Kevin Stefanski on looking forward to Minnesota, Deshaun Watson, and more: Transcript (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski took questions from reporters on Sunday regarding Deshaun Watson’s status, looking forward to Minnesota, and more.

Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:

Opening Statement:

“All right, so lot to clean up like we talked about yesterday. Some really good tape for us to sit with the players and learn from – offense, defense, special teams, so looking forward to that tomorrow. We’ll get a good practice in tomorrow. We’ll get a good walk-through, lift on Tuesday, and then we’ll welcome the (Minnesota) Vikings in here Wednesday and Thursday and then play them on Saturday afternoon. So big week for us continuing on the process of getting ready for that season, week one coming, but this is a big part of that and all the meetings, the lifts, the practice, you name it, all of it’s really, really important. But first things first, we gotta make some corrections from last night. With that, I’ll take any questions.”

Just first, do you have any updates on the other injured guys besides Luke (Wypler) from last night?

“No real updates per se, Scott (Petrak). Obviously working through a lot of things today with some guys, but, you know, we’ll update you really, as we get into tomorrow.”

And then what did you see from Mike Hall yesterday in his first, you know, NFL action?

“Yeah. Some good, some bad. That’s with rookies, but he certainly played hard. There’s always things when it comes to rookies that you’re going to harp on technique. You know, we talked about it a lot last week going into that first game, you want to take the practice field to the game field and Mike Hall, any rookie, young player, sometimes you can lose your technique because it’s the game. So that’ll be a focus for him, but really, some really good plays out there as well.”

Wanted to ask you about Zak (Zinter) and Javion (Cohen) at guard, and just first, what you saw of them yesterday in the first real live action and also just how they have kind of developed into, you know, with Michael (Dunn) out, you know, kind of your two main options there at guard, back up behind Wyatt (Teller) and Joel (Bitonio)?

“Yeah, both those guys are coming along, Chris (Easterling). I thought they had some good moments, certainly in that game, and then obviously some moments that we have to clean up and that’s the statement, really, on a lot of our young guys. But I think it’s true if you watch the tape on our young players in particular, it’s just a little inconsistent and that means some good and some bad. So those guys are right where they need to be. They’re progressing well. We’ll continue to move them into different positions, left side, right side, as we continue on here in training camp, but I think two young players that really, really want to get better and are working very hard.”

I wanted to ask, in light of Luke’s injury and just some of the injuries you’ve had on the offensive line, is the expectation still for Jed (Jedrick Willis Jr.) and Jack (Conklin) to be physically ready for week one, and if so, are there any concerns with them not yet returning to practice with about a month left until the regular season starts?

“Yeah, I’d say with all of our guys, Daniel (Oyefusi), we’re really a day-to-day operation. They continue to do a nice job in their rehab and when they’re ready, they’ll be out there. And that really goes for a lot of guys that are continuing to rehab off to the side. We’ll get them in there as soon as they can.”

What kind of growth did you see from DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) from last year as a rookie to what he did last night and, you know, throughout camp?

“Right, yeah, I think, obviously, Jeff (Schudel) his whole thing is a process, so certainly those games are a big part of it because you get to go up against a different opponent. It’s in a game setting, so it’s all part of it or that’s a big part of it. But I really go back to practice and how Dorian’s been once he came back and was cleared to finally practice and was towards the tail end of the offseason program, got a little bit of plays in back then and then really has attacked this training camp and done a nice job of making every rep count, making every meeting count, and certainly had some nice plays out there last night.”

So many of the young guys last night were talking about how they had some really good conversations and they were being encouraged by some of the vets and some of the guys that they’ve been learning from. For you, how encouraging is that as a coach to know that you’ve got so many different guys in so many different areas who can take that experience and coach them up in the middle of a game?

“Yeah, that’s part of being a team, Cam (Justice), where these guys can share with each other, things that work, things that you have to watch out for as a young player. I give particular credit to Bubba Ventrone, Shaun Huls. Those are two guys that I had speak to the rookies this week to get ready for that first game and some of the things to look out for. You know, Bubba being a former player, Bubba being a guy that special teams factored very large in his life as a player and his career as a player. So, one of those guys to share that with them. And then our veterans on this team, they’re always looking to push and pick up their teammates in any way they can. And I think that’s the example of what I saw yesterday, was a lot of guys that even though they weren’t playing, per se, they were into the game, they were being cheerleaders when it’s time to be a cheerleader, they were being coaches when it was time to make some help, a guy out with corrections. So, I thought they did a really nice job with that.”

Kevin, I know obviously, you touched on Luke’s injury last night, but have you talked to him today and how is he doing? Just obviously, in light of the news?

“Yeah, I think he just got over here. I’m going to go see him in the training room. I texted him; he didn’t text me back, but I’ll forgive him. Yeah, I saw him after the game. You know, that’s the tough part of this game. I mean, injuries are no fun, and I feel terrible for anybody that has an injury like that. Not to mention it’s just, it’s painful, but it’s painful for these guys too, to not be with their team for an extended period. So, I feel for Luke, I know he’ll bounce back quickly, but these injuries like that are just no fun for anybody involved.”

You kind of touched on this week, you know, going into these joint practices. Just how important is this week for your guys and your team to get ready for the season, to get to go against another team for a couple of days like that?

“Yeah Dan (Labbe), this is really year four of us scheduling these practices versus another opponent. We do it in week two. We’ve hosted the Eagles, we’ve gone to the Eagles, we’ve hosted the Giants, now hosting the Vikings. Yeah, it’s an important part of training camp and I made mention of that last night with our players. We’re very much in training camp, and this week is going to be hard. It’s going to be physical; it’s going to tax you mentally, physically, those type of things. It’s going to allow us to go up against a different scheme, really, what they do offensively and defensively are different than what we do. We’ll obviously also get work with their special teams. So going up against a different scheme for a couple of days where you can get really good, solid work in against a good football team, a well-coached football team, it’s very important to get this team ready for a week one.”

And I know every, you know, every practice, every game, it’s all part of the puzzle here, getting ready. But I guess how does, how do you weigh these particular practices against some of the other elements of the preseason?

“Yeah, well, I guess one of the biggest differences, Dan (Labbe), would be our ones and then into our twos, but our ones will get the majority of the practice. So, it’s going to be our starters versus their starters. You won’t practice as many times with your threes, quote-unquote, in these practices because that’s where they’ll get their work in the game. So, you’ll see a lot of your starters out there. Again, it goes back to getting them mentally and physically ready for the season.”

Off that, what will the plans be with Deshaun (Watson) then for the two practices?

“Yes, similarly to what we’ve done in the past, Tom (Withers). So, he’ll get the vast majority of the reps, again, not playing in the game on Saturday night. So, he’ll get his work done versus them in a controlled setting.”

Okay. And I know we asked you this before, but has he been cleared for full contact? Is he a go?

“Yes.”

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