CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Friday with regard to hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, Myles Garrett, Mike Hall Jr., and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
Opening Statement:
“Excited to get down there Sunday in front of our fans. You know, week one, all of us circle that first one on the calendar when the schedule comes out. So, we’re very lucky to be in front of our fans in week one. I love being down there, and I love that drive down to the stadium early in the morning and seeing everybody setting up in the Muni Lot. So have fun in that Muni Lot, then I’ll see you guys in the stadium. Give yourself plenty of time because we’re going to need them, and that’s the truth. This is a great opponent that we got coming in here, a great bunch of coaches, players, good schemes. So, we have to be about our business against this football team. You have to play well. You got to play smart when you’re playing a division opponent like the (Cincinnati) Bengals. So, excited for the challenge and understand that we have to play good football. But with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Did Myles (Garrett) give you a scare yesterday?
“No, no scare. He’s good.”
Was that something that arose earlier in the week?
“Just was feeling a little uncomfortable, but he’s good to go.”
Mike (Hall Jr.), obviously progressing, but not where you needed him to be to feel comfortable?
“Yeah, he’s progressing really well. This was all part of the plan in getting him up to speed, but not this week, and we’ll just keep going.”
Anything that happened early in last night’s game that made it into the team meeting?
“My team meeting got very long this morning after some of the things that happened in that game that was, I mean I didn’t stay up for it, but I certainly clipped a bunch of it for this morning. So, yes.”
So how do you feel about everybody but Mike being up and available for this game?
“Well, you want to have your full complement of players for week one, so, proud that we’re able to do that. But I also think it’s a testament to how hard these guys have worked all off season, Mary Kay (Cabot). I think back to what they’ve put their bodies through, April, May and June, and then coming back through the dog days of summer and to get through the preseason and all those things. They’ve been building towards this, and I think that’s a great testament to their work.”
Kevin (Stefanski), year two of the new kick return rule. They ran back one on you up in the kickoff here last year. Do you sense much changes just with the tweaks and stuff?
“Well, the return rate is going to increase significantly, and you saw that last night as well, and you will continue to see that throughout this season. The return rate is…I don’t know what the number’s going to be. I’d imagine somewhere up close to the 90s, and there were a couple last night that were touchbacks that weren’t supposed to be. The kicker didn’t hit it exactly where he wanted to. So, I do think teams are going to force kickoffs. That’s a very real play. It’s darn near first and 10 type of play that every team is going to be defending.”
Bubba (Ventrone) was talking about how he feels like there’s more accountability for the players in general, but also the messaging that you’ve given, ‘own what you put out there’. How important is that to emphasize accountability and get the most out of that?
“Well, I think Bubba does a great job with our football team. You know, he’s the Assistant Head Coach. I put a lot on Bubba’s plate to help me with this football team. And he’s constantly doing his part to message the team, not just in special teams meetings, but making sure that he’s messaging to them what’s important, whether it be how to play this game, how to protect the football, those types of things. So, Bubba’s a big part of those messages.”
Have you seen the culture changes here?
“You know, I think culture is a very slippery subject because culture is people, very simply. And if you have the right people, you have the right culture. I think winning certainly helps. “
Can you tell us who ran the scout team? Was it Shedeur (Sanders)?
“A bunch of different guys in there, Mary Kay (Cabot). Yeah, rotated.”
Jim’s (Schwartz) very big on defensive players celebrating as a team. The league is emphasizing unsportsmanlike conduct…
“Were you in the team meeting this morning, too?”
No, but just, what’s the message?
“Yeah, the message is this. The league is very serious about sportsmanship. We know it. We know what you can and cannot do. Everybody does. Typically, when the league wants something emphasized, it gets emphasized early in the season. I think you saw that last night. So, we will not complain about the rules. We know what the rules are. We will abide by them.”
Do you have a checklist of things you go over before week one? Is it any different than any of the other weeks? “I think that’s why we treat the third preseason game as a regular season schedule. When you have a bunch of new players, rookies or free agents, you have new coaches, you want to get through a week. You know, the NFL week is a meat grinder, I was just talking about that with AB (Andrew Berry), for these players, mentally, what we put on them throughout the week is crazy, and it’s a lot. And sometimes it feels like you’re drinking out of a fire hose on Wednesday, and then all of a sudden, by Thursday, by Friday, by Saturday, by game day, it crystallizes. But what these guys have to, what we ask of them mentally, physically, is a lot. And that just goes into what you have to do to prepare for an NFL game. So, I think us getting a lot of that practiced in the preseason was important.”
How about Dillon Gabriel this week? How did he come through the week and how do you feel about his ability if he has to step in?
“Yeah, did a nice job this week. All of our backups have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. That’s football, and he’s worked very hard this week.”
A couple of experiences with virtual measurement during the preseason. Do you find that it’s about the same time as a measurement or are you getting a little bit more time to decide whether to go or not?
“Yeah, I guess we had a couple. It did seem, it took a little bit of time. I’m a traditionalist. I like those chain gang guys coming out to measure, but we’ll see. I don’t know if that’s something that they’re looking to expedite post preseason, but were there any last night? I don’t remember seeing one.”
I don’t remember seeing one in the first three quarters.
“Yeah.”
Kevin, obviously you tend to keep things even keeled. But even being in year six of doing this, emotionally, do you still get excited about week one of the season, a new sort of opportunity for your team?
“Yeah, I think for me, I’m very, very fortunate and blessed and lucky to do what I do, to coach this game. I know our coaches feel the same way. I know our players feel the same way. So, we don’t take for granted the fact that we get to coach and play a kid’s game. And that’s the fun part of this business. We’re very lucky, and the competitive nature of this business. You know, you got the game this week, and it’s the grind, and the next one comes, and that’s the NFL season. It’s built to really test you mentally, physically, emotionally, all those types of things. But that’s the fun part for us as coaches, certainly. Definitely as players, where we’re just lucky to play a kid’s game.”
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