Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (4.18.23)
On the passing of former Cleveland Browns DE Chris Smith:
“Ok, first of all, my condolences to Chris Smith’s family. That was tough news to hear today. I didn’t know the young man, but I know a lot of people in this building did. I know players played with him, so that’s just way too young. That’s a tragedy. Definitely thinking about his family today.”
On Day 2 of having the guys back in the building:
“Today, talking about football, here we are Day 2 of this offseason program. Excited to have the guys back in the building, as you can imagine. It’s no fun when this building is half empty. It’s meant to have players in there, so it’s just exciting to walk down here to see you guys and there’s players in the locker room. They’re yelling at each other and they’re carrying on and they’re drilling a basketball and whatever else they’re doing. It’s just good to have those guys in here. For us, this is really a foundational time. It’s about getting foundational knowledge of our systems and you really have to start at square one. If you’re going to build on top of it, you got to be real sound in what you’re doing. So that’s really how we focused this offseason program in these first few days. In these first few weeks, just really starting at the basics. Starting with early meetings. It’s onboarding week. We’re not just jumping right into football. We want to talk to each player, talk to them individually about what they can get better at and then dive into the nitty gritty. That’s what we’re doing with this time in the classroom.”
On how last season went and having a fresh start:
“Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. I think for every player, things change year to year. Teams change year to year. We talked about that. You have new faces in this building. You have new coaches, new players. Year to year just feels so different. Certainly, for (QB) Deshaun (Watson) to have that season under his belt, those experiences and be able to learn from everything that’s happened last year, into the past, I think he’ll be a better player for it. I think we’ll all be better for everything we’ve been through.”
On DT Perrion Winfrey:
“I think, as you can imagine, I won’t get into who’s here on a day-to-day basis, that type of thing. It’s a voluntary program. With any of our players, I want them to be safe when they’re not in this building. I want them to be making sure they’re following all rules out outside of this building and making sure they’re being safe in the community. In this particular instance, we’ll gather all the information we need to and monitor it. I’m not ready to go past that, other than to tell you, taking all this in as we go.”
On if Winfrey is a member of the team:
“Yes.”
On what WR Amari Cooper will be able to do since having surgery:
“We’ll take it slow with him. He’s feeling good, but I’m not on the field with those guys for another couple weeks. OTAs aren’t until May. He’s somebody–we will not rush him back to the field. We’re going to make sure that we take our time and utilize all these days to get his body right, get his mind right. When that is, I can’t say exactly.”
On if LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was able to heal his foot without surgery:
“He did not have surgery. He’s in rehab as we speak, as well.”
Continued:
“He’s ramping up. He’s doing a good job down in the training room.”
On the kind of message he gave to the team on the first day:
“It is April, so you do have some time until that first game rolls around. Yesterday was really the first thing that we’re going to do as the 2023 Browns. That’s Day 1. Again, it’s voluntary. We want this to be a place where the guys can come and get a lot of work done in a safe, competitive, fun environment. I don’t think they need Knute Rockne speeches in April. I think they need to understand what they need to do day to day, what each player needs to get better at. I think that’s such a major part of April. Early parts of these programs–find something to get better at, whether that’s mentally or physically.”
On CB Greg Newsome II’s trade rumors:
“I mean, as you know, I don’t put much stock in social media. Sorry, guys. You know, I think Greg’s in a great place. I think he’s excited, like all our guys are, and you take each situation as it comes.”
On how different the offense will be with the additions of WRs Elijah Moore and Marquise Goodwin:
“I think every year, you better be different. I think there’s things that we’ve already gone over with the team that are going to be different. Then, it’s a matter of carving out roles for each of our players. You mentioned Elijah, Marquis, guys that are new to our system. We have got to find out what they do well. I have a pretty good feel for it and understanding, just based on the players and the tape. I think part of our job as coaches is to use this spring to find out what really clicks for our players, the skill guys. What clicks for the quarterback? Then, you streamline all of that into your offense going into the season.”
On if the playbook is changing:
“Honestly, there’s no shortage of plays. You’ll never run out of plays. I think for us as coaches, you spend so much time in the offseason studying other teams, studying yourself, studying college football. Great ideas come from all levels of football, high school, college. They all have good plays. I think it ultimately becomes what can your players own? What can your quarterback own? What can your receivers own? What becomes second nature for them? While we could draw up 1,000 plays, and we have, it’s important that you try to drill down for your players and give them things that they can go practice, things that they can go get really good. You look around the league and sometimes there’s beauty in the simplicity of what people do, so you don’t want to bog your players down with X’s and O’s.
On what DC Jim Schwartz sees in Winfrey:
“I don’t want to single anybody out. I think Jim is excited about a lot of guys along that front, some of the veterans we were able to add in that room. Some guys that have played meaningful snaps. I think we have variety of talent in that defensive line room and I think we’re excited about it.”
On doing things different this year compared to last:
“Every year you’re looking at your program and what you can do better. Maybe we did too much meeting time there and we need more time in walkthrough here. In seven on seven, we want to hit this more. You’re constantly tinkering with that, but the structure of what we do will remain largely intact. Obviously, we’re going to be out there one less week. Cutting off the last week of the offseason program is new for us with that Hall of Fame Game coming.”
On QB Deshaun Watson and how much different it is with so much less uncertainty compared to last year:
“Obviously, that plays into it. Year to year, you have to deal with things and that was one of the things that we had to work through with repetitions and getting both guys (Watson and Jacoby Brissett) ready, so that was unique. There’s always going to be something. You just have to be ready to roll with the punches.”
On if anything less than the playoffs is unacceptable this year:
“I think every building–I hope all 32 clubs would feel like playoffs are a goal every single season. I can promise you 32 clubs are going to tell their teams, like we are going to, that your goal is win the Super Bowl. That has to be your goal every single year. I don’t think that changes year to year.”
On what the feedback has been from the players about Schwartz:
“I would say it’s early. I think a lot of this is getting to know their teammates, some of their new teammates. Obviously, having coach Schwartz in the room yesterday and just his vision for our defense, how we’re going to play and talking through it with each one of the position groups, I think is an exciting part of what this offseason is. It’s getting to know coach Schwartz and his style, how it’s different, how sometimes it’s maybe a little bit the same, but how it’s different. Where do the guys fit into it? I think all of that is exciting when you talk about Year 1 for that defense.”
On getting to know Schwartz:
“Yeah, coach has been great. Like I told you guys when we hired coach, in a lot of ways, we are very similar in terms of our backgrounds. Kind of where we are from and those type of things. We see the game very similarly. I am very, very blessed to have Jim Schwartz. I walk out of my offense–I have coach Schwartz on my left and I have (offensive line coach) Bill Callahan on the right. I am blessed to have the wealth and knowledge and the wealth of experience with those two guys.”
On where WR Jakeem Grant is in his recovery from his ruptured Achilles:
“Disappointed for Jakeem last season and that injury. He has rehabbed like crazy. He is determined. He is doing a great job in the training room to get better. He is of one mind and I appreciate that. He is a pro. We’ll see. You can’t rush those things. An Achilles, you just have to make sure that we’re being safe and appropriate in his rehab, but he is doing a really nice job.”
On if WR Michael Woods’ Achilles injury changes his mind about players doing small group workouts with each other:
“No. That is unfortunate. I feel terrible for Mike. Above anything else, I just feel bad for the kid. It’s always disappointing when you lose a guy to an injury like that. But that is part of playing football–practicing football and weight training, running and those type of things. He didn’t do anything wrong. Nobody did anything wrong. it was just very, very unfortunate.”
On how much can the team accomplish during this portion of the offseason:
“I think a lot. I think we really spend a lot of time to make sure that we are very hyper-efficient with our meeting time with these players. We want to make sure that what we are setting out to cover each day is concise. We are trying to keep it light to keep them engaged. Because you are right, it is voluntary, so we want them to want to be here. We want them to want to be around their teammates and then we can cover ground when it comes to offense, defense or special teams.”
On how important it is to get players to participate as soon as possible in OTAs:
“I think you have to be flexible there. That roster is constantly turning. I think back to the season where you may get a guy showing up on Monday and he is dressing on Sunday, so he has to ramp him up quickly. As coaches, you are always in that mindset of we will get anybody ready in however much time you give us. We are excited about the guys that are in here and working.”
On how does not have a pick until the third round of the draft affect the thinking of the coaching staff:
“I don’t think it affects our process at all when it comes to the coaches’ role and the draft process. (Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager) Andrew (Berry) does a really, really good job of taking everyone’s opinion. I think he runs our meetings efficiently. We spent a lot of time on guys that maybe we see differently and we heard each other out and put the tape back on, if you need to. I don’t think the lack of those top picks has altered that process. Really, at all.”
On how much was done in free agency and trades this offseason and if he was surprised:
“It’s kind of like a season. I think my offseason is Andrew’s in-season. I think he always has a plan and you have to be ready to adjust. Sometimes, trades materialize when you didn’t think they were going to. Free agency, certain guys become available. Andrew went in this season with a strong plan, but I thought he did a nice job, with the help of his staff, of finding opportunities to add good players. It came in a variety of signings. Some of them are big-dollar signings, some not so much. I think you have to be ready to work throughout all of free agency. It’s not really only about just that first and second day. I thought Andrew really did a nice job of having that plan, but then, being ready that first week, the second week and into this draft season. Being ready to just find opportunities to make our team better.”
On an update on LBs Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker:
“No update on anybody’s injury, or rehab, other than to say everybody is doing a great job. Everybody is doing what they are supposed to do. They are coming along, and then I will update you guys as we get closer to getting on the field.”
On if Takitaki or Walker are in Cleveland:
“Everybody is rehabbing kind of own their–I do not want to get into who is here and who is not here, but they are all rehabbing. They are all doing exactly what they are supposed to do.”
On if there will be a low off-the-field tolerance this year:
“As you can imagine, we constantly talk to our players about making great decisions outside our building. That will never change. It is something that we will remind our guys now in the offseason program. I will remind them when the offseason program ends and we send everybody off for a brief rest before training camp. You are constantly talking to your guys about being safe, so that is where I would think about it.”
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