Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (7.30.25)
Opening Statement:
“Obviously you guys saw the news with MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.) yesterday, so that’s confirmed via MRI. He’ll get surgery. He’s out for this season, you know, disappointed. Obviously, injuries are the worst part about our game. But he will bounce back. I know what he’s made of, and I know he’s got our support; he’s got his teammates’ support. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Greg (Newsome II) obviously steps up, you know, or continues kind of in that base defense as the outside guy. But what’s sort of the mix behind him? If you could just…how do you see that group?
“Yeah, you just need to work through it. I think that’s the thing that we’ve seen certainly this season. Every season you’ll have injuries at positions and guys have to earn roles. And I think that’s what training camp is about, really figuring that out.”
Obviously, Cam (Cameron) Mitchell, I would think would be in that mix. What have you seen from him in his couple of years?
“Yeah, Cam’s always done a nice job. He’s productive when he’s out there. I think he’s ball aware, a very intelligent player. Even though – where did he go to college?”
Northwestern. You might have two of those out there with Greg (Newsome II).
“Scott’s (Petrak) happy.”
We talked about this a little bit yesterday with Martin (Emerson Jr.), but he was really determined to have that bounce back season. He had talked about doing all the soul searching. Everything that he was doing, does that make it even tougher?
“Tough. Yeah. I mean, I don’t know, Mary Kay (Cabot). It’s hard any which way. I mean, these guys put so much into this game physically, mentally, emotionally. And it’s an injury like that is just – I don’t want to see any of our players ever in that position. It’s just…it’s tough to see. Having said that, I know what this kid’s made of. Yesterday was a lot, and he’s sore today and it’s going to be tough, but I know what he’s made of.”
Did you get a chance to talk to MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.)?
“I did, yeah. Talked to him yesterday. Yeah, he’s hurting.”
I don’t think he missed any practices. But do you know, was he complaining of a calf strain at all this camp?
“No.”
You don’t know?
“Well, no, but I’m, you know, I’m not going to get into all the specifics on that stuff.”
Kevin, with the injured players, whether it’s Martin (Emerson Jr.) in the situation or JOK. (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah) or any of them… what are some of the mechanisms, some of the things that the team tries to do to keep them involved, so they don’t feel kind of on an island?
“Yeah, it’s a good question. It’s really, it is hard and that’s part of the sport. Oftentimes when you get injured, you have to go get surgery somewhere else and then you come back and whether you’re rehabbing here or elsewhere, you’ training room and it’s hard. It depends on where you are in your rehab, whether you can get back and join meetings and even that can be hard mentally for some. Some guys really need that and want that to stay in some guys it hurts that they’re not a part of it. So, you try to just work with the player circumstantially where they are and what they need. But MJ’s (Martin Emerson Jr.) a big part of this football team. Whether he’s out on the field or not, he’s a big part of this football team.”
Kevin, the last periods yesterday with (Dillon) Gabriel and Shedeur (Sanders), how do you think the rookies handled that situation?
“Yeah, I thought it was two really good, two-minute situations, Tony (Grossi). The first one was need a field goal, second one was need a touchdown. Obviously, the distances were different on both, the time was different on both. But that’s really the first time to work those mechanics for our football team. And I thought the guys that did a nice job. That Mayday field goal was not planned, that just happened. And you know, I give credit to Bubba (Ventrone) and the entire group in having the awareness that was coming. So, we talked a lot of times as a team that we have to have shared situational awareness. We can’t just have one coach or one player. Everybody has to be on top of it. So, Bubba (Ventrone) did what he’s supposed to do — made a Mayday field goal alert before that play, and it ended up being a sack and we executed the play.”
Why didn’t they kick in the field goal?
“Wasn’t their day to kick. They kicked the day before.”
Kevin, can you talk about like before you even get started, three key defensive players you don’t have this year with JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah), (Jordan) Hicks and now MJ (Martin Emerson Jr.). Can you talk about adjusting to that?
“Yeah, listen, like I’ve said before, I don’t want to lose any of our guys for any reason, but it’s the nature of our game. It is that guys get injured and then it’s an opportunity for other guys to step up. And we’ve seen that over the course of time. Again, don’t like any part of injuries for this team, for any team. We don’t like this part of the game. But it’s the reality of the game and we have to have guys that step up.”
You had mentioned that Kenny Pickett will be reevaluated towards the end of the week. Is that something that guys would do maybe on the off day, Thursday? Is there any chance he could be back on Friday?
“I would say Mary Kay (Cabot), with any player, you’re really getting evaluated everyday as you rehab and where you are. So, with all of our injured players, with tomorrow being a non-practice day, although we’ll work, that’ll be a day to look at where everybody is and make a decision when appropriate on all of our players, Kenny (Pickett) included.”
I was curious. I know earlier in the offseason workout program you guys said that Nik Needham was playing safety, but he has a lot of experience in the nickel room. With MJ’s (Martin Emerson Jr.) injury. Is there any thought that maybe you try him a little bit more in the slot?
“Yeah, I think all those things, Daniel (Oyefusi), are things that we’re going to work through. Not just today, but in the near future as well.”
Hey Kevin, specifically what do you like about Dylan Sampson?
“Yeah, first of all, he’s very mature. Even though for his age, I don’t think he’s yet 21. I think he’s our only player that’s not yet 21. But he’s very mature, very intelligent and then he’s a productive player when the ball’s in his hands. He turned on the tape. He’s making plays in a really good conference as well. So, like where he is. Another player that we’re seeing what he can do, see what he’s capable of, but really has the right makeup.”
Kevin is it fair to say – because Shedeur (Sanders) hasn’t gotten any reps with the ones, you know, he’s getting some of the twos now. But is it fair to say as you’re trying to get this quarterback situation narrowed down here, get deeper into camp. He hasn’t gotten reps now, and he probably won’t get any?
“Yeah, I’m not going to get into specifics on the players, and you know, where they’re getting reps, those type of things. He’s working extremely hard like all those guys are. You know, we’re still not yet through the installation schedule. We’re still just introducing two-minute yesterday. We’ll introduce some different distances today, situationally, so I wouldn’t really think much past that.”
What’s the comfortable level with Jerome Ford, and how nice is that to have when you have the uncertainty with the Quinshon (Judkins) situation?
“Jerome (Ford) has really played well, for us. He’s a guy that has the home run ability at any moment’s notice with his speed. I think he’s gotten better over the course of his career. A bunch of different areas, including blitz pickup, the pass game, those type of things. So glad that he’s getting healthier, and we’re going to start seeing more and more of him in practice. But he’s a guy that we’ve won with, that we played well with. So, we have a lot of confidence in Jerome (Ford).”
Kevin, running receivers and running backs, I think you’ve always done well with that. What is just the thought process in this part of camp with those groups?
“Yeah. It’s part conditioning. You know, get. There’s a lot that goes into a boat. Number one, we’re in training camps. We want to acclimate our bodies to getting ready for a season. I think there’s a lot of communication that has to take place when you’re going in and out of the huddle. And that’s the premium if you want to operate successfully and efficiently as an offense is you have to know who’s in and who’s out. So really training those guys to be very communicative when they’re coming on and off the field. You’ll see, we’ll put the offense and the defense on the sideline as opposed to just putting the offense behind because it’s just too easy for them to step in the huddle. So just trying to mimic the game and get their bodies and their minds ready for the season.”
Do you have an injury update on Myles Harden? I didn’t see him out there yesterday.
“He’s excused for personal. But he’ll be back soon.”
I know you’ve been dealing with it since you got here, but Myles Garrett, you know, it seems like he could just destroy practices. He had a good day yesterday. He’s always in the backfield. Do you have to — and you talked this yesterday about guys pulling off — but do you have to manage how much he can do so he doesn’t ruin everything?
“Yeah. One of Myles Garrett’s least favorite moments is in practice when I don’t call a sack, because we’re in a two-minute. And if you’re always going to call a sack with Myles (Garrett), you won’t get much work in that two minutes. So, I did call one sack there when we got the Mayday field goal, like Tony (Grossi) was mentioning earlier. But there are going to be times where you let them play because we need to see it. So, Myles (Garrett), I’ve seen in practice settings versus really good tackles when we practice against other teams. I’ve seen him ruin the day for other teams. So, I really appreciate that when that happens. But in the meantime, when it’s Browns versus Browns, you just hope that – I know this, great players make other players great by how they practice hard. And Myles (Garrett) is making our team great with how he practices. And then when we go against other teams, he gets to ruin their day.”
How do you think Dawand (Jones) is handling that challenge so far?
“Yeah, it is a challenge, and I think he’s doing a nice job. Obviously, Dawand (Jones) playing left tackle, rehabbing off of an injury, going against Myles (Garrett) every day, that will only make you better. There’s going to be ups and downs. But I’d ask you to remember back to some of the teams we’ve practiced over the years and some really good tackles that we practiced over the years that it’s hard to block Myles (Garrett), period. And it’s hard to block him in a practice setting, game setting, you name it. So, when you battle, you have your wins, you have your losses, I think it only makes you better.”
Have you noticed that Dawand (Jones), Kevin, feels more comfortable there this year at left tackle than he did before?
“I think time on test, certainly you get more comfortable, Jeff (Schudel), and I think that just only grows with each day.”
When does your block three start?
“Monday. Players are off Sunday. We’ll start Monday. And then we travel, I believe to Charlotte on Tuesday.”
Did you get everything you wanted to accomplish in block two? You know, Kenny (Pickett) is not here…
“We’re not done just yet. So, we still got today, tomorrow, the next Friday, Saturday. We’ll be in pads all these days, Mary Kay (Cabot). So, this is a big part of training camp.”
Kevin, on draft day, when (Quinshon) Judkins was drafted. He’s used to the word ‘bell cow, workhorse back.’ With him not in there, are you back to committee approach at running back?
“I think that’s probably premature for me to say anything. You know, what it’s going to be like? It’s hard to say at this point, Tony (Grossi). So just based on who’s available to us, that’s how we’ll construct the plan.”
What did you like about that new running back, you signed earlier this week?
“Yeah, he’s a guy who has been in different situations. We know he’s intelligent, tough runner, so just knew that he’s another guy to add to the mix.”
How do you feel about Diontae Johnson so far?
” Yeah, I think, Diontae (Johnson), is like anybody else. He’s doing a nice job of picking things up and trying to stack every single day. He’s got the right attitude. So just getting better every day, I think, it has been evident.”
Has anybody returned to practice that hasn’t been sidelined?
“Probably, but I don’t know off the top of my head.”
Tony Brown II, Teven Jenkins, Mike Woods (Michael Woods II)?
“No, they won’t be back out there.”
Kevin for Luke Floriea as a rookie tryout guy, what is the skill set that wanted you that made you guys want this extended?
“I call him Rambo. He wears that bandana across his head. So apparently his high school coach called him Rambo too. So, I’m on to something. He’s a local kid. He’s doing a nice job. Putting him in there at different spots, he continues to show up. I appreciate about this rookie class, just in general, they’re working extremely hard. They’re doing what we’re asking them to do. And the biggest thing for me is when you’re evaluating these guys, is putting them in some positions and see how they respond. I think he’s responded really well.”
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