CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Wednesday with regard to preparing for the Cincinnati Bengals, Myles Garrett, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
Opening Statement:
“Okay, great challenge this week. Home opener, division game. It’ll be a great experience, great environment for our fans, for our football team. I have a ton of respect for Coach (Zac) Taylor and the (Cincinnati) Bengals, what they do. Obviously, we know what they’ve shown over the years. I mean, Coach (Zac) Taylor, I think he’s going into year seven, (Joe) Burrow, year six. A lot of continuity along their offense. We know how talented the players are throughout that roster. Defensively, Al Golden, new defensive coordinator, was there previously, Notre Dame most recently. Obviously great, great coach. So, there is unknown on that side of the ball, but really good players. As we know, Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks. Special teams, Darrin Simmons has been doing it there for a long time and doing it at a very high level. So, they’re always really well coached. We have to be about our business. So awesome challenge for this football team this week, and we are underway in our preparations. And with that, I’ll take any questions.”
Kevin, even though (Al) Golden has been intentionally vanilla this summer, what is he known for? What is his system?
“Well, it’s tough to answer, Tony (Grossi), because you really, you have to be aware for the unknown. He can do anything from a front standpoint, from a cover standpoint. You can go into his past and find an example of everything. I know they’re going to be sound. I know they’ll be aggressive. He does a great job, but I know he’ll base it on his roster as well. So, like you said, very vanilla in the preseason, but you really have to be ready for the unknowns, and that’s week one. Certainly, when you’re going up against a coordinator that’s new, it’s week one with you as a football team, and in this case, our offense has to be ready for unscouted looks.”
There was some conversation in the preseason about giving their starters some extra reps. Obviously, they’ve been known for slow starts in recent years. Are you able to glean anything from that? Or is it, you know, basically vanilla and you have to maybe lean on, you know, last year’s games.
“Yeah, I don’t know that anybody puts great stock in the preseason on a per play basis. I do think you can look at some of the new players and how they fit their physical traits and those types of things. But to say that you’re going to glean a lot from the preseason, I don’t think is true in most places.”
How do you feel about your run game? You know, going into this game, you don’t have Quinshon (Judkins). It’s not exactly what you were picturing, but just how do you feel about it in general?
“Yeah, our guys have worked very hard, Mary Kay (Cabot), going back to when we added Coach (Mike) Bloomgren with Tommy Rees really making sure that we have a sound run game. You know, when you talk about the run game, it’s easy to say the running backs and the offensive line, but it does take everybody. We need wide receivers that can block. You need quarterbacks to get you in and out of the right plays. So, I think the guys have put in a ton of work into the run game, and I know that those guys are excited about some of the things we’re doing, but you have to go do it inthe games as well.”
What about Dawand (Jones) with that left tackle spot and how much of a test is this against a division opponent?
“Yeah, huge test. Obviously, Trey Hendrickson lines up over there quite a bit. He can line up anywhere, but he led the league in sacks for a reason. His motor, he never stops. And he’s powerful, he’s got speed, he can bend, he can play the run. So, he’s really a do it all player. It’s never going to be about one person blocking one person. You know, this game does come down to matchups quite a bit, but it’s really incumbent on everybody to be about their business when you’re going up against a rusher like that.”
Do you expect everyone but Mike Hall to be available for Sunday?
“Yeah, I’m going to focus on today, but I think we’re in good shape today. I think Mike’s (Hall) the only one not practicing.”
Kevin, these games are always so close. This will be Andre’s (Szmyt) first really live game. How confident are you that he’ll be able to handle that?
“Yeah, I’m very confident in Andre (Szmyt). He’s worked very hard going back through the spring and summer, Jeff (Schudel), he’s been down to our stadium to kick a few times, even this week, so feel really good about where he is.”
The addition of (Shemar) Stewart to that defensive front for them. What have you seen out of him? You know, now that he’s on the field for them, you know, what can he provide kind of alongside Trey (Hendrickson)?
“Yeah, really good player. Did a lot of work on him this spring heading up to the draft. Really talented, gifted, physically smart player, plays hard. So, yeah, anytime you can add additional edge guys, especially with an elite edge guy already there, I think it’s a big thing for a defense.”
Joe Burrow, coming into this season, what are you seeing from him? And obviously he’s got Ja’Marr (Chase) back, he’s got Tee (Higgins) back. What do you see?
“Yeah, he’s a great player. I have a ton of respect for how he goes about his business. If you look at the stats, I mean, he’s at the top of the list for everything, as well are the wide receivers who are outstanding. So, it’s a great test for our team.”
It would seem the team really enjoys this specific matchup with the Bengals. What are you seeing from them as they get ready to go against Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins? What’s their excitement level?
“Well, it’s kind of related to the previous question about Dawand (Jones). It’s never about one person stopping one person. They’re a great team. We have to play, we have to focus obviously on them and have their respect. And we also have to be about our business. We have to play with great fundamentals, play great team defense. And as you know, this is the NFL. Guys love matchups like this. They love when there’s great players across the field from them. So that’s what our league is built upon.”
Going off of that, with the receivers that the Bengals have in that receiving corp, how important is it to apply pressure to Joe (Burrow) early and just put him in tough situations from that defensive front?
Yeah, you know, he’s a great player, Kelsey (Russo). He’s good versus the blitz, he’s good when you don’t blitz. He’s good when he holds the ball, he’s good when he gets the ball out. So, it really comes back to playing sound defense across the board. This is a huge, huge challenge. It’s a really good scheme. They have good players across the board. But we have to be about our business.”
Are you willing to share what your concerns are with your team going into the season?
“Am I willing to? No. Surely you can’t be serious.”
Joe Flacco can you just talk a little bit about how you feel about where he stands right now, having gone through a four-way competition, maybe not getting all the reps early on, but picking it up later. How has he looked and how has he been?
“Yeah, Joe’s done a nice job, Mary Kay (Cabot). I would go back to how we structured the offseason, how we structured training camp, named him the starter going into that (Los Angeles) Rams week. And he’s gotten all of the work since then with those ones to sharpen up his game, get comfortable with the guys around him. So, he’s done a really nice job to date.”
Joe’s (Flacco) first game as a rookie was against Cincinnati where he threw a 38-yard touchdown pass at the end of the game. I imagined he talked about it.
“He told us that story this week about that play. I don’t know that we pulled it up. I don’t know if our tape goes back that far, but yeah, he can still move. The good lord has blessed him.”
With elite players like Joe Burow, seeing improvement can be the most minute thing. But where has he grown the most as a quarterback? Where do you see a difference in him from the player you saw as a rookie?
“He’s great, Chris (Easterling). His first year was my first year, so I’ve seen a lot of games from him. I mean, you name it, I’ll run out of things to say about him. Physically, can do it all. Mentally, can beat you. So, no weakness in his game.”
With Myles (Garrett), in the biggest moments he usually shows up, but especially in these matchups with guys like Burrow, some of the better quarterbacks, Lamar’s (Jackson) on the schedule. How much do you see him relish those opportunities to go against those great quarterbacks?
“Yeah, Myles is extremely competitive. I don’t know that he needs any more motivation ever to get up and play, for games. And so, I think he treats all the games the same. He just loves to compete, and we’ll need him. He’s obviously a huge part of who we are. He’s a huge part of our team. He’s a huge part of our defense. And affecting the game, typically is something that gives us a chance.”
Joe is now the ninth quarterback starting week one at 40 or older. We’ve had a run of them the past couple of years with (Drew) Brees, (Tom) Brady, (Aaron) Rodgers. Do you think we’ll see more quarterbacks playing into their 40s now just with the modern game?
“It seems that way. It seems, with how these guys are taking care of their bodies off the field, certainly the rule changes probably help the health of the quarterbacks long-term, which I think is a good thing for our league. So, I do think that’s something that’s here to stay.”
Do you think he’s the same as 2023 or better? Because he had a whole training camp.
“I mean, physically he’s the same, but kind of to the point that Mary Kay brought up, he’s had a lot of work with us going back through the spring and training camp and a lot of work here. So, I think ‘23 was a very, very different situation, in terms of when he got to the team.”
It’s been said that Joel (Bitonio) came back because the team is getting back to ‘your offense’. It seems like that’s been the sentiment throughout players on the offensive side. What makes your offense so player friendly?
“Well, I think Joel came back because we put a golf simulator in upstairs. Yeah, you guys have heard me say this before, it’s really the Cleveland Browns offense. It’s the 2025 version of that offense. So, what we will always try to do is maximize our players. And that’s Joel, that’s the quarterbacks, that’s the receivers, etc. So, that’s all we’re trying to do, is maximize our guys.”
We know a lot about the Bengals’ pass game, just what have you seen from their run game? Seems a little bit unproven.
“They’re good. I mean, they have massive tackles, they’ve invested in the interior. I think Chase Brown’s outstanding. He can really, really hurt you in the pass game and the run game. Very smart runner, always falling forward. So, they have multiple tight ends that can play in various schemes. So, it’s a good rush attack.”
With Harold Fannin (Jr.), going back to the two tight end sets now, we know what David (Njoku) can do. But just how excited are you to see him in live game action and really get to exploit what he can do within the offense?
“Yeah, you know, he’s a rookie, so this is first opportunity out there. I mean, obviously played in the preseason, played well and was able to see it. But these are young guys that are going to get better every single game. So, we’ll put some stuff on their plate and see what they can handle, and if they can handle that, we’ll do a little bit more. But I think with all of our young players, you want to make sure that they’re ready for the roles that they’ve earned. And Harold certainly has earned a role. But you know, I do want to make a point that these young players will continue to get better over the course of the season.”
Isaiah (Bond) didn’t get a target in the Rams game. How would you sum up where Isaiah is from being here so late?
“Yeah, I think he’s done a really nice job, Tony (Grossi). He’s worked extra with Coach (Chad) O’, Shea, Coach (Stephen) Bravo-Brown, in terms of getting up to speed. He’s very, very smart. So that’s very helpful when it comes to creating roles for players. So, very similar response to what I just said about Harold. We’ll see what he can handle, but he’s mentally and physically done a really nice job.”
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com’s Browns reporters.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.