Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (7.23.25)
Opening Statement:
“Good to see everybody, excited to be back. It’s day one for the veterans. The rookies, my other coaches, we’ve been in here for a bit, but getting some really good work done. So, as you know, exciting days for our guys, when you’re back in the building for the first time and getting around the players, and I think the guys have the right attitude, understanding the work that has to get done. We’re excited for the fans to get out here on Friday at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. That’ll be fun. They always bring that energy for us. So, ready for the start of this thing. But we know that there’s so much work that goes into this. On the Quinshon Judkins situation, I don’t have much to add. These are things that we take very, very, very, seriously. We’re gathering information. I know you guys will talk to Andrew (Berry) tomorrow, but I don’t have much to add on that situation. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Can you just say whether you are allowed to have contact with Quinshon during this situation?
“Yeah, I would say, not going to comment much further, Jeff (Schudel), other than we’re gathering information.”
Along those lines, I know you’re not going to speak on this specific topic, but this is another offseason where a situation like this has come up. How concerning is that? I know you address it, but do you feel like you have to do more to emphasize?
“I would tell you again, this is something I take very seriously. We take very seriously. It’s not something that we want to be a part of. We want to be shining the light on the good things that our guys are doing in this community. Having said that, the league mandates a certain amount of education – in all areas, certainly in this area. And we decide to go above and beyond that, and we will continue to do that. And if there’s more ways that we can reach players in any area of education, we’ll continue to look at that.”
Kevin, you have three different start times for your practices. Why is that?
“To mess up your tee times, Tony (Grossi). Yeah, guys, you know, typically we practice at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. There’s guys who like practicing early in the morning every once in a while. So tried to make sure we do that. And then just the way some of our meetings were structured these first couple days felt like we get out here in the afternoon. Obviously, it’s going to be warm today and tomorrow. You need to acclimate to the heat. I know September 7th down at our place, it could be anything. It could be 90, it could be 60 for all I know. So, we do need to acclimate to the heat.”
Kevin, with the uncertainty with Quinshon, do you feel like you need add a running back at camp?
“I think we’ll see over the next few days, weeks, as we gather information, but I don’t know yet.”
Does that, for at least, the time being, move Jerome (Ford) up to, like, he’s your number one guy right now?
“Yeah. I think it’s fair to say.”
You’ve talked about the more intense training camp.
“One more time.”
More intense training camp. How would you describe the changes you’ve made to this training camp?
“Well, you know, we’ll see. I haven’t been out there just yet, but certainly how you structure practice, Tony. The league mandates that you ramp up, and they mandate the amount of time that you’re out here, so you are beholden to that. They mandate when the pads can go on, so you have to abide by that. So, we can’t put pads on until next week. Having said that, there’s things that we’ll do in camp that are maybe – we’ll be out here a little bit more, maybe doing a little bit more from a repetition standpoint than previously.”
Kevin, when it comes to the quarterback competition, what is your ideal timeline to make a decision on that?
“Yeah, I think with all things depth charts, certainly, quarterback. I have a plan that’s in pencil, and we have to take in information every single day, take in how guys are handling certain situations, and then adjust from there. But we’ll get to those type of decisions later on.”
But is it possible that maybe, like, the decision could can linger all the way up until, like, maybe, you know, the week one?
“Until inactives come out in week one, you’re saying? Listen, I think the big thing for me is putting our guys in a position where we can evaluate them. I think they did a great job in the spring. All four of those guys, I will continue to put them in some situations, but ultimately, we’d love to make decisions sooner than later.
As far as reps and rotation with the quarterbacks, will it be the same as minicamp was?
“I wouldn’t say, you know, not the same per se, Tony, but we’ll continue to roll guys in there this week. We got four days before an off day. So, I’ll take a look at how we do it this week, and then we’ll huddle up. I think our off day is on Sunday this week, we’ll huddle up on Sunday and decide how we want to handle them next week.”
Kevin, with two joint practices, how much of a benefit is that with a four-way QB competition?
“I think it’s certainly; the benefit is in that you’re going against a defense that’s not your own. Both sides, our offense, our defense, really get to know the other side of the ball for the Cleveland Browns really well. So, to be exposed to a different look, certainly to be exposed to different players, I think you can gain some valuable information when you’re talking about evaluating players.”
Will you continue to split the fields the way you did two on one, two on another, and how did you like how that worked during OTAs and minicamp?
“We’ll do that for a few periods this week. Today we’ll have one period like that. You know, with anything there’s cost to everything you do. So, you can’t have 40 plays on either field because that’s going to have cost to the rest of your players. So being very intentional about what we ask our guys to do because we’re trying to get -it’s not just about one position. We’re trying to get all these guys ready to play.”
You have a new sports science department basically. You made a lot of changes. Do they contribute to how you schedule practices?
“Yeah, I take in information certainly from sports science, from medical. We kind of look at health and performance as all-encompassing when it comes to those type of discussions and decisions, Tony. So, certainly listen to everybody so I can make good decisions.”
How much does Quinshon’s absence put more on Dylan’s (Sampson) plate, and what have you seen so far from Dylan just in the offseason?
“Yeah, I think Dylan Sampson’s done a great job from the moment he’s gotten here. He’s very conscientious, very intelligent, been very impressed with what he can do in a bunch of different facets of the game. You know, we’re still going to bring him along based on how he performs. So, I think you’ll see again over these next four days, and then into next week as we put some practices under our belt. We’ll be making evaluations on all of our guys.”
Coach, after going 3-14 last season, what’s being done inside the building to ensure that meaningful games will be played in December and January?
“Yeah, I think for us, the focus, it really has to go on day one of practice. We’re not playing games till September. But what we can do is get ready to play a 17-game plus season, and that’s really about how we work, and that’s what the guys are focused on today.”
What’s the outlook for David Bell, and what are you expecting from him?
“Yeah, I think we’ll see. Dave’s doing as, you know, or as you can imagine, a great job rehabbing. So, we’ll just keep seeing how he’s progressing through his rehab.”
Why was he on NFI instead of PUP?
“Yeah, I can’t get into a ton of details there, but Dave’s working very hard.”
Can you say where Mike Hall is? And I know he’s on PUP too, but where he is? Is he doing a nice job?
“I mean, obviously the focus for Mike right now is getting healthy, and he’s working very hard both in the training room and in the weight room. He’s doing a really nice job.”
So, you made some tweaks to the way you’re gonna handle training camp. Will you also tweak the way you use playtime in preseason?
“I think remains to be seen. Again, have a plan. Want to talk through that with the coaches as we get into those type of games. This is the first time, Tony, where we’ve had a preseason practice versus our week one opponent. So how does that factor into some of the decision makings for that game as well? So all things that I’m talking about with our coaches now.”
Myles (Garrett) and Denzel (Ward) both described the tone that they want to see as intense, hungry. And so, for you, especially in this week, this first week, what do you need your team’s tone to be on the field out here?
“Yeah, you know, week one, day one for training camp, everybody’s healthy, excited. It’s been a long off season. So, their focus is where it needs to be. Their focus is where it needs to be. They’re going to push each other on both sides of the ball. But we have a lot of work to do. I think that’s a big thing that our guys are understanding – it’s 46 days till Sunday, September 7th, so that’s a lot of opportunities for us to get better every single day. And that’s what we’re going to do today.”
I know you said you’re going to roll the quarterbacks at least for this first week, but is it okay to start reading into who’s taking what reps?
“Are you asking for permission? I’ll leave that up to you guys, I give you permission to make what you want of it.”
Does it matter who’s taking the first team rep today?
“Yeah, I think you’ll see at a bunch of different positions we will work guys in different areas. So, I know it will get reported on who’s in there first. And it may change. It will change tomorrow. So, I caution you to read too much into it until we get much later on in the process.”
And after the first week, when you reassess how you handle the quarterbacks, does that mean somebody gets reduced reps after the first?
“Yeah, not necessarily. Again, I have opportunity to talk Tommy Rees, Bill Musgrave, our coaches, and how we want to outline this. We’ve had an entire offseason program with our guys. So, what I try to do is have a plan for this first block of four days, have a plan for the next block, but I’m ready to – we are ready to adjust as necessary throughout this thing. And then ultimately, we want to make the best decision for the football team, but we also want to gather information so that I can make that decision.”
Kevin, along the lines of the situation with Quinshon and the education part of it, and you’ve talked before about just like making sure your message doesn’t get stale year to year. Do you worry at all that, like, especially back-to-back years, something like this happens, especially to like a rookie guy coming in, that maybe that message isn’t being received?
“Yeah. I can only tell you that you’re right in that with messaging, you have to make messaging sticky. You have to make ways for guys to understand where you’re coming from. So, I give a lot of credit to Ron Brewer and our player programs group that changes up the programming, if you will, in terms of how you reach players. It’s something that we – again, we take the allegations here very, very, very seriously. And I also want to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power from a coaching staff position, from everybody in our building, that we’re educating our guys in a bunch of different areas. But that’s something that we will always look at – ways to reach our guys, that’s eternal.”
Could we be tackling to the ground at all this summer?
“You could.”
Yeah, really? Would that be one of the changes you’ve considered?
“Could be.”
I’ve got two injury questions. Obviously, you guys put Deshaun (Watson) on the active cut list. Is there any update to his status? You guys haven’t said anything since the initial statement.
“No, I don’t think there’s any update. He’s doing a great job, he’s working very hard, doing a great job in the weight room, in the training room, meeting room. So, everything that he’s able to do right now, he’s doing a great job.”
And then is there anybody who wasn’t placed on PUP or NFI who you expect to be just a little limited in their participation this first week?
“Nobody comes to mind.”
Kevin, in terms of the sports science department and start times, was there any talk about maybe staggering each day? Because I know a couple teams go like 26 hours between practice for recovery time and everything.
“Yeah, we had a conditioning test yesterday at 3 o’clock, so we didn’t want to start prior to that time for today, certainly. And then obviously now you’re worried about today’s practice, how that affects tomorrow. So that factors into the decision making based on what lifts we’re doing with the players, what type of workouts we’re doing, that helps us decide when we want to be out here on the practice field.”
I know you talked a little bit about Mike Hall and just where he’s at, but is that something you guys are anticipating, he could be back sooner off that list or later in camp, or where’s your head about that?
“Yeah, I can’t go much farther past today with all of our injured players. He’s right where he needs to be. He’s working extremely hard. He looks good, but I can’t put a date on it just yet.”
You’ve obviously been talking about the quarterback battle, but there are areas on this team where guys are looking to take a leap or continue their development. How much emphasis is it for guys like MJ (Emerson), Mohamoud Diabate to take that leap and maybe get a strong 2025 season early under their belt?
“Yeah, I think it’s good point about, we have a lot of young players in this football team, and I’ve seen the leap that you mentioned. I’ve seen that from players. Sometimes it happens year one to year two, sometimes it happens year two to year three. So, what we try to focus on in this building is getting better every single day. We take the development of our players very seriously, and I know our guys take it seriously. They’re partners in their development. So, I have a bunch of young guys that I am expecting that they do have that quote unquote leap because of the work that they’re putting in.”
Kevin, this is probably something that Andrew’s going to have to answer for us, but last year when Mike Hall had an incident, he was right back here, right away, back on the football field, just curious, why is Quinshon not able to do that?
“I would let Andrew – ask Andrew tomorrow, Mary Kay (Cabot). I can’t add much to it other than to say all these situations are different, and all we can do is take in all the information that we have available to us. But that’s something I’m sure Andrew can address.”
Kevin, after reviewing OTAs and minicamp as a staff, are there any players who radically zoomed up in the team’s opinion? New players?
“Yeah, I would tell you, the fun part for me, being around this football team in the spring and then seeing how they operate, just coming back in really good shape – this is a group that wants to get to work. They’re not so concerned with things outside of their control. They’re going to push each other. I think that happens when you have your best players that practice hard, and I think that’s something that we have here. We’ll have our best players push all these young guys, but in terms of improvement and who those players are, that’s what training camp’s for, to identify those type of guys so you can, you know, crown a Mr. Berea.”
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