s something that we look at really, week to week, Jeff (Schudel) on things that we can improve upon. Obviously disappointed in yesterday and some of the things that happened yesterday that can’t happen, but that’s something we look at every week.”
And then your defense has been so good against the run, what happened there yesterday?
“Yeah, like you said, we’ve been very good in that area. It was uncharacteristic for us. We’ll get back to work.”
Hey, Kevin, kind off of that run stop and defense question. Obviously, your first game without Maliek Collins, was any of that felt, maybe the loss of him and trying to, as you said, you can’t replace him. You just have to have guys step up for him. Maybe the ramping up and getting them used to that kind of role.
“You know, Cam (Camryn Justice), obviously, Maliek’s a big part of who we are and our success and our culture and all those things. So, he’s – of course you’re going to miss him, but we expect the guys that are in there to do their job.”
Sticking on the defense. Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire were able to go into that one. Did you see them need to maybe ramp up a little bit coming back from their injuries? And what are you expecting from them in these last four?
“I thought there were some good moments from both those guys. Obviously, when you’re coming off injury, you’re definitely only going to improve. So, I think they’ll be even better next week.”
Kevin, just on analytics in general, because I know everybody uses them a lot throughout the league now, especially you guys. How much do you balance the analytics and the numbers over maybe having a young roster when it comes to making the decisions, like going for two and all of that?
“Yeah, I don’t know if the young roster necessarily factors into that decision, Joe (Reedy). I think every decision you make is based on, I mean, you can say analytics, but you know how good the defense is on a short yardage, what their percentage is of stopping the other team – the statistics, and use that to make your decisions. And then you look at the matchups and your players versus their players. So I think it’s certainly a tool, and it’s information to take in, but I think there’s so much that goes into decisions when you’re making them. The decision to go for two when you’re down, you know, to start the series at 14, that’s also based on the plays you have available to you, the matchups, those type of things. So I don’t think it’s ever just a, a black and white picture if you will.”
Then just game Sunday with the 230 receiving yards after the catch. It seems like Shedeur, during his three starts, has been good about finding the open receivers and letting them operate in open space. Is that one of the areas of his game where you’ve seen progress too? Where he’s been able to get yards after the catch, where maybe you didn’t early in the season?
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t compare it to early in the season. I would tell you when you talk about RYAC and those type of things, I think there’s a lot of dimensions to that. But certainly the accuracy of the throw factors into it. When you put the throw or the receiver or the tight end or the running back doesn’t have to break stride, that allows you to maximize your speed throughout the route and into the play. And then it’s the receivers winning versus man, I think Jerry’s (Jeudy) route, his big touchdown versus man, he won and he won with a lot of separation. So I think it all factors into it.”
Just wondering, Kevin, now that you guys are officially eliminated from playoff contention, what’s your confidence level that you have the infrastructure, the leadership group in place to make sure that these guys are going to be out there just fighting all the way to the end and playing as hard as they have been?
“Yeah, we know it’s in front of us, Mary Kay. And that’s all that we’ll focus on. We got a big test this week in Chicago. That’s the most important thing in front of us.”
When you guys broke down the 53 roster in September with 13 or 14 rookies, first year players, how much of an understanding was there in the organization that this was going to be tough to win with that many rookies, and has your expectations overall been higher or lower than what we’re getting here at 3-10?
“Yeah. All I would tell you, Tony, is that the guys who are on the roster are guys that I trust, we trust. I don’t get caught up in that type of thing other than to say that these young players that we’re counting on continue to get better and they got the right attitude.”
I guess it relates to what Tony just asked you, but given you’re playing so many rookies, especially on offense in key roles, is it just a cost to doing business that there’s going to be mistakes? And sometimes those mistakes are in really critical moments.
“I mean, in the sense that young players make mistakes, sure. But we trust our guys. You know, these guys… part of making a mistake is you’re learning from it and you’re going to get better at it. I’ve told you guys many times and this is still true, that this rookie class, especially the rookie class, because we’re talking about them, they have the right attitude, they’ve worked like crazy since the moment they’ve been here. They keep the main thing, the main thing. And that’s what we’ll continue to do. We’ll just focus on the work and what’s in of front of us.”
And I guess specifically after like the two point play with Quinshon (Judkins), what do you say to him when it doesn’t go like you guys wanted it to go?
“Yeah, I’ll keep all those conversations between our guys internal. But we trust Quinshon, I trust all of our young guys and we’ll just continue to work at it and that’s what we’ll do.”