BEREA — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski loves to talk about blinders.
Stefanski’s point is about keeping the focus ahead. Such as after a big win like the one Cleveland had in Week 7 over the Miami Dolphins.
Those blinders were on display Oct. 22, as Stefanski turned his attention to the upcoming road game at the New England Patriots. He talked about that game, as well as other things, during his usual Wednesday media availability.
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Here’s what Stefanski had to say heading into the game against Mike Vrabel’s AFC East-leading Patriots:
Kevin Stefanski on injury status of Browns TE David Njoku
“I’m hopeful, but really going to be day to day,” Stefanski said.
Kevin Stefanski on injury status of Browns RT Jack Conklin
“He’s trending,” Stefanski said. “He’s doing well. … Out of protocol.”
Kevin Stefanski on New England Patriots QB Drake Maye’s improvement
“Yeah, in a bunch of areas, honestly,” Stefanski said. “He’s accurate. Big arm, very mobile, kind of checks all those boxes and he’s doing a good job of operating in that offense and then playing off schedule. He can scramble. He’s very, very fast, so he’s doing a lot of things well.”
Kevin Stefanski on Drake Maye’s ability to stress a defense with deep throws, scrambling
“Yeah, it certainly does,” Stefanski said. “Make sure that you are good in the backend, obviously in coverage, and then you have to be great in your rush lanes as well because he’s a threat to throw it. He’s a threat to run.”
Kevin Stefanski on New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel knowing Browns’ secrets
“Yeah, I understand the question,” Stefanski said. “I think having coach here in the last year, obviously you share a lot of things to each other. You talk about different philosophies and those type of things, but I don’t know that there’s trade secrets, those type of things.”
Kevin Stefanski on rookie QB Dillon Gabriel possibly being too cautious
“Well, we’ve talked about it over the years or weeks this season,” Stefanski said. “You want to be smart, aggressive. You don’t want to just be conservative for the sake of being conservative. So it’s a balance there, and we coach our quarterbacks to be aggressive when the time calls for it and let it rip, and then also understanding that taking care of the football is a big part of our job.”
Kevin Stefanski on QB Shedeur Sanders’ practice reps with No. 1s
“No,” Stefanski said. “I mean, with a young quarterback with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of the reps. It’s different when you have a veteran like Joe [Flacco], I would tell you. But still getting reps in a bunch of periods.”
Kevin Stefanski on impact of Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels
“Yeah, I think he’s done, obviously he’s done a great job with the young quarterback,” Stefanski said. “Obviously when you have a veteran quarterback [Tom Brady] that had been there for so long, I’m sure there were different things that they were getting into and maybe it’s a little bit more pre-snap type of things, but they’re doing a very good job with this kid and he’s playing at a high level. Like I mentioned to you guys, he’s operating, he’s accurate, good on third down, and then just the ability to run is unique.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said entering Week 8 road game at New England Patriots
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
