CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Monday with regard to injury updates, looking ahead to hosting the Cincinnati Bengals, if there’s any update on Quinshon Judkins, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
Saw Ethan (Pocic) back out there, is the hope, the expectation that you feel like he’s going to be able to play on Sunday.
“Yeah, he looks good. He’s rehabbed very hard, so he looks good.”
Kevin, can you tell us, did you go to the Ohio State-Texas game?
“Yes, I did.”
And what were your thoughts?
“Great experience, good job, Coach (Ryan) Day and that crew. That’s really the first big time college football game I’ve ever been to, with all respect to the Penn Quakers. So, it was fun for me to be able to take my boys down there. Had a blast. The Shoe (Ohio Stadium) was rocking. It was very cool.”
Kevin, what about Mike Hall? He still wasn’t out there in the portion we saw. What, what’s his kind of status?
“Yeah, no update. Just continuing to work very hard at rehab.”
Same with Mohamoud (Diabate)?
“Was out here, did some good work.”
Still no update on Quinshon (Judkins) yet?
“I don’t have an update.”
And if he happens to show up on like Wednesday or Thursday, would you be able to get him ready to play?
“Yeah, I can’t get into that, Mary Kay (Cabot). Hard to speculate.”
When you start this transition, I mean into full…I mean, is this sort of one of those weird days? Not quite game week, but I mean…
“It’s game week now. What we did today was mostly Browns versus Browns, meaning competitive periods, our ones versus ones, and that’s in an effort to get the weekend out of our guys and then sharpen up what we’re doing from a competitive standpoint. Now a lot of the stuff that we introduced on offense and defense was stuff that will be in when we hand these guys the game plan. So, you’re trying to do both, but you never want to lose sight of competing. I thought our guys did a nice job today.”
How has Isaiah Bond caught up to speed since he was signed?
“Yeah, caught up mentally, no issues. Very intelligent kid. Is working a lot of extra hours and time with Coach (Chad) O’Shea and Coach (Stephen) Bravo-Brown to get caught up. But he’s very intelligent so he’s up to speed.”
Kevin, how has Greg (Newsome II) looked just working through that shoulder and since he’s been back?
“Yeah, doing a nice job. Worked hard just to get back out there and he feels like he’s been out here for a while now, just getting acclimated, but feels good.”
What about just the move? Well, with Martin (Emerson Jr.) being hurt, like expecting him to play more on the outside now and how he’s done there.
“I think you know, Greg’s (Newsome II) a great football player. Where he lines up, really, it doesn’t matter so much as he’s talented and versatile enough to do both. So, we’ll see where we kind of deploy him as the season goes on, but he’s able to do both at a high level.”
I asked you about Alex Wright before, but through the first three preseason games, as you look to week one, what has he shown you in terms of getting back from that injury? How he’s tackled it and approached that job, wanting to get that starting role?
“Yeah, Cam (Camryn Justice), that injury is really in his past. He’s really moved past it because he worked so hard in the offseason to get ready. So, I see a guy who’s moving really well. We know he can win with power, he can win with speed, but he looks really, he looks like himself to me.”
Kevin, you guys asked Jerome Ford to do so many different things, whether it’s kick returning, starting running back, kind of being a pass catching guy. What is he showing you in his career?
“He’s a player that makes big plays. He has the speed to go the distance on any given time he touches the rock. Like you mentioned to me, he’s kicked return for us when he hadn’t done in the past and develop and worked hard at that and developed into a good returner. So, he’s a guy that we can trust in the run game, trust in the pass game and has that elite trait of speed.”
Now that (Cincinnati) Bengals week is finally here, you’ve got your 53 and all of that. How do you feel about this team just heading into this big week?
“I’m excited for the football team, Mary Kay (Cabot). I’m excited for all the work that these guys have put in. It’s a group, like I’ve mentioned to you before, that has done everything we’ve asked them to do. So, it’s fun when you get to this point in the calendar and you have that game that’s within a week and you’re in the game week and you get to see these guys in the roles that they’ve earned. But for me, it never moves past very far the idea that these guys have worked so hard for this and the games, this is the fun part for them. It’s a fun part for our fans as well.”
How excited are you and your guys to open the season at home down there on the lake?
“Yeah, very lucky. We like playing in front of our fans. It’s week one. It’s going to be a beautiful day down there, so I know we’ll have a great crowd down there, and they make a huge difference for us. It’s a tough place to play. Visitors have a tough time operating in that crowd noise. And the Dawg Pound will be rocking.”
Kevin, I know Rocket (Raheim Sanders) said he was going to spend this weekend, this past weekend in Cleveland, trying to get up to speed, to get into the playbook. How much of a difference did you notice just, you know, from the first day you had him to now?
“Very intelligent kid. So, he’s picking everything up very quickly. Duce (Staley) will be able to spend some extra time with him today to catch him up, but he’s very intelligent, so he’s working hard at it.”
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