CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Wednesday with regard to preparing for the Ravens, Dillon Gabriel, Deshaun Watson, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
Opening Statement:
“Okay, starting the work week, obviously, division game at our place. An opponent, when you’re in the division, second game, they know you, we know them. Obviously, a couple of different players on both sides of the ball, they have to get up to speed on. But obviously, you have to play your best, you got to play your best football versus a good opponent at our place. So, working real hard this week on all three sides of the ball. With that, I’ll take any questions.
How did you see the (Baltimore) Ravens change from the first time you guys played them?
“Well, I’d say, some new faces in there. Some guys that were injured, didn’t play in our first game, and now are back. Had the trade there, a couple trades there on defense, so moving some pieces around to different spots. So, just evolving I would say.”
You know, one of the changes that they made is putting Kyle Hamilton in the box. How does that change the complexion of the defense?
“Well, he’s a really good player. He’s played safety, he’s played nickel, he’s played their dime linebacker. So, he’s really a player that has always had that versatility, Daniel (Oyefusi). Can show up anywhere, they can blitz him, he can play the deep half, he can cover tight ends. So, there’s really a lot of versatility to what he does.”
Have you identified, Kevin (Stefanski), more of the issues on the coverage units in your film study or whatever? On your guys’, you know, after letting up the punt return and kick return?
“On special teams? Yeah, obviously, Jeff (Schudel), you look at the scope of your team every single week, and certainly we didn’t do a good enough job in this last ball game, and it’s a major focus of ours, and we’re looking at any area that we can improve.”
Kevin, this is the sixth game in a row against the Ravens that you’ve had a different starting quarterback. What challenges does that present the coaching staff?
“I think it’s no different, Tony (Grossi). We talk about this every week. There’s injuries, there’s all sorts of things that happen in the course of a season. And regardless of position, we trust the guys who are out there to go compete, do their job, and help us win.”
When we talk about the ups and downs of rookie quarterbacks, but particularly Dillon (Gabriel), what are some of the things you like about his development, and where are some of the areas you guys continue to focus on improving?
“Yeah, I think with any young player, you’re constantly coaching and teaching, and you’re teaching off of some mistakes on film, and you’re also saying, ‘hey, this is really good’, we’re going to lean into this. So, that’s a constant dialogue that you’re having with Dillon, with Coach (Bill) Musgrave, with Coach (Tommy) Rees in terms of, ‘hey, this is exactly how it’s done, this is where the read is’. I think so often what happens in football is, as you prepare quarterbacks and you give them looks – and you can’t give a quarterback every single look in the course of a given week. Now, with turns and with reps and with experience, quarterbacks obviously can lean on those. So, with a young quarterback, in this case with Dillon, you just constantly have to give him as many looks and talk through coverages as much as you can, and when it’s there, trusting the reads and delivering the football. So, I think there’s really good things that continue to go on, and then we, just as an offense, obviously have to do our job all around that position to have success as an offense.”
How much do you balance what is on the quarterback and what is on offensive line, wide receiver, whomever else is on the play?
“I think any offense, any defense, any special teams, you need all 11 on the same page doing their job, and that’s the coach’s job, it’s the player’s job, it’s all of us. So, any success you’re having as a unit is cohesion amongst all those guys.”
Kevin, there were some throws by Dillon that just looked completely off. I’m thinking of the one to Malachi (Corley) out there in the flat and just a couple other ones, maybe even on the first drive. So, what’s going on there with Dillon? Because it seems like in those moments, he has time to throw. Is it his mechanics or what’s going on in those moments?
“I would just caution, Mary Kay (Cabot), to any quarterback, young and old – you’re going to miss throws. It’s an occupational hazard that you’re likely not going to go 100% completion percentage. It’s an occupational hazard that a corner is going to get beat deep every once in a while. So, you’re not going to make every throw. Now, having said that, you coach every throw, and you say, ‘hey, this could be…use your technique here or trust what you’re seeing here’, all those things. And that’s true of young and old quarterbacks.”
Kevin, along those lines, I think Dillon has like the fifth-highest rate of off target passes. Is that something that’s been…how worrisome is that when you look at the missed opportunities on the field?
“Yeah, again, I think big picture, Daniel, you want to make sure you’re coaching all your players to have constant improvement. And there are things that I know Dillon can do better and will do better as a young quarterback. And I know there are things that we as a staff can do better, and putting our guys in position. So, I just think it goes back to, I understand the individual aspect of this, but there’s also the collective aspect of this.”
Kevin, watching Lamar coming back from his hamstring injury these last couple games, how has he looked? Since you guys obviously see him so much.
“Yeah, looks like himself. Obviously the offense is a huge challenge with him in there – just his ability as a passer, the ability that his running element adds to their offense. They have playmakers throughout the roster.”
Kevin, as you evaluate young players, especially young quarterbacks, you guys maybe all have different perspectives on whether it’s you, Andrew (Berry), scouts, whoever, in terms of, when you evaluate what they’re doing, how they’re progressing, or is there a baseline timeline that you guys feel like you get a good read on who somebody is, or what they’re becoming or how they’re developing?
“Yeah, I can’t speak to a baseline like that. I would say, with all of our young players and having now been around them since back in April, I’m seeing great strides from our guys both in the building on the field – and it’s not perfect. You can seek perfection; you’re not going to get it. But with any of our young players, I’m really excited about how they’re working their craft, which is such a big piece of this, and I think you’re seeing improvement over the course of time, but I don’t think you’re going to see perfect from any position.”
Kevin, I guess you would have announced if (Deshaun) Watson were medically cleared. So, assuming he’s not, would you say with eight games left, it’s a goal of the organization to see him back on the field this year?
“Yeah, I don’t have an update there.”
Kevin, when you watched the film, what were some of the things that you liked about a Tommy Rees-called game? Some of the things that you guys think you can build on moving forward.
“Yeah, I thought Tommy – and I would credit Tommy and the entire offensive staff, Mary Kay (Cabot). I thought they did a really nice job in the game, both leading up to the game and then in-game and some of the conversations that they had and some of the adjustments throughout the game that you’re making, whether personnel or scheme or otherwise. Again, there’s – you guys will talk Tommy and I know this too, there’s always calls you want back and that type of thing. But I thought he did a real nice job along with the staff in operating.”
Kevin along those lines, Jerry (Jeudy) got involved earlier in this game and obviously best game of the season for him. How important was that and how much do you think they have to build on that?
“Well, like we talked about a couple weeks ago, I mean, Jerry’s our best wide receiver, you know, one of our best players on offense. We know that he’s a guy that we lean on to do a lot of things and the teams that we’re going against know that as you see. So, he’s a focal point of what we want to be.”
Is IR a possibility for Alex Wright?
“We’ll see.”
Kevin, without getting into any like conversations you have directly with the players, but just like accountability, what is your, I guess, like philosophy? How do you hold players accountable for critical mistakes that they make that hurt the team?
“Well, I think it’s important that we hold every player accountable for everything we do. I’m accountable for everything we do. So, you just try to be very open and transparent and honest with your football team. A lot of that doesn’t make it outside this building and that’s just kind of part of being a family is to keep things in-house. But our guys understand that part of the accountability is a shared accountability. So, it’s all of us.”
Kevin, I think Dillon (Gabriel) has one of the lowest completion rates in the NFL. He also has one of the lowest average depth of targets. So, it kind of works counterintuitively, I mean, to my opinion, like what is the factor? What would you say is factoring into him, a quarterback that’s not pushing the ball downfield but at the same time isn’t able to complete passes, you know, other than a league average rate?
“I would just tell you, Daniel (Oyefusi), it’s our job as coaches and certainly the players to go be productive on offense. And it’s very, I understand that a lot of the focus goes to the quarterback position, but I look at it also globally and try to look at ways that we can improve across the board, whether it’s how we’re designing some of those plays, who were putting in those spots in some of those plays. I think that’s as big a part of it as well.”
With (Cedric) Tillman coming off of the hamstring injury and missing four games and never having played with Dillon before in any game, do you feel like that’s one area where you guys can target for, you know, a lot more improvement?
“Yeah, I think we – how many times did we target Ced (Cedric Tillman) in the game? (Four). I think that’s, we trust Ced, he’s in positions where we can start with him in the progression, move to him in the progression. We trust him to get open. We trust him to catch football. I thought he caught a really good ball over the middle in a contested moment, so he’s definitely a big part of our offense. I think he continues to be a guy that we lean on in a bunch of variety of jobs, if you will, but a very trustworthy player in the past games.”
So, in the last several games, Dylan Sampson has gotten far more snaps than (Jerome) Ford. So, I’m wondering why.
“We like both players. I think it’s when you get into these games, Tony (Grossi), you’re looking for guys in different roles. Jerome’s a guy we trust, has played really well for us in some third down situations. Dylan’s a young player that has made plays for us with the ball in his hands. I think we can be better around Dylan Sampson at times. I don’t know that we did a great job on a couple of his runs I’m thinking of particularly in the last game, but we like all these guys, Tony. I think it’s just a matter of what role each guy is playing on a given Sunday.”
Kevin, how will you emphasize penalties? I mean, it’s a big reason why you guys lost that game. Obviously something needs to change, how are you going to emphasize it this week?
“Yeah, it’s emphasized every week. We talk about penalties after every single practice. You know, spend a lot of time talking about the avoidable penalties, the ones pre-snap, whether it’s alignment on offense or defense or special teams if they are totally preventable and using great technique in a given play can eliminate a lot of that. But those are things that we work on and talk through every single day.”
How does having (Patrick) Ricard change the run game? You guys did a good job against (Derrick) Henry in week two, but how does Ricard change it?
“Yeah, he’s a huge piece of the puzzle for them. He’s versatile in the things that he can do, but as we’ve seen going against him over the years, he’s a big, physical football player and having him back does change some of the things we do.”
Seems like they’re using Keaton Mitchell a little bit more in the backfield and sort of mixing matching and Derrick Henry. Just what type of challenges does he present come out of that back field?
“He’s fast, you know, again, kind of to Tony’s (Grossi) point. Sorry, Tony, giving you credit, but you’re always looking for different ways to get guys the ball and different roles. And you know, in some ways what they’re doing and what a lot of teams do is keeping your number one guy fresh with a different guy that maybe has a little bit different skills.”
You mentioned the contested ball that Tillman caught over the middle. Do you feel like that’s an area where you guys can target that for a lot of improvement? It seems like maybe your receivers aren’t winning enough of those contested balls.
“Yeah, I don’t know what the numbers would suggest, Mary Kay, but obviously you’re trying to get guys open, so they’re not contested. But when they are, the quarterbacks have a ton of trust in our guys to come go up and get those footballs. You know, I think about Ced drawing the DPI (defensive pass interference) in the first, second drive of the game there, which was a huge penalty to get the drive going. So, you’re going to give your guys opportunities.”
The use of Adin Huntington, he had the concussion, but he’s back. The use of him as a fullback seems inconsistent. Fourth and one, the Jets, drop back and shotgun. What determines whether you use him in the short yardage play or not?
“I would say he’s certainly a valuable part of our football team, Tony, both as a defensive player, a special teams player and an offensive player. I think each game and each game plan is dependent on what you’re getting from the other side and then ultimately what plays come up in those given moments. But definitely is a guy that we trust in those moments.”
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