Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (8.9.25)
Opening Statement:
“All right, injury front, Luke Floriea has a hamstring injury, and Lamareon James is in the concussion protocol. On the game itself, really, really pleased with the effort all night. I thought our guys were flying around. I thought they were competing at an extremely high level. Offense, defense, special teams. It was really fun to watch those guys throughout the night, really 60 minutes worth of outstanding effort. Finishing plus two; very, very big deal. You’re going to win a lot of football games if you finish plus two in the turnover margin. So, we highlighted that with the team today, and we will continue to highlight understanding how important that is in the course of a football game. So, a lot of work to do. We’re certainly not there, but the guys have that right mentality that we’ll just keep our head down, keep working, and then we will head to Philly on Tuesday, get a couple practices versus the (Philadelphia) Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday and play them Saturday. Another really important block for our football team as we continue to stack these days and try to get better one day at a time. With that, I’ll take any questions.”
Hey Kevin (Stefanski), with Shedeur (Sanders) and having an opportunity to go back and look over it, what was the thing that most pleased you about his performance last night and what was the area that at first glance looks good but maybe something he still needs to fix?
“Well, I think you could say this about every player on the field, Chris (Easterling). It’s never perfect. There’s so many things that we can do better, and that’s the challenge in this building right now as these guys are watching the tape. Whether you got the rep, whether you played in this game, played a quarter, played the whole game, we all have to learn from these plays and get better. I think there’s so many really, really good teaching moments on this tape. But I think big picture for Shedeur and our quarterbacks, that position, taking care of the football. I think zero giveaways from our offense is a very big deal and goes a very long way, like we talked about, to winning and losing football games.”
Kevin, in light of Shedeur’s performance, with you guys heading to Philly this week and the other guys perhaps still suffering a little bit from their hamstring injuries, do you think Shedeur might get a little bit of a bump and see some of those first reps with your starting offense in Philly?
“We need to get through the next couple days from an injury standpoint, Mary Kay (Cabot), and see where everybody is. I’m really focused on all of our quarterback’s development and every single one of these reps like they are last night, how important they are. So that’s what I’m focused on more than anything.”
Will Dillon (Gabriel) and Kenny (Pickett) be able to do any more than they were able to do in Carolina?
“Yeah, good question. We’ll see. I’ll know more over the next couple days.”
Kevin, as far as the offense and the 50 plus snaps with Shedeur, were you able to call the game and give him a nice cross section of plays that you were hoping to at the beginning? It looked like plenty of red zone, plenty of third and longs. It seemed like you kind of got to see almost all scenarios that you wanted to.
“Yeah, even got a backed up situation there, Joe (Reedy). A couple of backed up situations where I think we’re inside the 10-yard line and those are great for our football team. I think the other thing in these preseason games with really both sides, you don’t want to show much, but also you want to put your players in positions where you can evaluate them. So, you want to get the screen game going to the running backs and the screen to the wide receivers. You want to try different route combinations for guys to show what they can do. Different run schemes; we had wide zone, tight zone, gap schemes. We kind of did it all last night, including a jet sweep to Gage (Larvadain) for the touchdown. We want to win because they’re keeping score so, ultimately you want to do that, but you also want to vary your run types, vary your pass types so you’re learning more about each one of your players.”
Hey Kevin, looking at the work Shedeur had gotten going into this game and then how he performed and talked about the moment not feeling too big for him and he was able to produce, how do you evaluate what he did in the game itself, knowing the reps he had gotten in practice before that first preseason game?
“Yeah, like we kind of talked about, we have a standard for that position and really every position, but certainly the quarterback position there’s a standard by which we play and how we play and how we operate and how we take care of the football and those type of things. So, there are things that Shedeur can clean up, he will clean up. But by and large I thought the operation was really good, and that’s important when you have different guys in there. There were some guys playing for us that had recently gotten on campus, so getting them up to speed can be a challenge, but I think the guys did a really nice job, and I think it goes back to with Shedeur or any player, you’re maximizing all of your time in the building. So, of course it’s game reps, it’s practice reps, but it’s also those reps after practice, it’s also those meetings and the walkthroughs and the walkthrough room, et cetera, et cetera. All of that, I think, adds up, Ashley (Bastock), to being able to participate and have success in a game setting.”
A defensive question about Carson (Schwesinger), he really only played early, but watching him fly around, watching how hard he hit, what did you see when you watch ithat back from him and think of his first outing?
“Yeah, I thought it was a good outing for Carson, for Mason (Graham), Harold Fannin, Dylan Sampson. A lot of these guys getting some of their first looks and they’ve played a lot for us. They’ve gotten a lot of reps both in our practice, in our live settings, in the practice versus Carolina and then to go through pregame warmup, get that uniform on for the first time, go perform in our schemes, I thought was really important. And then got them out and they were able to watch a good bit of it and learn from those reps as well. But Carson in particular was productive when he was in there. I thought he did a nice job of playing physical, was engaged with a blocker and still made a tackle. So, you just see his skill set showing up, Ashley (Bastock), really, in that short amount of time.”
Hey Kevin, Shedeur yesterday said he wasn’t satisfied with the performance and pointed to a couple of the throws he missed. But overall, how did you think he threw it last night? Do you think that’s one of his strengths is the ability to throw the ball accurately and down the field?
“Yeah, I definitely think that’s one of his strengths. Listen, every quarterback wants to make every throw, it’s just not going to happen. It’s an occupational hazard. You’ll miss a throw here and there. You just want to limit the amount of times that the decision wasn’t what it can be, and that’s again a young player, first game reps out there, there are definitely plays that he can learn from and as he learns from them, every single player in the meeting room is learning from them. So, there’s moments that you say, ‘hey, your eyes should be here’, or we can make this play and he will move them forward. But it’s really important that even if you weren’t in there on that rep, you have to learn from those, which is really paramount in this game.”
With Kaden Davis, obviously the two touchdowns last night, it feels like he’s gotten a lot of looks from you guys from camp, including with the starters. What do you like about him?
“Yeah, Kaden’s been very productive for the football team going back through the spring. Very dependable, knows what to do, fast. I think you see his speed show up in practice in game like settings. So, I was really happy for him to have the success that he did last night.”
Kevin, what did you learn last night from Shedeur as far as the progress he’s made here in training camp in learning to operate this offense?
“Yeah, I think it’s like next steps, Daryl (Ruiter), for young players and quarterbacks, no different than any other position. But certainly, for a quarterback, that next step is getting in the game settings and taking the practice field to the game. I thought that’s what we saw by and large from Shedeur, that’s what we saw by and large from our offense, was really taking those things that we’re homing in on the practice field and then showing them in the games. It goes back to the previous point where we wanted to vary our offense. We wanted to be able to run a keeper and run a screen and run a play action and run drop back, et cetera, et cetera, just because we want to evaluate our guys. So, while there’s game plans that will be more complicated as you get going and certainly as you get to the season, we really want to put our guys in as many situations as possible, and I thought those guys handled it really well.”
(Luke) Floriea and (Gage) Larvadain, it seems every day they’re making the plays in practice when they’re getting their opportunities. How good was it to see them last night even though Floriea got banged up, but just to see both of those guys in a game setting do what they have been doing all along here for you?
“Yeah, I think as coaches, you evaluate these guys and, definitely – going back to what I said earlier, you want to see what they’re doing on the practice field show up on the game field, and I think you did see that. Again, it was in a myriad of ways, Gage was also on punt return. Both those guys had punt returns, but it was off of different routes and they did a nice job. I think Luke going to stretch for that ball down the sideline was outstanding. So, those guys got an opportunity to really show what they can do.”
Hey Kevin, Shedeur has talked so much about his focus being on learning a lot in the classroom, those mental reps, but also on the practice fields. So, for him in particular, how have you seen his process evolve, change, and then translate in that first game to be able to take what he’s been focusing on and use it in his first game?
“Yeah, process is something that is important when you’re playing the quarterback position, and that’s something that we’re very lucky to have Coach (Bill) Musgrave, who’s played the position, has been a backup, has played in the Super Bowl. Check his stats. He’s one for one. Has been a coordinator, quarterback, coach, et cetera, and the quarterback room and the young guys in particular are lucky to have Coach Mus where he can help them with their process. It’s a lot on a given day that you’re covering, and sometimes it’s the defense and defensive terminology, the pressures and the fronts, et cetera. Then it’s what you’re doing on offense, it’s motions, and as we’ve gotten through the installation schedule, you’re introducing more and more to the football team. And I think it’s important that the coaches – and obviously that quarterback room, we put a lot on their plate. So, the coaches really help these young guys with their process so that they can get all this information, get it to the practice field, and then ultimately get it to the game field.”
Last night Alex Wright had that sack, he’s had the journey of coming back from injury, so what have you seen from him as he’s rehabbed, recovered, and gotten back with you guys?
“Yeah, he performed really well in the practice on Wednesday, and then to do it in the game was great. Obviously, with the injury last season, wasn’t happy with how that ended his season, but he rehabbed extremely hard, came back and looks great, and he’s playing well.”
Kevin, with Kenny Pickett, how important is it for him to try to get back into some 11-on-11s in these Philly practices to stay in the thick of this race?
“You know, with Kenny, we’ll do that when appropriate, Mary Kay (Cabot). We’re taking in information every single day with his injury. I will tell you, he’s very much involved in the meeting room and in the walkthroughs, so he’s not missing a beat when it comes to what we’re doing. He’ll be out there as soon as he’s ready, as soon as he’s healthy, but he’s doing a nice job of keeping himself ready.”
Kevin, just wondering how you assessed the plays of your secondary cornerbacks last night? Looked like in the second half, a lot of good pass breakups, especially on the later downs.
“Yeah, I thought the guys did a nice job of challenging their receivers both early and late in the game. We’re working different combinations back there, getting different guys in different situations, and I thought that going up against their ones early, I thought the guys competed really well.”
In terms of kick returns, Bubba (Ventrone) said earlier in the week that the bounce kicks were a concern of his. Do you think throughout the league we’ll be seeing more of those with the new rules?
“Yeah, I really do, Joe (Reedy). I think that the ability for the kicker to put the ball on the ground is something that I think you’ll see more of that now that the penalty for missing the landing zone is the 40-yard line, which is just five yards from where the touchback is at the 35. So, I think the incentive to put the ball on the ground has never been greater. Obviously, when the ball hits the ground, the kickoff team and the kick return team can move as opposed to waiting until it’s in the hands of the player, and if you mishandle that ball, it can be a messy play for the return team and can be a great advantage for the kickoff team. Now, having said that, you better put the ball in the landing area because starting the drive at the minus 40 is not great for your defense either. But I do think, based on how the rules are this season, I think you’ll see more and more of that throughout the league.”
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