Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (7.28.25)

Opening Statement

“Exciting day for the organization. We have Rainbow Day out here. University Hospitals is an amazing partner with us and the things that they’re doing in the community is incredible. So, we have some patients out here from pediatrics that are going to get to watch practice and meet our players. But it’s a special relationship. I’m fortunate, as you can see, my sweet kicks I got on here designed by Jordyn Cunningham, who I just met over here. She’s a patient, and she designed some sneakers for me for today. So, I’m very much obliged. But really cool day for the organization. But with that I’ll take any questions.”

 

Tell us what happened to Kenny (Pickett). When did it happen? What’s the outlook for him? 

“It happened at the end of practice there a couple days ago. Felt something. So, we’ll just treat it. You know, for any player, you’re disappointed when you can’t be out there with any injury. But he’ll be fine. He’ll rehab, he’ll get back out very quickly.”

 

Do you have a timeline?

“I don’t have a timeline. You know, with something like this, we’ll see how it goes. But his mindset, my mindset, will just go day to day.”

 

Did he have a MRI on it or anything? 

“Yes.”

 

Did he have a tear or anything?

“Yeah. I’m not going to get into specifics on the injury other than to tell you he’s going to do everything in his power to get back ASAP.”

 

What does it mean to your rep rotation? 

“Yeah, obviously everybody will get a little bit more because of how you’re going to distribute those reps.”

 

Are they going to break down into different fields again?

“You know, we’re not going to two-spot. The plan was just a two-spot in the first four days of camp. We two spotted in the offseason quite a bit. So, at this point we’re not planning on doing more of that.”

 

(Jerome) Ford back on the field?

“Jerome is getting extremely close. Saw him yesterday. He’ll be a participant, but in a limited capacity.”

 

Kevin, I know you said there might not be changes to the rotation anyway, but did you know ahead of time? Like did you know early enough that you didn’t really have to think about how your four-man rotation would have changed? 

“Yeah, I mean [I] knew coming off the practice field and then knew the severity of it. Obviously as we talked through it that he’s going to miss today and maybe a couple days, but we’ll reevaluate it after this block, if you will. But, you know, again, disappointed for Kenny, but, you know, he’s here, he’s getting better, and we’ll see when he’s back out there.”

 

He’s been getting so many of the first team reps. Do those all go to Joe (Flacco)? Do you divide them by two or three?

“It really depends on the period and what we’re trying to get accomplished in there, but Joe (Flacco) would get the majority of them.”

 

And how about, how does this then trickle down to Dillon (Gabriel) and Shedeur (Sanders)? Does it mean a lot more work with the ones for Dillon (Gabriel) and maybe some twos for Shedeur (Sanders)? 

“A little bit of both, Mary Kay (Cabot). I think it’s really dependent on the period, what we’re trying to accomplish in that period, and just moving these guys around, giving, giving them some more exposure.”

 

Kevin, to that end, Dillon (Gabriel) had seemed to get a little bit more work with the ones the last couple of days last week. What did you see specifically in those periods out of him, and was it just to kind of throw him in there with him and kind of see how he handled them? 

“Yeah, I think all these guys have to learn from every single rep, whether they’re in there or not. I think that’s something we’ve talked about at length, and I’ve talked with you guys about that, and I thought Dillon (Gabriel) did a nice job with the reps that he had. There were some really good moments and then some moments that are great teaching moments. I think that’s so much of where we are in training camp is making sure that as a mistake is made, we don’t make the same mistake again.”

 

What’s your philosophy this year on padded practices? How intense will you get? Will you hit much? 

“Yeah, once the pads go on, Tony (Grossi), they’re on today. We’ll take a day off tomorrow, put them back on Wednesday. But really, you still need to practice safely. So, we’ll thud the runners, meaning we’ll fit up the runners. We won’t tackle to the ground in this practice. But it is important that when you get the pads on, offense, defense, special teams, you have to get acclimated to your pads as you know. Quarterbacks throwing in shoulder pads, people catching shoulder pads, etc. But by the same token, while, yes, it’s physical, we don’t want a bunch of guys on the ground. That’s not the intention of putting the pads on. It is still to use our technique and still to be smart when it’s Browns versus Browns.”

 

It looked to me like Kenny (Pickett), the lights were really kind of coming on. He was showcasing his mobility a little bit. I thought he had a nice first four days. What were your thoughts on how he did? 

“Yeah, I thought Kenny (Pickett) had a strong block there. Like you mentioned, Mary Kay (Cabot), he did use his mobility a couple times there and is a fast player. He can really run. So, we’ll make sure that he heals up nice and fast and then get him back out there. But I thought he had a good four days.”

For the first day of pads, it’s obviously going to ramp up. But for today specifically, what do you want them to accomplish? 

“Well, I think kind of like we’re saying, you know, we want the players to get comfortable in their pads. There is an element of literally just throwing and catching, which you’re not even you’re not allowed to do in your shoulder pads previous to now. So getting used to it. And then the physicality will ramp up. We’re not in those soft shells anymore, so you’ll hear it a little bit more, the physicality of it. But that’s all part of training camp. It’s been going on for a pretty long time.”

 

Were you waiting for full pads to do any live field goals? 

“No, not waiting per se. We did some field goal work the other day.”

 

Have them lining up or just kicking?

“We did both sides. I mean, we had we had field goal and field goal block.”

 

Kevin, David Njoku told us today that he never really felt healthy after week one last year. So I guess how impressive was it that he kept kind of going out there, kept fighting to be out there? And what do you expect out of a healthy Njoku this year? 

“I think we’ve all seen what Dave can do when he’s healthy. And you’re right, I don’t think he was healthy last season. So, he’s feeling good now. When he’s himself and feeling like himself, he’s a huge part of what we do, not only offensively, but just as a football team. And his energy is certainly felt throughout this building. So excited for him to be healthy.”

 

Kevin, how confident are you that Kenny (Pickett) will get back in time to be a key member of this quarterback competition? 

“Yeah, I’m confident Kenny’s (Pickett) going to attack his rehab. Like we talked about, Mary Kay (Cabot), the evaluation on these guys is all encompassing. It goes back through the spring. It goes to what they’ve put on tape already as football players. So, I know he wants to be out there, but he’s still very much involved.”

 

Will Ced (Cedric Tillman) be full go today?

“Yes.”

 

Do you have any update on when Quinshon Judkins could rejoin the team? 

“I don’t have an update.”

 

Mike Woods and Teven Jenkins, are they still out?

“Mike is out. Teven is getting close.”

 

Tony Brown II?

“Same idea, will be out but working hard.”

 

It looked at the opportunity practice Myles Harden might have gotten hurt, is he okay?

“He is okay.”

 

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