CLEVELAND, Ohio — [Browns](https://www.cleveland.com/browns/) head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Wednesday with regard to preparing for the 49ers, Shedeur Sanders, Christian McCaffrey, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
**Opening Statement:**
“Okay, great challenge this week. A really good football team coming to our place. I have a ton of respect for coach (Kyle) Shanahan, his coaches, his staff. I know a lot of his coaches – they do a great job. Really talented roster. They’re playing good football, so we have to meet this challenge. It’s a unique challenge in some of the things they do schematically, so we have to have a great work week. Obviously, it’s a different work week, just with Thanksgiving tomorrow and we’ll move some meetings around and that type of thing. But, have to have a really great work week this week before we head down to the stadium in front of our fans, which we’re very excited about that part. So, with that I’ll take any questions.”
**With Robert (Saleh) back as the defensive coordinator, where has he put his imprint back on that defense and what are the teaching points with Shedeur (Sanders) this week to prepare him for that?**
“Yeah, Coach Saleh does an amazing job. I’ve competed against Coach Saleh when he was at the (San Francisco) Niners the first time, when he was at the (New York) Jets, obviously going up against him now. He’s an excellent football coach from the X’s and O’s, but this defense, and Coach Saleh’s system and our system share a lot of DNA. Their defensive line coach, Kris Kocurek, who does an outstanding job, was with Coach (Jim) Schwartz when they were in Detroit together. So, there’s a lot of things that they do similar, and I’d say the number one thing that I think you’d see on tape is how hard their defense plays and how relentless their defense plays. And that’s something that’s obviously part of both teams’ defensive identity.”
**Kevin, how much work and what was the work that went into Shedeur eliminating those deep loss sacks?**
“Yeah, I thought he did a great job, the protection plan was really solid. We really had one sack for negative three yards on a coverage sack. You know, we went max protection, didn’t really have any underneath options, moved forward in the pocket with great ball security. So that’s a great lesson for the young quarterback – and we took a sack, but it was just for minus three. We maintained possession of the ball; he had great ball security throughout that. But it only…you have great success over the course of a game by everybody being on the same page. That’s the quarterback in how he’s operating, that’s the offensive line and who they’re blocking, tight ends and running backs are involved, obviously people are getting open. So, I thought that was a really, really strong outing for Shedeur in his first start to just have one sack.”
**Is there personal coaching to him to go over former games?**
“I mean, we talk about a lot in that quarterback room and certainly had a lot of discussions with all the quarterbacks, and Shedeur, on just our pocket movement, our pocket mechanics. When you have players that can escape the pocket and make big plays down the field, naturally there are going to be times where you then expose yourself to a pass rush. So, that balance of finding the completions when they’re there and you can make plays in the pocket. And then also still having that ability to break the pocket, break contain, move up in the pocket, all those types of things where some big plays lie when you do that.”
**The fact that the 49ers are, I think, last in the NFL in sacks right now. And obviously Nick Bosa’s not out there, Fred Warner’s not out there. What does that mean in terms of their ability to get pressure and rush the passer?**
“Yeah, they still do an outstanding job. They have rushers that can win one-on-ones. They have a good pressure package on third down, and they are relentless. Just talking earlier about how this team plays, they’re relentless. You have to match their intensity, really, throughout the game.”
**When a player like (Christian) McCaffrey that gets the ball as much as he does. I mean, besides the talent aspect of it, how does the volume challenge you guys?**
“Yeah, he’s a unique player in this game. Just the way he impacts the game in both the run and the pass. When he’s running routes, he’s a wide receiver. I mean, I really don’t think there’s any route he can’t run. They could line him up anywhere, he could run any route. There’s no run scheme that he can’t run. So, he’s a huge challenge. Having gone against him over the years, you try to limit him, you try to slow him down, but you also have to recognize this is a great player. “
**Kevin, the fans are going to go crazy Sunday with Shedeur. Do you have to harness his energy so he stays within the game?**
“I think he’s done a nice…he’s always done a nice job of that. You know, what we appreciate about all of our players is authenticity. He’s the same guy every single day. Obviously, on game day, there’s a juice that comes with that, there’s an excitement that comes with that. But he’s played that position for a long time, he knows how to make sure he keeps the main thing, the main thing.”
**Kevin, with how much the 49ers use pre-snap motion, I think they’re second in the league, how much is that a point of emphasis for your guys on defense, to make sure your eyes are in the right place and you’re not falling for certain things that they’re trying to show you?**
“Yeah, it’s a huge point of emphasis and it’s been a staple of what they do. That’s something, certainly when we played them a couple years back was what they do. Having played Miami (Dolphins) recently, that’s a big part of them as well. So, there are schemes, there are offensive attacks that utilize pre-snap motion shift for a variety of reasons. But it’s a huge point of emphasis for us on defense to stay true to our jobs, stay true to our reads, those types of things.”
**Kevin, why didn’t you give Shedeur a game ball after the game? I know you didn’t give Dillon (Gabriel) one either. Is it like you don’t want to let rookies taste too much success too soon or what was the philosophy?**
“I mean, every game you go into it trying to just highlight guys. You know, Myles (Garrett) got a game ball, I thought it was probably pretty worthy, but you’re just constantly trying to recognize your guys. We spent time this morning as well pointing out all of our guys and the jobs they did. Point out Gage (Larvadain) having a big punt return, which was huge for our team. Your D-line doesn’t get 10 sacks unless the coverage is really good. Obviously, a rookie starting his first game on the road, getting a win is huge. So, you acknowledge all that with your team.”
**Kevin, before you hired (Jim) Schwartz, he had a successful record against Shanahan as coordinators, head coaches, and you shared that success in 2023, one game. So, have you learned some of his trade secrets over the last three years in this matchup?**
“Honestly, Tony (Grossi), I think it’s probably overrated to think – and I understand the question, but there’s really, really good coaches on both sides of the ball. And there’s going to be moments where they got you, and there’s going to be moments we get them, and there’s always in between. But all those previous games, while we’re watching that game and they’re watching that game, those games don’t really factor into this one.”
**Kevin, when you first saw (Brock) Purdy a couple of years ago, he was still relatively young, still bursting onto the scene. How has he changed as a quarterback? What have you noticed that’s different about him now as you get ready to see him a second time?**
“Yeah, I think he’s extremely talented. Great decision maker, fast decision maker, very accurate, very good athlete. Makes a ton of plays with his feet. We’ve studied a lot of his movement over the years on scramble drills. He’s outstanding at extending plays, making plays with his feet. Yeah, I think he’s got really all the tools.”
**Despite some numbers that weren’t great early**, **you always said that you trusted Dylan Sampson and you wanted to get him more involved. Why were you so confident it would eventually show up**?
“Yeah, I think there’s been opportunities to get him involved. It hasn’t exactly worked out. I think he’s kind of got the short end of the stick. It feels like a few of his runs over the last few weeks, there’s an unblocked player or whatever, and that’s part of playing it. When you don’t get as much exposure, you don’t get to get the next run and that type of thing. But I’ve seen him work, I’ve seen him out on the practice field since the spring. I know what type of player he is. He gives a different element to our attack when he’s out there. So, he’s somebody that we feel really strong about.”
**Kevin, the Wildcat plays to (Quinshon) Judkins. You’ve done it before, but he didn’t do it at Ohio State. So, did you guys go back to Mississippi or how did that originate?**
“Yeah, I don’t recall, Tony. I mean, we got into it earlier in the season. We’ve done it over the years here. Whether he did it or not in college, felt pretty confident that we could get him up to speed on a lot of that. You know, that’s something that high school teams are doing quite a bit of, especially with the motion included with it. That’s something that you see in high school games.”
**So, it wasn’t a case of a coach seeing he was successful at Mississippi?**
“It was not, no. But again, that’s a every week type of conversation, whether you feel like it gives you an advantage. There are weeks that it doesn’t, there are weeks that you work it and you don’t get to it in a game. So, it’s really dependent on the opponent.”
**But it’s not something where you feel like you need to go away from it for a while? You could run it every week if the matchup…**
“Sure. I worked with Tony Sparano.”
**Going back to the similarities in the defenses. Does that help Shedeur a little bit, considering he was going against the defense, running scout team?**
“It’s always helpful, and I think San Francisco will get a similar look from their scout team defense this week. Anytime you can have your players…our scout teams trying to act like the 49ers and play the 49ers and you’re holding the card. Anytime you can just tell them to play your defense, you’re going to get a better look. So, certainly I think the look will be better for the quarterbacks. And then just the built-up reps of going up against the scheme. Now there are significant differences between the schemes. I think obviously the attack front is where we’re similar. Coverages can be very different.”
**Shanahan’s lined up Purdy more under center this year instead of exclusively shotgun. How much more has that added to his game and is it an added challenge with their offense?**
“It can be. I think it’s so dependent on what they’re trying to accomplish on a given play type. There are certain play types that have proven to be more successful under center than the shotgun, there’s also a comfort level with the quarterback. There’s so much that you can do from both. So, I think it’s just really the depending on what they’re trying to lean into.”
**How about Myles winning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, and how nice is it for you guys that he just keeps playing as hard as he’s playing and getting these accolades?**
“Yeah, I mean they could hand that to him every week as far as I’m concerned. You know, we’ve talked at length about Myles, and deservedly so. And the thing I would point out, Mary Kay (Cabot), and I keep saying it and I hope someone’s pointing it out, but just the run defense. Probably gets, not probably – definitely gets less of the attention. But he’s a well-rounded player. He’s an elite player, but this is an elite, well-rounded player. It’s not like he’s just rushing the passer; he’s playing the run, he’s doing anything and everything to help this team.”
**Kevin, despite the unfortunate circumstances that led to Dillon (Gabriel) not starting, how have you seen him already this week handle and sort of embrace more of that support role which Shedeur being the starter?**
“Yeah, our guys are great teammates. That’s what I appreciate about the guys on this football team. You push each other, you pull each other when you need to. So, he’ll be in that backup role, and he’ll do everything in his power to help this football team, everything in his power to help Shedeur.”
**Kevin, you’ve said that about Myles against the run a bunch of times. Is that somewhere you’ve seen him make a big leap since you’ve been here?**
“No, not necessarily. I just think the publicity of sacks gets so much attention, and I get it. I admire a play where he sets the edge violently as much as finishing the quarterback on the ground.”
**Is Alex Wright close, do you expect him to play this week?**
“Close. I think we’ll know more over the next couple days.”
**On Monday, the (Carolina) Panthers got three interceptions against Brock Purdy, but they didn’t get any quarterback pressures against him, and obviously this defense is going to be putting a lot of pressure on the backfield. What does that pressure do on a quarterback that’s been making him mistake-prone this season with the secondary?**
“Yeah, obviously they’ll have their plan of attack. He does a great job of getting the ball out on time. We have to rush with discipline; we really have to have a focus of everybody doing their job. When we, as a defense, have 11 on the same page, everybody doing their job and doing it relentlessly, we feel good about our chances.”
**What makes McCaffrey so difficult to bring down? I think he leads the league in missed tackles this year.**
“Incredible contact balance, incredible ability to make the first man miss. Can cut on a dime, runs with power. Has a great feel for space, and where he is, and where the defenders are and where his blockers are.”
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