Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.15.24)

Opening Statement:

“Okay, productive two days there with the (Minnesota) Vikings. Got a lot of work done, got a lot of situational work done in the last two days. It was competitive. I thought both teams worked really, really hard. You know, credit to their staff. I think they do a great job, offense, defense and special teams, which allowed us to get a ton of really good work. So looking forward to seeing some young guys play Saturday night. And with that, I’ll take any questions.”

 

Do you know why (Amari) Cooper left the field? Do you have any report?

“Sore.”

 

And Maurice Hurst?

“I don’t have an update yet.”

 

It looked like David (Njoku) didn’t really do much after a one on one, I saw him get up a little slow.

“Yeah, I think sore.”

 

Kevin, do you, I know you say a bunch of young guys…?

“I probably shouldn’t say a bunch of young guys. A bunch of good players, young and old.”

 

Will any of the starters play at all Saturday?

“No.”

 

And then how about the quarterback?

“We’ll go Dorian (Thompson-Robinson) to start and then Snoop (Tyler Huntley) to finish.

 

Just those two guys?

“Yes, sir.”

 

Z (Za’Darius Smith) was back today. Was it nice to see Za’Darius back?

“Yeah, good to see Za’Darius back out there. I mean, he was out there yesterday, you heard him. But it was good to have him in pads.”

 

Kevin, you talked yesterday about some of the issues up front on the offensive line. How did you like the way they responded today? Looked like there weren’t many issues there.

“Yeah, I thought it was good. You know, yesterday we did a third down section, which is a third and long section, which is a difficult spot to be in, in those pass protections. More red zone work today, but I think the guys made a lot of corrections. I think that’s another big point of these and just talking to their coaches as well, they play very different defense than us and we play – the style that we play is very different that they see every day. So, I think they’re appreciative to go up against our scheme and learn some different things about their scheme against that and vice versa.”

 

Kevin, we got a good look at DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) in that second half last week. What kind of camp has he had?

“Yeah, strong, he’s done a nice job. I really like that – entire room’s worked very, very hard. They do a great job in the meeting room; they do an outstanding job out here on the field. And then these game reps are additional opportunities for them.”

 

We didn’t see Rodney McLeod practicing, do you know what’s going on out there?

“Sore, but he’ll be okay.”

 

And Denzel (Ward), does he have a concussion?

“No update.”

 

It seems like this was the first time, for the most part, that Deshaun (Watson) had most of his starting offensive weapons. So, is it starting to come together where he can kind of see what this is going to be and look like now?

“I think that’s all part of this, Mary Kay (Cabot), even going back to the spring, got a lot of work done in the spring and then you add on what you’re doing now. Obviously, as a quarterback and yes, as a coach, you want all of your guys out there. But we’ll get them out there when they’re ready and then it’s good to get some good reps both call-it and individual, then in a seven-on-seven, then in the team. So obviously it’s always good to have your guys out there.”

 

(Jerry) Jeudy, got a nice leaping TD catch today from Deshaun, how nice was it if you saw that?

“I didn’t have a great angle. I saw it, I asked who caught it, they told me Jerry. Yeah, he had another nice route before then as well. I think he’s a versatile route runner, so he compliments our group really well.”

 

Kevin, where’s Greg (Newsome II) at in his progression getting back to… 

“Berea.” [laughing]

 

In terms of stage of the rehab?

“He is doing really well. I don’t have a timeframe for you and I think he would tell you he’s feeling really good.”

 

Any observation of those two-minute drives from the offense? 

“Not until I watch it. You know, hard to say, I didn’t have the best view of it. Obviously, those are great, great situational exercises and drills for us. Just talking to their coaches, they get a lot out of it as well on both sides of the ball. It puts you in positions to make some calls that you’ve worked through in the indoor, and some walkthroughs and you bring it out here and it’s the first time really getting full speed reps of some of those things. So I thought the guys did, by and large, a good job. But obviously, when you have the ball and you’re down eight, you have to go score.”

 

Deshaun was talking about getting down timing, especially with Jerry Juedy, how do you see that progressing?

“I think it’s progressing. I think they’re doing a nice job with it. Jerry runs good routes, he’s friendly for the quarterback. So, a lot of it is the quarterback just building a book on all of his players and understanding the nuance of each one of those guys.”

 

And then does he have to do that again with the guys who have been here since it’s somewhat of a new offense?

“I think all of it adds up. I think all of it’s important. Every rep you get out there is important. So, yeah, I think every day you’re trying to fine tune things.”

 

Kevin, you talked yesterday about you wanted to see the film because you were focused on offense, when you went back and looked at the film, what were some of the things that really stood out to you about yesterday’s defensive performance?

“Yeah, I thought we played good. That we made some big plays, we didn’t play great. There are things that we did that I know coach wasn’t super happy with that we can do better from an execution standpoint. So, we can definitely be better, but when you come away with the ball in some of those drills, it covers up some of those things.”

 

I mean, Myles (Garrett) seemed to play yesterday. How did he look on film? Because it seemed like in real time, he was exceptional.

“Yeah, that was a great matchup. I think their 71 (Christian Darrisaw) is pretty good. I like our 95 (Myles Garrett), to watch those guys go up against each other. It was fun to watch.”

 

Is Elijah (Moore) dealing with anything? I don’t think I saw him that much. Is he dealing with anything to your knowledge?

“Yep, good.”

  

How about Martin (Emerson Jr.) and Justin Jefferson? They had a pretty nice couple of days, didn’t they?

“Yeah, another great matchup. M.J.’s really grown as a player over his time here. You see him taking steps each and every week he’s out here. So, to go up against a great premier guy in this league, to match up against him a ton, I think can only make him better.”

 

We saw a couple of miscommunications on some of those choice routes we talked about this offseason in the two-minute drill here at the end. Is it just something you guys are still kind of working through in this new offense and the guys are getting used to going into the season?

“I don’t know that those were choice routes, per se. I think you just have to get on the same page, really, in all areas, run game, pass game, all of them.”

 

Did you feel it was ever getting close to the edge of chippiness? Did you step in and say anything?

“No, these are two teams with pros on either side. Again, there’s a lot of carryover. Guys know each other from growing up, from college, from playing against each other, playing with each other. So, it’s a spirited environment, it’s football. We don’t mind that. We enjoy that. We like guys that are talking trash on either side. That’s just all part of it.”

 

Would you see you guys going up to Minnesota to repay the favor?

“I haven’t talked about it yet, but we shall see.”

 

Deshaun said that he was just kind of learning that the plan was for him to play in Seattle today. Is that more of him being focused on these joint practices, treating it like game reps? 

“Yeah, he’s, you know, focused on what he has to do right in front of him, which is how it should be.”

 

But you did communicate with him what the plan is for him to end of the preseason?

“We communicate a lot. Yes.”

  

D’Onta Foreman seems like he’s coming back pretty strongly and running real hard for you. How’s he doing?

“Yeah, excited that he’s back. Obviously, you guys were there down at The Greenbrier. That was scary. You know, that was not something you ever want to see for your player. But obviously we knew quickly that it was going to be something that he would bounce back from, and he has. He runs tough. We like how he operates in this offense, so he’s given us some really good reps.”

 

From an offensive perspective, is this just now about refining everything that you’ve installed this offseason here going forward or are you still putting stuff in?

“I think when you get to this point in camp for us, you’re out of the install world. Now, you’re really into the streamlining world and seeing what fits your guys. And that’s so much of it going back to the spring and then into July and August finding out what you think you might do well, finding out the things that maybe you aren’t so good at. So you shelve those, or you find better ways to do them. So that’s where we are offensively and defensively. And then finding out the guys that are available. Guys that you can…where you’re going to plug them in, where you’re going to move them around, those type of things.”

 

Just to follow up on that, do you feel like you got a good base of things that you do really, really well right now with this offense? 

I feel like I have a good base of what we do well potentially. Obviously, we got plenty of work to do, but I think we know potentially what we can do well.”

 

Is the stinger for Mike Hall something that could keep him out a little bit of time?

“Potentially, yes.”

 

What do you think about the running game as it is with the guys you have now?

“Yeah, like the pass game, I’d say working progress. It kind of goes back to Daryl’s (Ruiter) question, still figuring out what fits our players best, the runners, the line, those types of things. There’s core things that I believe we can do and do well, but it’s still a matter of working those and just getting all of the nuance taught in those schemes.”

 

Are there more adjustments for the running game with this offense compared to what you were doing last year? Are you in the shotgun a lot more, any of that kind of stuff?

“It remains to be seen. I think there’s definitely different areas that you can lean into –shotgun, under center, multiple tight ends, no tight ends. There’s all sorts of variables that we’re working through, and really now is the time in camp, and we’ll start to streamline that.”

 

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