Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.17.24)

Opening Statement:

“Okay, hard to win when you’re minus three, so that was disappointing. Some good and bad out there that we will certainly learn from. I think some good stuff to evaluate our players on, but I thought that caps a really good week with the (Minnesota) Vikings back to Wednesday and Thursday, got really, really solid work in and then this is another piece of it with getting some work done tonight and then we’ll turn our attention to Seattle next week. But any questions, I’ll take.”

 

The tackles, can you go through those injuries?

“Yeah, I don’t have a ton to add. James (Hudson III), dealing with an ankle injury. These are all things that we’ll get tests on. (Hakeem) Adeniji, knee, get tests on that and then Germain (Ifedi) has a hand, finger injury.”

 

Can you just talk about the impact of basically having your tackle depth go down?

“Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously – like we’ve talked about this a lot, Mary Kay (Cabot), with injuries, nobody likes them. It’s the worst part of this game, feel badly for all those guys and then we’ll rehab and get them back as soon as we can.”

 

 How would you assess the way your quarterbacks played?

“Some good and some bad. And that’s where that constant desire for our quarterbacks is to operate consistently. I thought there were some really good moments and then some things you can definitely learn from with those two players.”

 

And Jamari Thrash, these two games and his training camp, how has he progressed?

“I think he’s done a nice job, Jeff (Schudel). I think he’s a guy that takes his job very seriously. He works very hard. He gets extra anytime he’s out there. So, I see a young man who’s progressing. He’s still a rookie, going to make mistakes, but I think he continues to get better with more exposure.”

 

 What happened to Zaire (Mitchell-Paden) there at the end? Did he come off?

“I think he’s fine.”

 

What did you see from D’Onta (Foreman) just in his first game and not only his first touchdown, but just how else have you seen him be productive?

“Ran very hard, that’s kind of his game. He puts his weight down and stays low and goes forward. I thought that’s what he did when he got the ball in his hands and obviously had a nose for the goal line there down to our left.”

 

Do you expect Jed (Willis Jr.) back at practice soon? 

“We’ll see.”

 

Do you have a tough decision to make whether or not you’re going to keep three quarterbacks and hop out the battle between those two guys?

“I think you have a tough decision up and down the roster, Mary Kay (Cabot), I really do. But we’ve talked about that. That group, I feel really strongly about all four of those guys.”

 

 The directive was to kick the ball out of the end zone at that point is that true? 

“Yes.”

 

Why? You just got in enough work?

“We got plenty of work. I think this week, both days on Wednesday and Thursday, we did kickoff, kickoff return.”

 

Does Dustin Hopkins have an injury? 

“He’s working through something, but he’ll be fine.”

 

 You think he’ll play week one?

“Yes.”

 

And you’ve done this before, did somebody else call plays today?

“Yes.”

 

And Ken (Dorsey) called some?

“Called some of them. Yeah, we had other assistants call them as well and did the same thing the first game.”

 

As you move towards the opener, now you’ve only got three weeks left, do you think that you’ll have either Jed (Wills Jr.) or Jack (Conklin) back at left tackle?

“As you know, Mary Kay, with any type of injury and guys are rehabbing, I take it day-by-day, and they update me. When they’re ready, they’ll be ready. But they’re both locked-in, working very hard and we’ll get them back when they’re back.”

 

Will that impact in any way what happens with Deshaun (Watson) in Seattle?

“We’ll see. I mean, the plan is for Deshaun to play. Obviously, I take in all the information week-to-week, day-to-day, but that is the plan.”

 

Kevin, was it just status quo to let Mike Hall play based on you guys letting him practice earlier? Are you going with the same thing you said the other day?

“Yeah, I don’t have much to add there, Nate (Ulrich). Like you mentioned, practice, played, but not much to add.”

 

You mentioned, I think it was Thursday we talked to you, that he (Hall) might be out a while, but obviously he came right back. 

“Yeah, was injured and with an injury, you never know how long your guys will be out. He bounced back.”

 

How about Jamari Thrash? How has he comported himself in these first two games and in this camp so far?

“He’s done a very nice job. Like I said earlier, he’s a guy that I feel like gets better with exposure, gets better with reps, continues to know what to do, which is a big part of this as well, and then makes plays with the ball in his hand.”

 

Kevin, you told us you liked the energy and structure at practices. Once you watched the film, did you like what you saw overall?

“Yeah, I thought it was outstanding work. And just talking to their coaches, both pregame and post-game, everybody kind of felt the same way. It was really, really good work. It was good versus good. It was impressive battles back and forth. It’s going to make us better going up against those looks, it’s going to make them better going up against our looks. So very, very beneficial to both sides.

 

Do you have an update on Denzel (Ward), Amari (Cooper), David (Bell)?

“No update. All rehabbing.”

 

Is Denzel still in the protocol?

“Yes.”

 

Kevin, what did you think of the run defense today?

“Yeah, I thought by and large was good. They ripped off a couple downhill runs, but I think you saw certainly in the second half, maybe the guys did a nice job of staying in their gaps.”

 

When you have interceptions that go off receivers’ hands, do you give half to the quarterback, half to the receiver? How do you determine who’s…?

“Yeah, it’s a good point. You tell the quarterbacks ‘not all interceptions are created equal’. So, we talk about that in terms of decision making. But even when they go off their hands, you look at the accuracy and could the quarterback have been better? And then our receivers, runners, tight ends, all of our guys, if they get their hands on it, they expect to catch it.”

 

What has Chris Williams showed you throughout training camp in addition to tonight?

“Yeah, very hard worker. Does a great job in the building. One of the first guys in, last to leave and then plays with great effort. I think that’s the thing you see the most on tape, both on the practice field and on the game field.