Kevin Stefanski’s cryptic answers may be hinting at the Cleveland Browns making a change at QB

Kevin Stefanski’s cryptic answers may be hinting at the Cleveland Browns making a change at QB

All right guys, we’re gonna pivot to the Browns. We’ll get back, talk a little more guardians in a sec. We have a new sponsor of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports show. You know the saying, look good, feel good. Well, the problem is that most dress clothes only check one of those boxes. They look sharp but feel stiff, hot, and high maintenance. That’s why there’s mizzen and Main. Mizzen and Main makes comfortable, classic men’s bear with performance fabric, so it’s effortless to look sharp and feel comfortable at the same time. They actually invented the performance fabric shirts over 10 years ago and they’ve perfected it ever since. Right now, Ms. and Main is offering UCSS listeners 20% off their first purchase at Msmain.com. If you use the promo code locked on NFL 20. That’sien, M I Z Z E N and Main, M A I N.com. Promo code locked on NFL for 20% off and if you’d rather shop in person, you can find some is the Main stores in select states. All right guys, I don’t know if you happen to hear Kevin Steanski’s press conference yesterday, but on Sunday following the loss to Detroit, he was noncommittal to sticking with Joe Flacco as his quarterback long term, but in the past, he’s always been noncommittal after a game. Last week when asked if he consider a quarterback change, he said no, Joe Flacco is my guy. Last season, yeah, even though we know Steanski usually doesn’t give any straight answers. Last season when DeSean was struggling early, any time the question is asked, or you think you’re not making a quarterback change, he shut down any rumor right away. DeShawn’s a quarterback. That’s what we’re going. Except yesterday he was asked the very first question of his press conference about potentially making a quarterback change, and we’re gonna hear from Kevin Steansky. Question answer, — follow up and answer to see if you think this answers a little
— funky. The person who asked the question. From the I think he’s from the Eyrian telegram. All right, let’s, yeah, let’s hit it. Hey, Kevin, just following up on yesterday. Are you sticking with Joe? Yeah, I understand the question, Scott. We have to play better as an offense. We have to coach better on offense. This, it’s not about one person. There are so many things that we need to do better, uh, and obviously quarterback included, but this is not about one person. Is that a, is that a yes son? I mean, are you, are you sticking with him? Yeah, that my focus is on making sure this offense plays better. OK. First of all, good job by Scott. As, as Kevin Stavansky didn’t answer the question, I was like, Scott better follow up and if he doesn’t, somebody else better follow up or I’m gonna get pissed. So good kudos to Scott for following up even though he’s a little, you could tell he was a little uncomfortable because he kind of giggled as he said it. But good job following up. To me, that’s very telling. What do you guys think? Well, first of all, Never listened to uh what uh what Kevin Sainsky is saying. Um, they allegedly uh loved Kenny Pinkett so much that he was the guy and then they traded him for a 5th round pick. He he they do this all the time in the ivory tower. They, they don’t give you nothing straight, um, — but
— what are you, what are you reading between the lines with that? Nothing? So I think because I am, um, I think that he’s softening a blow. He’s not committal for, uh, Flacco. Uh, however, he’s gauging. I think what they, what they’re doing right now is behind the scenes they’re gauging, OK, what is the damage on this thing? Can we afford to roll him out one more week if He, if they play him in London and he plays well, here’s the calculus. He plays decent in London, it buys us more time. They thought that win against Green Bay was gonna buy him a little more time. Joe came out here and looked like Joe. Um, and then believe it or not, those guys in the locker room, like people are trying to spin this a different way. Guys in the locker room, talking about, oh, if we go to the rookies, it signals that we waving the white flag. No. To them in the locker room, you keep rolling Joe out there, that’s, that’s waving the white flag. How many meetings did you see on the sideline with Miles Garrett and the defense? They’re like, bro, get this man up out of here. We all see it. Stop playing with us. So they’re not in the behind the scenes trying to delay. As long as possible before going to Dillon Gabriel, and I think what you’re seeing is starting to see some cracking on the veneer because there are some people in that front office that say it’s time for us to get to the to the next guy. But you think he’s gonna stick with Flacco for this week? Yeah, OK, — what
— did you read into that? I think that he also is going to stick with Flacco for this week. He should. I’m gonna tell you why. I looked at the stats. I didn’t know Joe didn’t throw a touchdown in 2 weeks, huh? No no. So it’s no different than putting a young guy in there. Like, listen, this is my thing, um, I believe, as crazy as this gonna sound, I believe where we are right now with the offensive tackle position, I think Dillon Gabriel is actually the best answer for it right now. Why do I say that? Because Dylan Gabriel from the time he was at Oregon, he He’s taught to get rid of the ball. He has a clock in his head. He knows he ain’t gonna hold the ball that long because he’s short and that’s always been the thing that he overcomes. So he gets the ball out pretty quickly, and I think when you think about where our tackle situation is, that’s what you need to do. You need to get this offense to where the ball comes out quickly. We’re running the West Coast offense. You do your history on the West Coast offense. Bill Walsh started it. When he was with San Francisco back when they had Joe Montana and Steve Young and those back in the day, that offense was built to get the ball out really quick, so guys can’t get the pass rush on you. Same thing with Kevin, he wants to get the ball out pretty quickly, so the best person on this roster that’s built to do that is Dylan Gabriel, and I just think that with Joe Flacco in there, you know, I just think it’s not, it’s not. It’s just not getting done. Like the ball’s not getting spread around and it’s not all on him. Some of the the receivers is dropping the ball as well. There’s a lot of frustration after the game when I listened to postgame sound on when I did the postgame show, you know, just listening to those guys in the locker room. They are all frustrated because Offensively they see what the defense is doing and they said them boys is balling out and they not do they not holding up their end of the bargain. So it’s gonna be very interesting to see how they play against the Vikings because to me it’s a must-win game, you know, this whole they’re at the crossroads of the season in my personal opinion, to where you win this game and you start looking around the division, you 2 and 3, you play the Steelers next week, who’s gonna be in first place? You see the Ravens, Lamar got a hamstring. Joe Burrow is. Exactly. So it’s there for the taking. You actually got a chance to do something in this in this, right? If that’s the one thing that is special teams special teams, y’all that’s a shame. Y’all should at worst be scratched. Like we shouldn’t even notice the special teams. That’s where we should be at. If you’re not going to do something good, at least don’t be noticeable and y’all didn’t gave a field goal blocks and Gave up punt returns. It’s sad. It really is. So to me, I would make the change to Dillon Gabriel. I don’t think they’re going to make the change to Dylan Gabriel, but I do think that if he doesn’t do well this week, Joe don’t do well this week, they have no choice. Because technically the season’s over. The Brown, can I ask a question because I know I know what you’re thinking on this. Why would he answer it so cryptically though? Why not just say Joe’s still our guy? I don’t know. You’re a player. Take us in the locker room. I’ve got a few different things out of this. Um, number one, I believe there’s a decent chance Dylan Gabriel is gonna play this week because Kevin Steansky, even though he says nothing. He every other week he said Joe’s gonna still be the starter. Uh, I spoke to Zach Jackson this morning. Zach said, I said, Zach, why do you think he answered it that way? Zach said he thinks that Kevin’s not sure was as of of whenever this was, this was yesterday afternoon, Mike, right? Yes, yesterday’s press conference. So yesterday afternoon when Kevin Savany spoke, Zach believes he wasn’t sure who the starting quarterback was gonna be, that he hadn’t decided yet and that’s why he answered that way. So yes, it’s possible he’s gonna stick with Joe and we, we don’t know for sure Zach is right, but I think we all agree Zach has a pretty good finger on the pulse of his team more than more than most people. If, if he starts Dylan Gabriel, then he feel everything that I just said about Dylan Gabriel in offense. — That means I
— don’t think the offenseyvis Powell — actually is pretty good at
— now personally. I don’t think the offense is going to be any better with Dylan Gabriel. Why is that? Yeah, why do you think that? — I don’t think he’s
— good. You don’t think Dylan’s good. Well, and he’s a rookie. I don’t think, — I just don’t think he’s gonna play well and I don’t think the team around
— him is good. Here’s what I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think his play caller is good. I think I don’t, I think that’s fair. — I think this playbook is
— trash. I think the the play caller. I have trash. I don’t think the quarterback’s very good. I don’t think the wide receiver is very good. I think it’s a lot, but here’s, here’s one of the thing, a little sidebar this is that for all the people that like to argue, you need this, you need that, and I’m always like, you need the quarterback. Like, yes, obviously you can’t just have a quarterback, but let me ask you a question, guys, and I know this is silly and it’s depressing to think about, but if Josh Allen is the quarterback on this team, nothing else changes. You have the exact same roster, but Josh Allen’s the quarterback. What’s the Browns’ record right now? At least 22, 2 and 2, 31. I think they’re at worst 3-1, and they’re probably 4-0. It all depends on, it all depends on if, uh, he’s coaching Josh Allen to throw the ball to dump the ball to running backs because he don’t like turnovers. You know, at least 22. Let me, let me go, Josh Allen, the coach of the Bills, what’s his name? McDermott McDermott that good a coach? I don’t think he’s good. Well, he’s a defensive guy. — All I say is
— this they, they were with Josh Allen looked great with Ken Dorsey as the as the as the offensive coordinator. I don’t think it. If you have a quarterback this good in my opinion, you know why it doesn’t matter. Zach Taylor is a terrible coach. Joe Burrow still plays great. Here’s what I like him. Here’s what I look at. I look at the situation when when Deshaun Watson was not playing well, what did we say? It was offensive line, right? Some people said it was offensive line. Some people said he was just cooked, right? He’s playing back, right? There’s nothing that has changed in this offense from Deshaun Watson to Joe Flacco. Is that correct? What do you mean? It looks the same. It’s still nasty. Did you, do we really run a lot of shotguns? — When Joe
— watch this because if we are that’s that’s half the battle, right? I’m sorry to tell you that. So even when we talk about this is crazy, now people don’t never bring this up. We ain’t scored no points. We ain’t scored 20 points since December last year, right? Uh, was that, that was December December 2nd against the Broncos last year was the time the Browns. So when Jameis Winston was throwing for all them 300 yard games, Ken Dorsey was the play. Thank you. You ain’t had a quarterback throw for 300, no, no time close because and and Kim Dorsey is trash. Ken Dorsey is terrible. It was Ken. It was Ken. It was Ken. But guess what? Where are your 300 yard passers, Kevin? It’s the same roster. What is Ken? I’m not giving him a pass. — He’s
— in Dallas. — I’m
— not giving him a pass. Oh, putting up numbers. He’s not the only problem. We can’t put it all on Kevin Kevin. So no, no, yes, are you, are you saying he’s 100%, wait, wait, wait. Ken’s in Dallas, you know they’re the number one offense in the NFL right now. — They ranked
— number one. Well, they weren’t playing well before this week. Remember how we had the conversation about having the #1 defense in the 32nd rank. They got it flipped. They got the #1 offense in the 32nd ranked defense. — So let
— me get that on. he’s technically the passing game coordinator, not the OC. Hey, let me, — I’m about to say
— like that’s crazy. Let me get this correct. — That
— would have been an indictment on campus. So this masterful offense, we watch how this thing works. The masterful offense that he’s been putting together, you take Bill Calen hand away with the running game. What has he done? Since zip, nobody here is arguing that Kevin’s doing a good job. But here’s, here’s the point. The, the point is we sit here questioning where the quarterback, what the quarterback need to do. It’s the offensive line. We ain’t got no receivers. Who is we? Well, the receivers ain’t catching the ball. Werb. That’s the problem? No, listen, what I’m saying to you is this coach has not done anything but an offense no — matter which quarterback it has been for
— 6 — Jacoby
— Brissauce. It doesn’t even matter. Gee, I’m not I’m not arguing with you. The offenses sucked, but, and, and, and Kevin Stay clearly deserves we blame. — He’s we’re
— giving him credit. We’re giving him. I’m not giving him any credit. No, care about his coach, that’s not fair because Joe Flacco did have 300 back to back to back with Kevin with Kevin. Let me tell you something, bro. When you look at what Kevin Stepansky was doing back then, right, Joe Flacco came in and did his thing. When they got that tape together and figured it out. And, and, and when, when, when dudes on the other side against the Texans was like stand right there. Yeah, I said that on the show, I said that on the postgame show that his games. But gee, are you trying to say that if they had Josh Allen, they wouldn’t be like he wouldn’t be. No, I’m not, I’m not gonna, I’m not going hyperbolic here. What I’m going to you is when Kevin Spansy is sitting here saying, yes, we need to be better all overall. We need to be better. We need to be better. How many weeks do I gotta hear you say you got consistent. You and your first play is scripted plays is great. Go watch the all 22. They’re running regular basic high school routes. I, I don’t disagree. I, but he’s not the only problem. I get it. — But
— the quarterback does stink. But here’s the thing, yeah, but, — but the quarterback stinks
— and the offensive line does stink. — And who
— picked those players? — Andrew Barry
— and Kevin Soansky. Andrew Berry always say what it’s a collaborative effort. So you picked the players, it wasn’t good enough. You coaching them is not good enough. Your offense not good enough. You we cannot keep sitting here saying like these players just showed up. They actively chose these garbage players. We told you that, right? I get it. You’re right. — So I’m not giving him 0
— passes, to be fair, to be fair, they are handicapped when it comes to the salary cap. Tyvis, who picked him? That’s a great question. Somebody needed to tell me. What is the captors here, 50 million? You know, Amari Cooper is 20 million of the cap this year. — I
— all that finesse in the numbers game. This is the result. They did that. That’s what I’m saying. So Dean’s in the cap for 36 million this year. — So that’s
— 56 million of the cap — on Watson
— and and let’s be clear, and let’s just be honest tell me I’m lying. You don’t got an offensive line. You would have had an offensive line if Jed Wills would have still been able to play, right? If you didn’t miss on Zach Zenner, right? Dean Jones. OK, I get it. I get it. That’s Zach Conlin is hurt again. — They
— paid him when he was hurt. — But you’re
— arguing as if I’m I’m about to say we behind you. I’m just putting it out there for the community. We agree. I put it out there for the community. I lost faith in Kevin. This is for the first time I’ve really been on. I’ve been on the, — they might have to move on because
— I I it still doesn’t change the fact, even if it’s his fault and Andrew Murry’s fault that the offense, but here’s the thing. My only point about saying the Josh Allen thing is look at the Bills’ offense, right? Quinshaw Junkins is as good if not better than than James Cook, is he not? James is falling out this year. I would say they, they talent wise they caliber. They got the. I don’t look great. — James
— Cook, the, the defense can’t completely focus on James Cook. Is that fair to say? Yeah, but the defense against the Browns, the defense right now know that Quin Shaw Judkins is the only problem in the Browns’ offense. So Quin shot, trust me, first of all, if you ask 32 NFL teams right now, which running back would you rather have, I bet you almost everyone would say Quinha Judkins. Cause he’s cheaper. He’s a lot younger, yeah. He’s younger, he’s cheaper and he’s just as talented if not more. I agree with what you’re saying about Josh Allen. The Bills don’t have great receivers. What I’m saying to you is this. Yeah. The, the Bills had to have the foresight and the ability to draft correctly to take Josh Allen. That’s rights, that’s not as good. Yes, they could have taken Josh Allen. They could have taken Lamar Jackson. Other teams took them and they’re better. So yes, you can. Say if we had this player or that player, the Browns consistently have an opportunity to get those players. If Jackson Dark turns out to be a stud, Oh my God. Did the Browns have a chance to get him. — If he serves
— that happens, that’s a failure. So, — so you had the second overall
— you’re right, you’re right. I say if they had. Josh Allen, really just to emphasize the point of how important the quarterback is, not to say poor Kevin Steansky if only he had Josh Allen. Now, to be fair, to be fair, this group didn’t pass on. They didn’t. This that was Ken Dorsey, who we all liked at John Dorsey, not Ken Dorsey. Uh, who took Baker, who’s now become a very good player, — but who passed him still not anywhere close
— to all I continue to say is, OK, I’m just saying all the quarterbacks, Baker to Dean to Joe, they all started off slinging the ball pretty well. More they got with Kevin, more the. — on the quarterbacks
— here, that in-game adjustment is terrible for you to get up there and say that you had a plan in practice of what you was going to do and how you was going to handle Aidean Hutchinson and all those things, and you got in the game and it basically shocked you at how good he was doing. And you didn’t make a change, it would have been a tight end next to Cornelius Lucas for the rest of the game. The fact that it was nothing, like that’s terrible. And it’s not the first time we’ve been saying this in-game adjustments wasn’t good. This has been. I think I’ve been hesitant. I feel like in the past I would have been, I was very wishy-washy about. Kevin Steansky at the end of last year. I said he should be fired, then I changed my mind. And I think part of it is, obviously, I respect Jason a lot. He’s a friend. I expected, I, I respected Dei a lot. She’s a friend. They both think that Kevin Steansky is a really good coach, and I thought when he first started, I thought Kevin Steansky was a really good coach, and I think part of the reason I haven’t been. Fully committed to saying Stevansky should be gone. is because I know they’re both very knowledgeable. They both have insight within the organization and, and so I’m a little hesitant, but I’m just not seeing me. I’m, I’m, I’m really just not seeing — the genius that is Kevin’s the
— fan. Me and Jason sat down and had a long conversation and he made some very valid points about the whole situation with Kevin and everything else. So I understand where he’s coming from and I understand why he’s saying I wouldn’t fire him either because It wouldn’t matter and I get it, but like I can’t also deny the fact that when I, for you to be this play caller, you were supposed to be this great offensive mind and we’re where we ranked? I’ll tell me we ranked dead last to get 3 points like that’s. Yeah, it’s like, what am I supposed to say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, I mean it’s just that. It’s just been an absolute disaster. It’s hard. And it’s also fair to say though, guys, that I have no faith in, in, in, uh, Jimmy Haslam if he does fire Steansky hiring the right coach.

Kevin Stefanski won’t stand by Joe Flacco as Browns starting QB ahead of London trip. Joe Flacco’s position, at this specific moment, is being the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. That said, “tenuous” would be an apt way to describe that perch.

On a Sept. 29 Zoom call, coach Kevin Stefanski would not come out and say that Flacco will be the Browns starter when they travel to London to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5. On multiple occasions, he was asked a direct yes or no question about if Flacco would stay as the starting quarterback, and tap-danced around the answer.

“I understand the question,” Stefanski said. “We have to play better as an offense. We have to coach better on offense. It’s not about one person. There are so many things that we need to do better, and obviously quarterback included, but this is not about one person.” | https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/pro/browns/2025/09/29/browns-starting-qb-joe-flacco-week-5-kevin-stefanski-vikings-dillon-gabriel/86417523007/

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