Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.26.24)
Opening Statement:
“This is a big week for us, just getting prepared for the season. Guys are getting good work in today and then we’ll be out there on the field tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday before we take that mandatory break over the weekend. Just big week to get sharp. So, for practice, injury update for practice tomorrow, guys that will be out there: Jack Conklin, D’Anthony Bell, Dalvin Tomlinson, Greg Newsome, David Njoku, Pierre Strong, Jordan Hicks, Tony Fields. Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.) is going to come off PUP (Physically Unable to Perform), will not practice tomorrow, but progressing. Denzel Ward, I don’t have an update other than say he’s making good progress, but with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Just with those guys all coming back from injury, how big is that? How much of an emotional boost as much as anything is that for this football team? Because all training camp, it never seemed to have had the whole complement of guys and it seems like just when you need it, you know, the calvary’s kind of arriving.
“Yeah, you know, injuries are part of this game, Chris (Easterling) and guys have to rehab and have to work really hard to get back and that’s what I’ve seen all these guys do. So I understand the question, but I would tell you all these guys are in the building, they’re in meetings, so they’re around and they certainly, they’re a part of what we’ve been doing.”
Just one follow up, D’Onta (Foreman), any update on how he’s doing?
“Yeah, he has a rib injury. Won’t practice tomorrow, but we’ll keep updating as the week goes.”
Just wondering, with Jed not being ready to practice yet and Jack coming off the list, is Jack a viable option for you at left tackle and can he start getting some work there?
“Yeah, what I would tell you, Mary Kay (Cabot), with really all of our positions, we’re not going to – well, we’re not going to set a depth chart. We’ll just work through all those type of things. I’m excited to get Jack back out there at practicing and going through walkthroughs and that type of thing, but not going to get in specifics per se.”
Just wondering what you’ve seen from Myles Harden over camp so far.
“Yeah, he’s done a nice job, has played a lot in these preseason games, which we’ve talked about how good it is to get our young guys a ton of work. Has played well for us – going back to the (Minnesota) Vikings practices, guys hands on a few balls in those practices. So he’s very ball aware and continues to do a nice job progressing.”
The quarterbacks, Deshaun (Watson), I know you made the decision not to start him in Seattle. But, you know, kind of summarize his whole, you know, his whole progress right now where you feel like it’s coming. What’s the biggest thing these next couple of weeks before the (Dallas) Cowboys game you want to see out of Deshaun?
“I think with all of our guys, Chris, this week and obviously going into week one, these are great weeks for us to continue to get better, sharpen up what we’re doing. Specifically, to Deshaun, he’s done a nice job. We’ve really talked about it all offseason long into training camp. He’s rehabbed from an injury, but then he’s put himself in position to really do a nice job in practice learning a couple new concepts. He’s grinding in the meeting room to make sure he’s on top of everything. So, he’s a pro and he’s done a, you know, a really nice job with the work that he’s gotten.”
We talked to some of the wide receivers, specifically the South Florida guys that you brought in, Jerry (Jeudy), Elijah (Moore), Amari (Cooper), about how rare this is for them, being all from the same area. I’m sure it’s kind of a coincidence that three straight off seasons you guys bring in a wide receiver from the same area, but I was curious what maybe similar characteristics, or qualities, or attributes you saw that made it so appealing to bring those guys in?
“Yeah, it’s interesting, you’re right and certainly those guys have a bond over that. There’s some really good football down there. That’s not breaking news. That’s why it gets so recruited in college, because there’s just great play from down there. I’ve been fortunate to coach a bunch of different guys at a bunch of different positions. Teddy Bridgewater comes to mind as a guy from South Florida in the Miami area, that it’s just really good football. So not surprised that so many guys in the league come from there but also with our room specifically, you know, it’s fun to have those guys in there. They can share about a lot of things from their past and growing up and that type of thing. And they’re certainly, that’s a tight group.”
Two questions for you, Kevin, the first one is on Nick Chubb. Obviously, he’s going to remain on PUP so what are your thoughts on just how he looked when we watched him running around down there at the Greenbrier? And what is the outlook for Chubb going forward?
“Yeah, Mary Kay, I get to see him every day, so he’s working very, very hard. The outlook for him is a day-by-day type of thing, and that’s kind of how Nick operates, how I operate. So, I’ll tell you today, I’m watching him, he’s working hard, he’ll continue to do that. He’s a huge part of everything we’re doing, he’s in every meeting. So, no update other than to say, as you guys know, he’s working very hard.”
And the second question I have is about Mike Hall. Do you expect that he’s going to end up on the Commissioner’s Exempt List and that you guys will have to be without him for a while? Is that how you are proceeding?
“I don’t really have an update on Mike in that regard, Mary Kay. We’ll see how it goes.”
Kevin, all the guys that you mentioned coming back from that injury, many of them have been out there for a long time with their teammates and you’ve mentioned guys like Nick Chubb who have been working hard in the classroom and things like that. How important is this time for those guys that they haven’t been out there on the field practicing as they get back into game reps looking forward to that week one?
“All of it’s really important, Cam (Justice), just from… you have to take the meeting rooms to the practice field, the practice field to the game field. So everything that we do to get the team ready for the season is important. And I think those guys understand that. That’s why we’ve talked a lot in this offseason, this training camp, of not wasting any of these days. Even a day like today is super important to get our minds right, to get the bodies right, all these lifts are important. So, these guys understand that all of it goes into getting ready for a 17-game season.”
And obviously, roster cut deadline is right around the corner. What’s the message to some of these younger guys who were working really hard to earn a spot on this roster through the preseason, who may or may not make this team?
“Yeah, it’s a tough time on the calendar, Cam. This is no fun for me as a coach when you got to let guys go. I’ve told them personally, I’ve told the team, I’m excited for all those guys. If it’s not an opportunity here, I’ll be rooting for them wherever it is. These guys have worked so hard, going back to April, all the things we’ve asked them to do from a meeting standpoint, practice, what have you, they’ve really, really worked hard. So I’m a fan of guys that work hard and unfortunately, there’s some guys that we can’t keep around just from a numbers standpoint, but we’re appreciative of the work.”
Hey, Kevin, I’m not sure I heard two players in the injury list that I want to ask about. (Nyheim) Hines and James Hudson.
“James will be working this week. Nyheim will not be practicing just yet.”
Is he (Hines) off PUP or NFI (non-football injury/illness)?
“I don’t believe so, but we’ll see over the next couple of days.”
With the way that you guys use the practice squad and elevate guys, that’s the other element of this, obviously, over the next 48 hours or so, how has the last few years and kind of how those rules have changed after COVID, how has that changed how you guys kind of view building out that practice squad and being able to use those guys on game days?
“Yeah, that’s a really good point because it does change things. It changes the numbers; it changes how you think about it because those elevations are really, really important and you have to make sure that you spread them out throughout the year as well. But the size of that practice squad is so different than what it was in the past. So I know different teams, us included, are really utilizing that in a bunch of different areas where maybe you wouldn’t be able to carry as many guys as you could in the past. And then you get to bring them up to game day. So that’s definitely a conversation that we’re having already looking at week one, who are those elevations off that practice squad?”
After having an entire off season to install, training camp to really see what works, what doesn’t. At its core, what are you hoping from this revamped offense?
“Yeah, I think there’s obviously things that you adjust year to year that you work through, going back to off season programming, into training camp and then as you get into training camp, maybe last week and certainly this week. You start to streamline what you’re doing. And that’s part of the conversations we’re having now. You can’t run everything you want to run in week one. You know, it’s a long season so you’re trying to look at what your players do best and then also, which is a big part of it…what matches up versus the opponent that you have that week. So those are all conversations we’re having right now.”