A tip of the hat and the latest from HC Kevin Stefanski
By STEVE KING
One more thing remains to be done, and said, before we completely close the book on the Browns’ 17-14 victory over the Denver Broncos last week and begin to get into, in earnest, their game against the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
That is, we need to salute Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski for the way he steered his club through a very rough period and got it ready to play, and control, the Broncos.
I wrote that this was a pivotal game — a pivotal time — for Stefanski. The Browns had lost two in a row, including a 37-14 beating administered by the Arizona Cardinals, and they were all beat up at several spots. That, plus a short week — it was Thursday Night Football — made it difficult to envision how the Browns could win, or even get enough healthy bodies to fill the lineup.
But just like he does everything else, it seems, he calmly got the job done with flying colors.
When we challenge someone in sports, and he fails, then we shout it to the world. There’s nothing like hyping the negative. Bad news sells, don’t ya know?
This is good news. But when it comes to the Browns, that sells in Cleveland — well.
And the man who orchestrated it all should be celebrated.
That we have done.
But Stefanski, and the Browns, will have to do it again, and again, and again, and so on and so forth, beginning against Pittsburgh, with the game being the first of two straight, and three in five weeks, against a team from the AFC North.
It will be the toughest — and the most telling — portion of the schedule for the Browns.
Browns fans are hoping that, after this stretch, we’re back here celebrating Kevin Stefanski answering the challenge once again.
Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (10.25.21)
On how QB Baker Mayfield is doing:
“Good.”
On if Mayfield practiced today:
“He did not practice today.”
On what the rest of the week and Sunday looks like for Mayfield:
“With all of these guys, we will see. I want to see how they respond from today. We will put that injury report out Wednesday, and we will know more as we get into the week.”
On if he is not ruling anyone out for Sunday’s game yet:
“Correct.”
On if the Browns expect Mayfield to practice Wednesday:
“We will see.”
On if Mayfield could potentially be placed on injured reserve:
“I would just tell you, making sure that we are getting better at all of these positions. He is getting his work in, but I am not going to comment on roster status and that type of thing.”
On if Mayfield could play on Sunday without practicing this week:
“We will see.”
On if another week of rest would help Mayfield recover:
“I would probably be speaking out of turn if I spoke to that. I think that is really a medical type of thing. I would just tell you, I am listening to all of the people that have the degrees, and we will go with what they tell us.”
On if he wants to determine who will start at QB by Wednesday or if that could happen later in the week:
“We will see. It is hard to say how it is going to play out. I am not in the prediction business. There are a lot of things I want (laughter). I think we just have to work through all of it, and the quarterback position really is no different than any of these other positions where guys’ availability you might not know Wednesday and you might not know Friday.”
On if making those determinations for stating QB is actually different than other positions:
“No, we have dealt with injuries over the course of time to different guys, and you have seen guys go down in pregame. It is not ideal to say at any position, but whatever it is, it will be.”
On if Mayfield is feeling less pain in the shoulder after not throwing for a few days:
“Yeah, I think he is feeling better.”
On if the Browns expect RB Nick Chubb to play on Sunday:
“I think you guys know Nick. He has gotten a lot of work done these last couple of weeks. He is feeling good. He is continuing to get rehab. I think he is excited to get back out there. We will see how it goes over the next couple days and see if he can.”
On if Sunday’s matchup against the Steelers factors into Mayfield potentially playing:
“No, I think we will just defer to the medical staff.”
On if the team breaks this season down into thirds heading into the first AFC North game of the 17-game schedule, given teams typically divided the season into quarters with a 16-game slate in the past:
“I think we kind of looked at it… You can break it up a couple of different ways, but certainly, taking it through that mini-bye – we have 5 games until the real bye, if you will – so that is one way to look at it. Then we just have to be smart. I will go back to last week, we had to be smart about we had a game and then you have a game on Thursday night so what you do leading up to that Thursday night game, not even in that given week and go back a couple weeks, you have to be smart and kind of account for some of that usage of the guys you are going to get and the cost of playing on Thursday night. The schedule is unique in having that late bye, and we had to account for it in some of the planning that we have done.”
On what the Browns learned from its self-scout during the mini-bye week:
“We found a lot we can correct. We identified some things as a team, as a unit and individually things that we want to do better. We talked about that this morning as a team, and we made sure this practice was indicative of some of those areas that we want to get better.”
On the status of S John Johnson III, TE David Njoku and DT Malik Jackson:
“They will all be there Wednesday. A couple of excused absences.”
On the status of WR Jarvis Landry:
“We will see how the next couple of days goes, but he is Jarvis on a Monday so he is doing alright.”
On his early read on the Steelers:
“Just getting into them this morning a little bit and a little bit over the weekend. They are a very, very well-coached team, as they always are. Physical. They present challenges on offense, defense and special teams. We have to have a great work week to get ready to play those guys.”
On how helpful the injured reserve policy introduced in 2020 has been where players only have to miss a minimum of three games rather than eight or the full season:
“I think that has been a great rule for us in terms of opening up a roster spot. Even some of the COVID elevations have been really nice and getting some of those practice squad guys up in a given week. The more flexibility, the better.”
On what it meant to the team to see RB D’Ernest Johnson perform well against the Broncos:
“We talked about it last week going into the game – he is a very dependable player. Every time we have called on him going back to last year, he responded. He was ready to go. (Run game coordinator/running backs coach) Stump (Mitchell), as you guys know, does a great job in that room so he made sure D’Ernest was ready to roll.”
On how to utilize Johnson when other Browns RBs return from injury:
“Again, we will see who is available to us. We want all of our good players to touch the rock, and it is our job to put those guys in position to succeed. It is something that we talk about a lot. It is a good problem to have when you have multiple guys who you believe in.”
On the benefits of having T Jedrick Wills Jr. able to practice every day:
“First of all, I think Jed fighting to get to that game was a big deal. He came through for us. We needed him, and he came through for us on Thursday night. I think any young player is better with practice. I think there is so much technique that goes into this that you have to refine, and it has to become muscle memory. Any time you are missing those opportunities, it can be challenging on those guys in the game. I think having him back out here and getting him to work with (offensive line) Coach (Bill) Callahan and (assistant offensive line) Coach (Scott) Peters I think will really help him moving forward.”
On how Wills’ performance compares to last season, despite dealing with injuries this year:
“He has had some of those nicks and bruises and in and out like you mentioned, but I think he is better than he was last year for sure. I think he worked really hard. He is understanding the techniques that we are employing. I do think he is doing a good job.”
On if he sees an improvement in QB Case Keenum’s accuracy the more he plays:
“I think any quarterback gets better certainly with more opportunities. I think Thursday nights are really challenging because you do not get a ton of work during the week to work on timing and the precision in the pass game. I guess I am not surprised that he feels like he would get better with more time.”
On if CB Greedy Williams is back where the team expected following the season-ending injury:
“Yeah, I think going back to training camp, he came in in great shape. He does extra work a lot of times on the sideline with (assistant defensive backs) Coach (Brandon) Lynch and (pass game coordinator/defensive backs) Coach (Jeff) Howard so I see a guy who keeps getting better. Off of the injury, I think once training camp hit, he had kind of moved past that and was now just working on refining his technique.”
On playing divisional games so late in the season and if he remembers playing so many divisional games after October 30:
“I do not remember honestly. It is unique. We have a very, very good division, and we knew that going into this season. I think the guys are excited at the challenge of our first divisional opponent and a really good team. They are excited for the opportunity this weekend.”
On if he watched any football yesterday:
“I did. I watched some football. Some really exciting games, but kind of just watched it and see if I could steal any good ideas.”
On if he watched the Bengals-Ravens game:
“Yep.”
On the Bengals-Ravens game:
“Good game.”
On what it means to have the Browns’ five starting offensive linemen back heading into divisional play:
“As you guys know, that offensive line, they play together as one. You have heard the saying that it is like the fist when they are all together. You always want that. That is not realistic often times in the National Football League with injuries and guys have to step up, but there is so much communication that occurs play in and play out along the line so anytime you can get the five in there, I think it is beneficial.”
On where G Michael Dunn has mostly been playing and if C Nick Harris’ injury led to Dunn playing more interior offensive line:
“I think he has been mostly interior. He has been center/guard most of going back through training camp.”
On if Dunn is officially the backup center:
“Right now, he is.”
On if Mayfield’s shoulder swelling is down enough to where Mayfield can do some strengthening exercises:
“I can’t say for sure.”
