Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.2.25)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, good to see everybody. Gonna be a beautiful day out here. Obviously, a good day to get some work in. Greg (Newsome II) will not practice. He’s really day to day with that shoulder. I’m going to hold Myles (Garrett) out of today’s practice, just precautionary rest. But should be a good group of guys pushing each other today. And then we got a day off tomorrow and then start talking about Carolina next week. But with that I’ll take any questions.”
With Myles (Garrett), is it something injury precautionary or just veteran rest?
“Just taking care of him.”
Is (Kenny) Pickett going to be doing team stuff today?
“Not yet. More of what he did yesterday.”
Can you comment on the offense in general yesterday? In particular, (Dillon) Gabriel’s day. Was it as sloppy as it looked to us?
“You know, there’s the old adage that it’s never as bad as you think or never as good as you think, as a coach, when you go in to watch the tape. I would tell you with any of our players and in particular Dillon (Gabriel), who wants to be great and wants to be great at practice, there’s times that you’re going to go through a tough period out here at practice, a tough seven on seven, a tough team period, whatever it may be. And then you really try to learn from those reps.”
Kenny (Pickett), how did you just in general see, you know, everything kind of see the hamstring respond and you know, after that time off?
“Yeah, he’s pushing himself to get back to full team periods as soon as possible. We’re also going to be smart and be appropriate with where he is. But I thought he did a nice job yesterday and we’ll continue to work that day to day.”
Kevin, it looked like Jerome (Ford) might have rolled the ankle on that one run. Is he okay?
“He’s okay.”
With Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, I know he’s switching from the 3,4 to 4,3. What do you guys think that can unlock for him?
“Yeah, I think you see the skill set, Scott (Petrak). You see big, long speed. I mean he can really run, he can really bend, and he’s got great length. So those are great traits to have when you’re talking about coming out of a three-point stance or a two-point stance. But I think it’s for us, it’s just understanding the player, understanding where you can move them around to maximize him. But football’s football, whether you’re in a 3,4 scheme or a 4-down scheme, he’s a good football player.”
What have you learned about his personality?
“Yeah, great. He was around a lot in the spring. Teammates really like him. You know, he practices very, very hard, which I appreciate. Doesn’t say a ton. He’s quiet, but yeah, gets along really well with this group.”
Kevin, is Kenny Pickett feeling ready for Carolina?
“It’s hard to say, Jeff (Schudel). I’m really just focused on today.”
Kevin, with a guy like Harold Fannin (Jr.), do you learn more about him once the pads go on and once guys can start hitting him a little bit?
“Honestly, Dan (Labbe), I think you learn about everybody when the pads go on, and it’s more physical. Like we’ve talked a lot in the offseason. You have to take everything in the offseason with a huge grain of salt because there’s no contact. And then once you finally get out here and you can have contact, I think you make better evaluations of your players. But also, for instance, Harold (Fannin Jr.), you had a lot of college tape to go off of, so you know what the player is. And then you want to see how that translates to the field.”
Kevin, because Harold’s (Fannin Jr.) so young and still new to the position, would you say he’s ahead of schedule?
“Really hard for me to say. He’s right where I need him to be, right where he should be. And we’ll continue to grow with him. He’ll earn a role. We’re not giving those things out just yet.”
What do you like most with everything that you’ve seen to this point, in general, just offensively?
“Again, I think it falls under the category of the guys are doing everything we’re asking them to do. I think they’re practicing hard. I think they’re understanding some of the nuance in our scheme. They’re certainly understanding some of the new techniques that are being taught by their coaches. So really have a pretty narrow focus when it comes to where we are as a football team, just in general, but certainly offensively, just focusing on making sure that they’re getting an understanding of the schemes and the techniques.”
In the past, you’ve carried as many as four tight ends on the 53. Do you see going back to that this year?
“I have no idea. I think we’re too far away to think about that.”
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