QB Kenny Pickett (6.11.25)
Just an update. The last time we talked to you, do you feel even more comfortable? What’s your state of being?
“Yeah, yeah, I do. I do. I think the more reps you get in the new system, you just feel better. You know, some of these things are new to me, new to a lot of guys here, so having an opportunity to physically rep, it definitely helps.”
Kenny, at the (Pittsburgh) Steelers, your two years there, did you do much play faking?
“Not much. Not much play action, no.”
Is that a challenge or is it easy peasy for you?
“I think it’s just something that kind of…you rep it, you get a lot better at. I feel like it’s come pretty easily so far in this camp and minicamp and OTAs. I feel like really comfortable going through the play action footwork and the fakes and getting to where I need to be on time.”
At Pitt, did you do it more?
“Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. We were more gun at Pitt, so not as much under center play action.”
Kenny, Kevin (Stefanski) and a lot of people have talked about the diversity of experience in the quarterbacks room and how that has given y’all a high level of conversation. Can you give us an example of a conversation you’ve had that you feel like reflects how you can each weigh in?
“Yeah, I think, you know, if we have a concept that may be new to me, and I ask Joe (Flacco) about it and he’s had it in the past, that’s kind of where the conversation starts. Just getting another opinion on how he’s read it in the past and footwork, stuff like that. So that’s just one example, but there’s plenty of them. We’re in the film room and some guy has a question, usually everybody kind of gives their two cents and we all talk about it.”
What’s an example of a time that the rookies have asked you a question and how have you answered it?
“Probably just going through a read and footwork. Me and Shedeur (Sanders) talk about that a lot. You know, whether you’re taking three, five, seven from under center. You know, there’s different footworks for each play. And I think, you know, more of the under-center stuff I’d say. The college guys have more questions about just something new that they haven’t done. So, you know, hopefully I can give them some good insight, you know, on things that I do, things that Joe does to help them.”
Kenny, as we come to the end of the spring, do you feel like you’ve accomplished most of what you wanted to?
“Yeah, I think coming in, learning the system, getting to meet my teammates and building that bond and just working every day, you have to take it a day at a time. We’re installing new things every day so you may get that play that you haven’t run one time and you got to take advantage of it. So, I think it’s gone really well so far.”
How much of building that bond is organic and how much do you as a quarterback have to work for the chemistry and things like that?
“Yeah, I think it’s always organic. I think in football, everyone, we’re all doing the same thing. We’re all on the same mission. This is a great locker room to be in. So just being able to hang out with guys outside of football, outside the field, whether it’s on the golf course, in the cafeteria, getting a bite to eat, whatever it may be, I think it’s always a good time to get to know your teammates.”
How much does it help to have Myles Garrett to look out there and see that he’s there and know that probably, if you can get past him, pretty much…?
“Yeah, his presence has been felt in two days, I can tell you that. Obviously, playing against him, you know, I understood that coming into it, but, you know, I had a scramble today and I was running down the right side, he was chasing me down like 25, 30 yards down the field. So, you know, his effort and what he brings to the table, we all know. So, it’s great to have them here.”
In your two years at the Pittsburgh Steelers, you had six fourth quarter comebacks attributed to you. How do you account for that?
“I’d just say preparation and it’s the ultimate team game. So, you know, you need all other 10 guys on the field to do their job as well. So, I’ve been a part of great teams. I’ve had great teammates that when it comes down to it, the work that we put in, I trust that they’re going to be where I need them to be. They know that I’m prepared and I’m going to get the ball where it needs to be. So, it’s a complete team game. And, you know, we started the two-minute stuff today and I thought it went really well, so it was a good start for that.”
So, everyone talked about developing the bond, you know, with teammates and everything. Obviously in week or so you guys are going to break for off season. How do you continue that and build off of that while you’re kind of away from here during that period?
“Yeah, hopefully there’s times where we can get together maybe once in this next five weeks, you know, wherever that may be to get a couple throwing sessions in, hang out, like I said, go golf and just be around each other for a weekend. It can definitely just help continue to those bonds during that off time.”
Kenny, the rookies yesterday mentioned just about the camaraderie, being around you, being around Joe (Flacco), being around Deshaun (Watson). Just the room that you guys have built, while also at the same time, you’re competing for one job right now. Just from your perspective, what’s it like? What’s that dynamic, like where you’re trying to help out the kids, but also at the same time you’re trying to get you for a job?
“I don’t think – like I said, the first time we kind of talked about it, it’s just such a natural thing that happens in all the quarterback rooms that I’ve been in. You just become – you’re around each other for so many hours. You become friends. You know, you’re always joking about stuff, like, you become really good friends, and you’re working and competing at the same time. So, it’s been a natural progression in every room I’ve been in and this one’s doing, you know, the exact same thing.”
You were asked about Myles Garrett here practice, but I want to ask about you about preparing for him when you were with the Steelers. What was that preparation like?
“Yeah, you’re gonna get four hands on him at all times, you know, especially third downs. You’re sliding, you’re chipping, you’re putting two men on him. And that just affects everything in the pass game because that takes out an underneath route where guys can start dropping underneath, second level, third level throws. So, he’s truly a game wrecker player, you know, in terms of a game plan. So you always have to know where 95 is and have a plan for him.”
Kevin was talking about social media being like an outside noise amplifier. I know you guys try not to pay attention. I’m asking, like, your friends and family, though, like, how do you have to ever try to, like, say, hey, guys, like, that stuff doesn’t really matter. Like, what are those conversations?
“Yeah, luckily, you know, going into my fourth year in the league and playing college football, I think everyone’s pretty used to it by now, which is a really good thing. So, you know, no one really talks about it, you know, which is great. You know, when I’m home, I’m home and relaxing, and I just want to spend time with my family and work is work.”
So how can you empathize? I mean, like, you are part of generation that like grew up without a phone, without social media, all that stuff. Some of these younger guys just been a part of their whole life.
So how can you empathize with them as they try to navigate the world? That’s their real world sometimes.
“Yeah. Which is a shame. It’s a shame. It should never be considered the real world, what you see online and stuff. So hopefully nobody buys into that. But I think the guys are handling it well. You know, I never even thought about that. That’s pretty true. You know, I don’t think it started coming around until I was like 13, 14. So yeah, it’s a different world growing up in the social media, I think these guys handle it really well.”
Kenny, have you had an opportunity to spend a little bit of time so far here with Diontae (Johnson), knowing him the way that you do, and if so, do you think that maybe you can be a little instrumental in making sure that he kind of acclimates well to the team? Obviously last year he had some ups and downs and what can your role be in kind of helping him?
“Yeah, just help him any way I can. You know, I was talking to him a lot today in the field, you know, in the two-minute period, going through the play calls with him, where he would be if he was at Z or X or F and kind of, you know, talking him through each play. So, he’s working really hard at it. It’s great to have him here and you know, I know that he’s going to continue that.”
You were in Philly last year when he was traded and waived twice in the same season.
“Yeah, honestly, I didn’t really know what was going on. I try to stay off everything during the season, but you know, listen, I’m really happy that he’s here. You know, I think he can really help us. The things that he can do with his route running and ability. So, it’s good to have him here.”
When he’s at his best, what can he bring to the table for you guys?
“One on one he gets separation. I think he does a really good job of getting separation at the line, at the top of his routes. In and out of cuts, I think is probably his biggest strength. He gets in and out really well. So, a lot of those third down, possession down, route running, which you need to be precise at, I think he can bring that.”
The way Kevin (Stefanski) splits you guys up on the field so everyone can get an equal amount of reps. Just how helpful has that been, you know, when you’re dealing with a four-man rotation here so that you know you’re able to maximize your time and you’re not having to wait your turn anymore.
“Yeah, it’s big. It’s big. The more reps you get, the more comfortable you be. You know, unfortunately in a situation like this, you may only get one play, one time, the entire camp. So, you got to try to maximize as much as you can. Whether it goes good or bad, you can always learn from it, which is great. But you know, as many reps as you can get, it’s extremely valuable at this point, especially being on a new team of new guys.”
Kenny, what have you heard about Kevin (Stefanski) as a developer of quarterbacks and has like what you heard kind of matched up to your experience?
“Yeah, to a T. Everything I expected coming into it, he’s probably exceeded that. Just the knowledge of his system that he’s been in for a long time and how he understands quarterback play and what it’s like to be back there and kind of, you know, the clock that we’re on and what we have to do to be successful. So, it’s been awesome. And he sits in every quarterback meeting and he’s part of all those conversations that we mentioned earlier. So, it’s been awesome.”
We’re not going to see you now until the start of training camp or talk to you until the start of training camp. So, I know you’ve worked out some with Jerry Jeudy on your own. What kind of are your plans and do you guys maybe as an offense have some plans to try to get all together somewhere?
“Yeah, I’ve talked to, you know, Jerry and (Jamari) Thrash about it actually and Joe’s (Flacco) in New Jersey and I’ll be back in New Jersey as well. So hopefully we can work something out. We can get you know, two or three days in the middle of the break to, you know, continue to build that timing and hang out off the field before we get ready to go into a big season.”
With Diontae, his run after catch ability, how do you balance kind of let him cook with, hey man, you had a first down, why’d you run backwards there?
“I mean, yeah, that’s probably a Diontae question, but yeah, my job is to get the ball in his hands and he’s going to go try and get as many yards as he can out.”
How do you feel about the notion of the fact that you are kind of having to make sure that what is in the offense is going to work for you guys, and what shouldn’t be there, isn’t going to be there. And a lot of that, I think, is kind of falling on you at this point. How’s that going while you’re also trying to look great and win the job?
“Yeah, there was a conversation we had, like, it’s kind of trial and error. We may try one play and we don’t love it, it gets thrown out for the season. So that kind of goes into that. You only get one play once. You know, if you hit it, it’s great. It stays. If it doesn’t look great, it may be out. So, it’s kind of a trial process for some new plays. That’s what this time is for. This time is not to be perfect. It’s to try new things, test timing with teammates and push yourself. So, I think it’s gone well so far.”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***