CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Wednesday with regard to Myles Garrett’s speeding ticket, Dillon Gabriel’s injury status, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
Opening Statement:
“All right. Good morning, guys. Looking forward to the next couple of days here with Philly. Obviously, Nick (Sirianni) and Howie (Roseman) and their entire group are gracious hosts for having us down here, and we’re going to get a lot of good work done today and tomorrow, in all sorts of situations. So, we’re really looking forward to it. Obviously, we’ve done this with the (Philadelphia) Eagles both here and in Berea, so we feel really good about the structure and the plan and that type of thing, but excited about the work we’ll get out here. So, with that I’ll take any questions.”
In terms of quarterback participation, what is the latest update?
“No major update. Kenny (Pickett) will continue to be in there in seven-on-seven. Dillon’s (Gabriel) doing better and will continue to get more team reps.”
Is he on track to potentially play?
“I think we have to get through today and tomorrow, Daniel (Oyefusi), before I know that for sure.”
Is there a live tackling period?
“No.”
Neither day?
“No.”
Kevin, we haven’t talked to you since Myles’ (Garrett) citation became public, especially coming off of both his accident three years ago and what Shedeur (Sanders) went through this summer. How extra disappointing is that coming from a team leader?
“Extremely disappointing. It’s been addressed with Myles and with the football team. He needs to slow down for his safety and the safety of others.”
Coach, obviously you’re here on a business trip, but have deep roots here. How does it feel being back in Philly, seeing some familiar faces and probably being in touch with friends and family?
“Yeah, it’s always good to get back here and see some familiar faces on the Eagles staff and then we ate well last night, so that’s a positive.”
I know you’re a prideful (St. Joseph’s) Prep guy. Two Prep guys on this roster. How cool is it to see that program sending people to the highest level?
“Yeah. Excited for those guys. They were great football players in high school. They’re obviously doing a great job here. I’m excited to say hello to them. But yeah, we’re always looking out for our fellow Hawks.”
Kevin (Stefanski), after the game in Charlotte, you said Shedeur will get plenty of reps in the next game. If Pickett and Gabriel can’t play, would he start?
“Yeah, I guess. If those guys could not play, yes. We’re working through that Tony (Grossi), we’re always going to play our young guys a lot in these games, so we’ll see how it shakes out here over the next couple days.”
Is there some wisdom, though, if Dillon is healthy, would you like to see him get a start as well?
“Potentially, yeah, potentially. Again, the plan was always to give one of both of those guys a start in the preseason. So, we’ll see how it shakes up.”
What about first team reps against the first team Eagles defense today? Is Joe (Flacco) going to get a majority of those? Going to be a mix?
“I’d say Joe will get the majority of them, yes.”
Kevin, is it harder to divide those reps up in a joint practice setting like this than back in Berea?
“I don’t think it’s harder, no. I think the reps are what they are. You obviously have the game coming down the line here on Saturday where you keep that in mind when you’re putting the rep plan together.”
Kevin, with this being such a big deal for Kenny (Pickett) to come back here to Philadelphia, how hard was it for you guys to kind of keep him out of those 11-on-11s? I’m sure he really wanted to do them.
“You know, it’s no fun being hurt. And Kenny, unfortunately, is rehabbing and doing better and getting better, and he’s doing a great job. You saw him in that seven-on-seven. I thought he had some really nice moments in the seven-on-seven. So, he’s doing a good job. Of course he wants to do more. I want him to do more. But we’ll be appropriately conservative with that injury.”
In terms of body of work, evaluating your rookies in particular. Does practice against the Eagles and the game against Eagles weigh heavier than (Carolina) Panthers?
“Yeah, I think all these reps, Tony (Grossi), are so important. I don’t want to say a rep from a week ago in a team period wasn’t important. I think they’re all important. Obviously, they’re different here in the practice setting because this is a defensive scheme that our guys don’t know. These are players that our guys don’t know. So of course, you think about those reps differently, but we’re really taking an approach here where everything matters.”
Especially the quality of team?
“Yeah, that’s obviously a huge deal. Nick (Sirianni) does a great job with his football team. I think they are well coached. I think they have really, really good players. I mentioned the other day where I think this is probably the best offensive line, defensive line in the game. So, it’s a great challenge for our guys.”
Kevin, because it’s a team you guys don’t see often, how beneficial is that both for not only young guys for the game, but also the vets to see different schemes at this stage of the season?
“That’s what you do when you’re talking about who to practice against. It’s important for me to know who the other head coach is and have a relationship with the head coach, so you can put a good plan together. But then the next most important thing is that the schemes are different from what you see every single day. So, Carolina for instance, was a very different scheme defensively with an under front or five on the line of scrimmage. Coach (Vic) Fangio has a very similar base defense. So, we’ll see that again, which we don’t see a ton of versus our defense. So, I think the scheme piece is really essential to when you’re putting these practices together.”
Kevin, with this Eagles offensive line and how veteran they are, plus having Jalen (Hurts) and Saquon (Barkley), like what’s, what’s key for your guys’ defensive rookies especially like Mason (Graham) and Carson (Schwesinger) up front and what do you want to see from them these next couple of days?
“You know, it’s really no different than when we’re in Berea. We just want to compete like crazy, and going up against great players makes you great, and I think that’s something that we certainly see in Berea and we’re looking forward to seeing that here as well.”
This is the third time you and Nick have done this [joint practices]. What makes you guys a good pairing, a good match here?
“Yeah, I have a ton of respect for Nick. I’ve known him for a little bit here. We’ve never coached together, but we have good friends that have coached with each other. So, I just have a ton of respect for how he handles his business, how he runs his football team. Obviously, he’s done a great job in this city and yeah, I just have a ton of respect for him.”
You said on Monday that Greg Newsome II is still progressing. How involved will he be?
“He’ll be limited, won’t be in a ton of team reps.”
Kevin, I’m sure that this is an in-house matter and something that you wouldn’t want to share publicly, but can you say if you guys disciplined Myles in any way for that?
“Yeah, I can’t Mary Kay (Cabot). I’ll keep everything internal.”
What have you seen from Joe Flacco? I know you had him two years ago, but coming back at age 40, how much of a leader has he been for you guys?
“Yeah, I think Joe’s the same guy that he was then. He’s the same guy every single day. I think that’s one of the things you admire about Joe is how he approaches his business. He’s done a really nice job in camp. He’s also done a really nice job just providing leadership to the quarterback room, to the offense, and to the football team.”
I know you said he’s limited. What have you seen so far out of Dillon (Gabriel) and what do you like about him?
“Yeah, Dillon’s done a nice job. Obviously limited by that hamstring, so getting more and more reps with him, but he’s done a nice job with what’s been given to him, making good decisions.”
What was it you liked about him coming out in general?
“Yeah. Played a lot of football games. Good decision maker. Accurate.”
When you think about the process of making your quarterback choice, the numbers that you have and the way the injuries are factored in, how challenging has it been to this point and how challenging will it be going forward to see all that you want to see before you make your decision?
“Yeah, we’ve kind of talked about it a lot. It’s an all-encompassing evaluation. Obviously, I know week one is coming, and we’ll make a decision there, but we’re very, very obsessed with player development and the development of our quarterbacks. So that’s really been something that we’ve worked hard at, whether it’s reps in practice or the meeting rooms or the walkthroughs, we want to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to get these guys better.”
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