Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (9.25.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay. Going on the road, AFC opponent, Las Vegas. Spent a lot of time just watching them the last couple of days. Talented football team. So, we’ve got to have a great week of preparation and that’s really where it starts for us is worry about our preparation, then get on an airplane and try to find a way to get a victory. That’s what our focus is and that’s what we’re working towards. So, with that, I’ll take any questions.”
With the guys not practicing, are you ruling anybody out yet at this point for Sunday?
“You’d have to go by…”
Number 95 (Myles Garrett)?
“Yeah, I don’t see him being ruled out.”
More about your tackle situation, do you expect James (Hudson III) and Dawand (Jones) to practice today?
“I do.”
Do you have to add somebody?
“We will, yeah.”
With Dawand’s struggles Sunday against the (New York) Giants, how much of that is the knee and do you think the knee will be good enough?
“Yeah, I think a lot of it was not feeling totally 100%. Now, there were at times where he looked like himself, but he’s got to work through it, see if he’s able to go this week. But he’s also had some good moments for us this season when healthy. So, we’ll try to get himm as healthy as we can.”
About Jedrick Wills, in particular, Kevin, he’s not practicing today. What would you see for him for this week?
“Hard to say. I think we got to get through today. Like I’ve mentioned to you guys before, with any injury and particularly with big men, you want to make sure they practice when they do practice, how they feel, those type of things. So, hard to say just yet.”
Do you guys have to discuss if Myles getting a week or two off would beneficial or does it just come with Friday or Saturday?
“Yeah, obviously you would be smart if there’s ever a decision to be made with every player. I feel like Myles is determined to continue to play. He’s working through injuries like a lot of guys, and he’s played through injury in his past. But of course, you’d always make smart decisions with your players.”
As we pretty much peppered you daily with questions about Jack (Conklin) and Jed (Jedrick Wills Jr.) as they were coming back from their surgeries, did they come back too soon?
“I don’t believe so. Yeah, I would not characterize it that way.”
So, this is the first time you got three injuries for Myles? We know, we knew the foot prior to that, so are these last two just this past game?
“Yes, correct.”
The (Las Vegas) Raiders defense has seemed to struggle against the run. For you guys, establishing the run seems to be something you want to do. Is it more important in a game like this, where you can maybe exploit what they have been showing?
“Yeah, I think obviously getting on track on offense is a very big goal of ours going into any game. You mentioned the run game. I think it’s important for us to be efficient as an offense and be explosive when available to us, but it’s certainly an emphasis for us, yes.”
Is the slow start on offense, Kevin, anything to do with trying to incorporate the new offense with Ken Dorsey?
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s fair. I think we need to play better, I need to coach better and we will.”
On film, when you look at Gardner Minshew, Vegas said this week that they’re going to stick with him at quarterback. What have you seen from him?
“Well, we’ve seen him firsthand last season in Indianapolis, made a ton of plays for them. He’s a playmaker, has played a lot in this league, has seen a lot in this league, has great skill players around him. I think very highly of him.”
I think this will be your fourth game as Browns coach in the Pacific time zone. Three previous ones have been kind of close, but still losses. What are the particular challenges?
“Yeah, it’s something we talk about, Tony (Grossi). I think a big thing is just playing good football, regardless of what the clock says. I know it’s a small sample size, but we can play better.”
You decided to go a day early like you did against Seattle. What’s the reasoning there? Just to get acclimated?
“Get acclimated. Get under one roof, so to speak.”
There’s a lot of talk that you guys don’t have an offensive identity right now. Do you feel like you need to have an identity, such as, ‘we’re jumbo, we’re spread,’ or do you want to be multiple?
“Yeah, I think we just need to play good football. Obviously, we’ve done it at times. At times we’ve gotten in our own way. So that’s the focus for us, is just playing good football.”
Are you ruling out David Njoku?
“No, not yet. He’s gonna do some work this week, so we’ll see.”
I think Nick Chubb is eligible to come up next week. Do you expect him to be ready to come up?
“We’ll see when we get to next week. He’s doing well.”
When you have those tough decisions in game, the fourth downs and you’re kind of deciding whether or not to go for it, obviously analytics play a big role in that, but how do you kind of balance what the analytics sheet is kind of telling you versus like, just how the game’s playing out and how your players are playing?
“I think, we talked about it in the past, it’s a tool, but ultimately you have to go with what you believe and your gut. So, you get a lot of information on game day, some of it related to — from coaches, from players, from, you know, quote unquote, analytics, you get information. Then ultimately you have to make decisions that you think are best for your team.”
Going back to Dawand. I guess, what’s the balance of — he’s obviously fighting through that knee on Sunday and still fighting through it, I assume. Like, he has that mindset that’s so common in that room. Like, how do you determine if it’s going to be detrimental?
“Yeah, I think that’s our job is to evaluate each guy and see throughout the course of the week, see throughout pregame how they’re doing, so to speak. I know he can play better. I know he wants to play better, and we’ll see this week if he can make it to Sunday.”
Jordan Hicks has been so important to this defense. When did he sustain that injury and do you expect him to be in doubt?
“I remember watching the play, I don’t remember exactly when it was. But he has played really good football for us. He’s excellent off the field, provides great leadership. We’ll see how this week goes.”
How confident are you that you can keep Deshaun (Watson) upright and protect him and do all the things that you say you know you need to do in the wake of all of these injuries on the offense?
“That’s our job, Mary Kay, Cabot and in order to play good football, good offensive football, we need to protect the quarterback better than we have and that starts with me and I’ll make sure that we get that fixed.”
Considering the pressure he’s been under in these first three weeks, just from your perspective, how do you think he has held up? Not just from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint, but also the decision-making aspect, seeing the field, all those type of things.
“I think for us as an offense, we need to put it all together. I wouldn’t single any one player out. We just, we haven’t been good enough just yet, but we’re working very hard. I believe in the people we have. I believe in what we’re doing. It’s just a matter of working real hard this week and then taking that practice field to the game field on Sunday.”
How much does it alter your offensive game plan if you do have to change protections to keep Deshaun clean?
“I think that’s a week-to-week thing when you’re going into that game in the NFL trying to figure out how to win the game that week based on the players you have. You just have to pivot and adjust accordingly. So, we’ll see. Through this week, we’ll get to the end of the week and kind of see where we look up front, certainly, and then make decisions from there.”
Zak Zinter, what did you see when you went back and watched the film of his performance filling in for Wyatt (Teller) and do you foresee him being the guy at that spot, at least for the near future?
“Yeah, we have options there. I would tell you Zak did a nice job. He’s a guy that we think highly of. I thought he went in there, really didn’t miss a beat, communicated well. So, he’s somebody that we trust should he be in there.”
I have two protection things for you. Has it been such an issue that you feel like if you get that solved, everything will kind of fall into place offensively?
“I think playing good offensive football really takes all 11 doing their job, us as coaches, putting those guys in position. I wouldn’t say it’s one thing, it’s just protection. We have to better and better is efficient in everything we’re doing and then finding explosives as well.”
Maxx Crosby, what makes him special and how different was he with that high ankle last week?
“Not much different to me. I mean, his motor is unbelievable. He rarely comes off the field, but just gives you everything he has. He’s long, he’s athletic, he plays through the whistle. He’s a great, great player.”
Zak talked about the importance of cross training and how that helps him being able to go into any situation. So how does that help those guys when you have to sort of shuffle around?
“Yeah, when you have eight players up on game day, those three backups really have to be able to play multiple positions, whether it’s tackle to guard, guard to center, etcetera. So, Zak has worked really hard to understand all five positions, and I think that only helps him and helps a player when they start getting regular playing time.”
Kevin, the (Jack) Conklin hamstring injury, was that Friday or was that in a walkthrough on Saturday?
“Friday, yeah.”
Is it at all related to compensating for his knee problem?
“I think probably everything in your body is related when it comes to — I don’t have a medical degree, but yeah, I think it’s all related. But he’s doing well. He’s working very hard. It was obviously a minor setback, and we’ll see how he does this week.”
Kevin, obviously you used Joel (Bitonio) at left tackle. Do you foresee him getting reps at that left tackle position?
“We’ll see. That is an option for us, but we’ll see.”
Kevin, along those lines, with Joel kind of going out there in a pinch and then Ethan (Pocic) essentially volunteering to move over to left guard. What does it say about those guys in like the heat of the moment to be able to slide over and do that job?
“Yeah, that’s those guys. That’s that room. They have the mentality. They will do whatever it takes and that’s certainly been Joel in his career, and I think Ethan fits in real well.”
So I’ve got two O-line injury questions, if not for the hamstring that popped up, did you anticipate that Jack would have been able to play?
“He’s getting close. We’ve listed him as questionable because it’s been really, really close throughout. But I need to go day-to-day with any injury, especially with bigger guys.”
I may have missed it, but was it the same knee for Jed?
“Yes.”
What does a confident quarterback look like? When a guy’s playing confident, what is he doing?
“Yeah, I mean, you’ve seen it from our guys, you’ve seen it from Deshaun. A confident quarterback is really with the entire offense doing their job. And I think it goes back to the messaging of you need all 11. It’s not a one man show. So I think a confident quarterback really falls in line with a confident offense that trusts each other and moves the ball.”
Where do you feel Deshaun is at confidence wise right now?
“Yeah, we need to play better offensively. I understand the quarterback gets a lot of criticism, gets a lot of blame, gets the glory, those type of things and Deshaun knows that. He’s been doing this his whole life. But we need to play better offensively is what I would tell you.”
Is there’s a chance Jed and/or Jack can play this week?
“I think we need to get through the week before we make that call.”
What neutralizes pressure? I’m not asking to get into a gameplan specifics, but just in general, when defenses are bringing the heat, what kind of neutralizes that?
“Yeah, I think it’s multifaceted in that you obviously can get the ball out quick, whether it’s a quick or a quick screen, you can max protect and take shots. When defenses blitz, those are opportunities. There’s less people in coverage. So obviously for us as an offense, the mentality has to be to play efficient versus pressures and also when big plays present themselves to make those big plays.”
How do you guys combat things like what the Giants were doing when they’re hitting you guys with the quick game stuff?
“You’re saying on our defense?”
Yes.
“We often see teams that get the ball out quickly. Obviously with Myles and our pass rush, that’s nothing new. There’s things that we can absolutely do better knowing that the ball is coming out as quick as it is, but playing sound defense really encompasses the rush and the coverage working together.”
Was the point of emphasis for you guys to instruct Deshaun to maybe not try to extend the play every single time or to kind of get rid of the ball a little bit quicker?
“I think there’s a balance there, Mary Kay (Cabot), and I think if you watch — there’s a lot of players who have God given ability to make plays outside the framework of the play that you don’t want totally take that away from them. Then there’s always the balance of making sure that you’re not taking hits when you can avoid them, those type of things. So that’s always a conversation.”
When trying to get the run game going, you have a quarterback like Deshaun who can move, I know you don’t want to expose him to too many hits, but how much do you consider maybe getting him involved there to try and even it up, make the defense account for everybody?
“We’ve done some things already this season that include the quarterback. But I think, again, it goes back to the answer of run game really does…it’s not a one man show and it’s not, ‘hey, if the running back sees this or if the offensive line does this.’ It really does take all of us to be efficient in that area.”
How has Deshaun has looked as a ball carrier this year?
“He’s made some plays for us. Again, that’s definitely part of his arsenal.”
You guys I think, through three weeks, ranked 31st in pre-snap motion rate. Is that something you still feel you guys are trying to prioritize more?
“Yeah, I think it’s so dependent on the game plan, number one, but also the game flow, if you will. Sometimes when you’re going fast, certainly in a couple of these games where we’ve gone trying to catch up and being down a couple scores, you end up going on the line of scrimmage where there’s less motion when you’re not huddling.”
What was going on because I know obviously, like every team is unique, but there’s some teams that kind of make motion kind of like a fixture of what they do in their scheme, as opposed to maybe a week-to-week wrinkle based on the opponent. Just how do you see the difference?
“Yeah, I think you’re always trying to just put your guys in the best position. If that includes pre-snap movement, it could be a shift. You know, shift in motion with a purpose is a big part for us. So if you shift, you’re trying to do that for a reason, get some response from the defense, and then motion with a purpose, obviously, whether it’s run game or pass game, trying to make sure that you’re making life hard on the defense, but it’s so dependent on what you’re getting from that opposing defense.”