Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.14.25)
Opening Statement:
“Okay. Thought yesterday was really good work by both teams. You know, I appreciate how Nick (Sirianni) operates around here, and I think both teams understood that it was time to get some good work in and it was hot, and it was hard, so I thought it was very beneficial to both sides. And then today, more of the same, it will be a shorter practice by design, a few less teams periods. No one-on-ones today, but an important day, nonetheless. We will do kickoff and kickoff return as well as field goals for Tony (Grossi), but looking forward to a good day’s work. And with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Can you tell us about Shedeur (Sanders), what happened with the oblique strain and what the outlook is like for him?
“Yeah, felt it early, I think, warming up and then felt it throughout individuals, so took a look at it. You know, if it’s a right guard, you can play through that. When it’s a quarterback, you kind of need that muscle to throw. So unfortunately, going to put him down for a little bit here. We’ll treat it day to day and see how he responds. But want to be smart because he’s a thrower, so you can’t push that thing.”
It’s such a critical point in your evaluation of each of these quarterbacks. How does it affect your evaluation of the quarterbacks?
“Yeah, listen, injuries stink for all these guys. They don’t want to miss a rep for any reason, Tony (Grossi). But there’s a way to continue to prepare, continue to get better, even when you’re not getting those reps because of injuries.”
Is it an oblique coming in a lot like a hamstring? Is that one of those injuries that, I mean, it gets a little tricky?
“I think it’s just with throwers and pitchers and guys that torque and twist their body, you got to be really careful.”
Is the length of the rehab just like rest, or is he getting treatment for it?
“Both. Yeah, getting treatment.”
And he’ll be out there today?
“He’ll be out here today.”
Does this mean that Dillon (Gabriel) will start the game on Saturday?
“We got to see how he does today and gets through. So, we’re not ready to say for sure.”
What about (Kenny) Pickett today? Will he be limited?
“He will be limited. Yes.”
And if Dillon doesn’t start, I mean your only other option then is for Tyler (Huntley) to start the game, right?
“We’ll work through all those things. Obviously, you know, Snoop (Tyler Huntley) knows exactly what to do, how to do it. So, he is ready to roll. We’ll see who else is available, Mary Kay (Cabot), but got to get through today, before I know that.”
Is there any chance you would play Joe (Flacco) in an emergency situation?
“No.”
Could you rule out Shedeur (Sanders) for this game? Because yesterday you guys said it was unlikely he’ll play Saturday. But it sounds now…
“I’ll stay with unlikely. I think that’s a good word by Peter (John-Baptiste), but yeah, he’s day-to-day. So what’s today? Thursday. So unlikely.”
So, could it be a situation where Tyler (Huntley) might play the whole game if it comes to that?
“Everything’s on the table. We’ll see.”
Kevin, reviewing the practice of offense, was it a difficult day for the offense? There was a lot of dropped passes.
“Yeah, we had. For whatever reason, we had the most drop passes, we’ve had all of camp. So that was unusual, I thought.”
What do you attribute that to?
“Great question. It was some randomness, you know, obviously it was hot. You’re going against a good football team. Could be really anything but expect the guys to bounce back. I thought the offense had some, when you’re going up against a really good defense, particularly that front, not to take anything away from their back end, but their front is a very large, powerful front. I thought the guys had their moments and then the Philly defense had their moments. But that’s kind of what you do in these settings. You know, very rarely is it one side of both sides kind of taking body blows, if you will.”
Was that a big challenge, the Philly front? Was that a big challenge for the run game to try to get some looks?
“Yeah, versus this team, you’re not just going to line them up and have a simple run game and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to beat you.’ You have to find ways to maximize via scheme, via motion, via a variety of things because they’re just very stout.”
Kevin, I seem to remember two years ago you did this, and it looked like you were doing it again yesterday. Seemed like a lot of mixing and matching, even when it was the ones guards intact. You know, Joel (Bitonio), Wyatt (Teller), but the two backup tackles. You seem like mixing a lot of those things during the team period.
“Maybe a little bit, Chris (Easterling). Obviously, there’s guys that you’re always want to make sure that they’re getting the right amount of work. There’s other guys that you just want to see in there, those type of things. So yeah, I think you mix and match it. You know, thinking ahead to Saturday. It’s a very similar plan that we had last week. Now there will be some guys that play Saturday that didn’t play last week. There were some guys that played last week that won’t play Saturday. It’s really based on what each player needs to get ready for the season.”
What about your D-line and the pressure that you guys were able to create when you launched it at that?
“Yeah, I thought again had our moments as well as they did. That’s a very good offensive line. They’re schemed up really well. Quarterback does a great job moving to the pocket, but I thought our guys competed really well.”
Kevin, if Dillon (Gabriel) is able to start Saturday, just what can you say about the work that he’s put in and you know, getting a lot of first-team reps over the course the last four weeks or so.
“Yeah, continues to keep the focus on one day at a time and taking what comes to him. Obviously anytime you miss reps due to injury, you got to make sure you’re staying as sharp as you can. And I think he’s done a nice job of that in meetings.”
If he gets through today and recovers fine, you see him playing three quarters like Shedeur (Sanders) did?
“Hard to say, Tony (Grossi), just really going to be based on his health.”
Kevin, it seemed like there were some situations going back to some of the drops and stuff where the Philly DBs were able to kind of rip the ball out of your guy’s hands. Is that just something they’re good at that point of emphasis kind of last night when you went back and watched?
“Yeah, 27 (Quinyon Mitchell) is a good corner for them. He had one in particular that he played well on the ball. Now on the other side, our number 21, (Denzel Ward) had a good play on the ball. So, I think it works both ways with defensive backs. Those one-on-one drills, speaking as a former defensive back, they are weighted heavily towards the offense. You should be able to get open and catch the ball but at the moment of truth that they catch, the defender still has the opportunity to punch that thing out.”
Joe (Flacco) was saying yesterday how valuable it is to go against the number one defense, the Super Bowl champs and what you can learn about yourself as an offense. What do you feel like these guys may have learned about themselves?
“Yeah, you know, it’s interesting, Mary Kay (Cabot), we’ve talked a lot about that. I think training camp in of itself you’re finding out about yourself and that’s personnel wise, that’s schematically what guys can and can’t do. So, there were a number of times we put players in positions yesterday to see what it looked like and see if they can handle X, Y or Z. And you know, I thought for the most part we found out some guys are going to be capable of doing some things for us.”
Kevin, it seems like in these joint practices since you’ve been head coach, there might be one guy who emerges not one of your regulars either. You know, I go back to MJ (Emerson) as a rookie and other guys. Myles Harden had a couple plays yesterday filling in for Greg Newsome (II). I’m wondering on tape; did it look like he had a pretty good day?
“He did. He had a good day. Myles is very competitive. A competitive kid, strong. He needs to keep on a progression which is every day trying to get better. And I think he’s got the right attitude.”
Kevin, it seems like you guys used a pre-snap motion this year, going a little smoother than it did last year. There’s a lot of like pre-snap stuff on the training camp. How much is that a point of emphasis for you guys that you guys have talked through and kind of getting back to your system?
“A major point of emphasis, both parts of it, both the utilization of it and also doing it correctly. If you just line up in a static formation, I just think it’s easier on the defense. It’s also easier on the offense because you’re not going to get penalties. But you have to utilize that to your advantage. And if you’re going to do that, you have to be great with your shifts and motions. It’s been a very, very, very big point of emphasis for our offense.”
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