Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (9.6.24)
Opening Statement:
“Okay, excited to get going. You know, good week of practice with Friday, obviously tomorrow have meetings and walk-through and have to be great in our preparation, but we’re excited for Sunday, and I know our fans are, it’s a long wait. It’s gonna be a long wait on Sunday as well for the 4:25 start. But really, a good week of preparation is what we’re really focused on and then can’t wait to get in front of our fans down at Huntington Bank Field. I will say this, let’s have somebody responsible for setting an airhorn off at 3:45 in the Muni Lot so we can get everybody in the stadium at kickoff, okay? So, whoever’s out there wants to take care of that, 3:45 air horn. And with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Are you going to start James (Hudson III) at left tackle?
“We’re gonna work through it in the next 48 hours.”
Does Jed (Wills Jr.) still have a chance to get out there and be an option as the starting left tackle?
“Potentially.”
Not Jed, obviously James and Jack (Conklin).
“Correct.”
Is there any way that you might platoon those guys in this game?
“Yeah, I think all options are on the table with that, Mary Kay (Cabot).”
How have you seen Jerry (Jeudy) fit in since he got here and then how have you seen him kind of come on the last couple weeks that he’s been able to practice?
“Yeah, I think he fits in really, really well culturally. And I think it’s probably no surprise; Alabama, Florida, there’s so many connections in the wide receiver room, and then just with this roster, he fits in really, really well. And then to your point, Scott (Petrak), just being out there at practice, he’s got a very good neck for wiggling open, for bursting out of cuts and those type of things. So, yeah, he’s looked really good.”
We talked to Jim (Schwartz) yesterday. He mentioned, like, it is slightly, at least a concern that so many of the defensive guys miss time during training camp or missed all of training camp. Just how do you feel about that and knowing that you have vets in that room, how much do you think that alone can maybe compound things?
“Yeah, obviously, as coaches, we want everybody out there for every rep. That’s not often the reality. So, it really is what it is. We’ve had a lot of work in walk-throughs with everybody and then out at practice as guys have come back from injuries. We’ve worked really hard to get on the same page. So, again as coaches, of course we want everybody out there, but you also have to just deal with it.”
With David Bell being waived yesterday, do you guys hope to maybe get him back in some capacity here?
“Yeah, it’s always roster considerations, injuries, those type of things.”
Do you have a roster move or replacement for him right now?
“Yeah, we have, you know, with our roster, we have options at that position, yes.”
Whoever’s going to play at the tackle, did you have to emphasize today the alignment stuff after what happened in the game last night?
“We did talk about it this morning. I showed it from last night. We knew it was a point of emphasis going into the season. It’s been something that the officials have communicated to us throughout this time. We had the officials in here back in August when the (Minnesota) Vikings were practicing with us, so that was something that was addressed then. But three on the first drive gets your attention.”
Did you guys have those issues against the Vikings? Was that what they kept throwing flags up and you guys adjust?
“Yeah, well, you know, it’s a balance because you want to play by the rules. I don’t believe we’ve been called on that many times. Certainly, the players haven’t been called on it many times, but we have to adjust. Those are the types of things when the league wants something emphasized, you better adjust.”
Did you think it had gotten to the point where guys were too far back, and it was hurting the passer?
“Doesn’t matter, Scott (Petrak) (laughter). You know, I just – honestly, it’s one of those things if we know how they’re going to call it now, so we have to adjust.”
With Jed being out, how has he progressed this week, returning for the first time and kind of going through limited practices this week?
“Good to get him back out on the field, moving around, getting in the individual drills I think is really important. Continues to put every effort he can into getting back, so. But very good to see him out there.”
How has Greg (Newsome II) looked this week, you know, as he’s continued to kind of progress? Because there’s a chance, he’s going to see CeeDee (Lamb) quite a bit on Sunday.
“Yeah, he did a really nice job this week. Did a nice job out there at practice today, made some plays. Really looks healthy to me and it’s a great challenge. You mentioned CeeDee Lamb, I mean, he’s a premier wide receiver in this game, premier player in this game. So, it’s a great challenge for our defense.”
About Fridays, I think smart plays and dumb plays, what’s the root of that?
“I mean, part of our team identity, the first thing we talk about is being a smart football team, and as you guys know, some games are lost more than they’re won. So, there’s things that you do in football as a smart team. There’s things that you, if you want to be a smart team, you don’t do. It happens in every game. So just want to educate our guys and Friday is really the day that we take time to go around the league and look at different games and look at tape from over the years, and I got a great group that puts the tape together for me and has some really great examples for teaching purposes.”
Is that one thing you brought here from someone else, or is that just the last couple of years?
“We’ve done it since day one here, but I know people around the league do that.”
I know you’ve been gearing up for it for a while, but do you feel a buzz within your roster, within the team, on the practice field, knowing that Sunday is the start of this?
“That’s week one for you. In every city, there’s only one game that you can play and that’s the first one on the calendar. So, you’re always staring at that date, and that’s true of every team, you’re just staring at that date and then you got the next one, and the next one, and the next one and everything comes at you pretty fast. This first one, there’s just so much time to wait. We were the Monday Night Game when I was with the Vikings at San Francisco. We were the doubleheader at San Francisco, so to talk about waiting for the season to kick off. So, we’ll be ready, but Sunday’s gonna be a long day.”
How has Deshaun (Watson) looked in terms of putting a whole new offense together? How ready is he to get out there and put it on the ground?
He had a really good week of practice, Mary Kay (Cabot). He’s in full command of what we’re doing. Looks good, looks healthy, so he’s ready to roll.”
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