Kevin Stefanski Post Game Press Conference
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00:00 Team win, obviously defensively, pitching was shut out there.
00:03 Some really great individual effort.
00:06 Offensively, got points there off of some good field position.
00:11 You know, Amari, 5 for 139, did a great job.
00:15 A lot of good things there on offense.
00:16 Special teams, like Cory, was exceptional today.
00:19 So, needed to take care of business.
00:21 We did.
00:22 And then, got a big one this week.
00:24 With that, I'll take any questions.
00:25 How did you pick DeSean Blake today?
00:27 Yeah, pretty good.
00:29 You know, him and Amari drew up that big one at the end there.
00:32 They saw, they had a good conversation on the sideline.
00:35 We talked about it.
00:36 Unbelievable throw.
00:37 I thought he had some really, really good moments.
00:39 He ran the ball when he needed to make plays.
00:42 So, I was really, really pleased for him.
00:44 Did you want to see a pass of distance before this day was over?
00:49 Saw a few of them, didn't we?
00:50 Yeah.
00:51 Whatever it takes was kind of going into it.
00:54 Felt like there'd be some opportunities for
00:56 underneath that team plays a lot of zone.
00:58 But then, I thought he ripped one to Amari early in the game.
01:01 Obviously, the one late to Amari.
01:03 The one throw to Marquis was the right read.
01:08 So, yeah, I think the game always calls for what the game calls for, Tony,
01:13 just based on coverage.
01:14 Yeah, but how about Dalvin Tomlinson, three sats?
01:17 What? Yeah, I got bad news for you.
01:18 They just took a sack away from him, so you got a two and a half.
01:21 Yeah.
01:21 So, what opened it up for him so well today?
01:26 He's played relentlessly, came off the football, was aggressive.
01:30 And then, when you're rushing the passer,
01:32 we got a bunch of guys that are relentless to the football.
01:35 Sometimes just feeding your guys, you're gonna find your way to the goal.
01:39 How encouraging to now see Deshaun throw those three long passes,
01:44 but for him to come through them and
01:46 also to take some big hits and withstand those hits.
01:49 Yeah, like we talked about earlier, Marquis, you're gonna be playing.
01:52 You know that it's a contact sport.
01:54 You're gonna be fighting through those things.
01:57 I thought he did a nice job early moving the pocket, made a couple plays.
02:00 I think the early one to Jerome that he dished off late, but
02:04 really I thought he looked really good and looked like himself to me.
02:08 And that was important to get out there and get one today, take care of business.
02:13 And then we got a big one this week, but I'm really pleased with him.
02:16 And then offensively, I think ABP's gonna have a pizza party cuz we didn't give
02:20 the ball away, so we're excited about that as well.
02:22 >> Did you wanna work Watson slowly into this game?
02:26 There were a lot of short passes, a lot of jumbo formations early.
02:29 >> Yeah, I think we felt early that we could,
02:32 felt like we wanted to test out the run game.
02:35 Really was the biggest thing.
02:37 And then again, a lot of zone, a lot of too high zone, a lot of shell coverage.
02:42 So felt like there may be some underneath throws as well.
02:44 >> Just seemed like the defense was smothered.
02:47 Everything we wanted to stop the run, seven sacks, three takeaways into points.
02:52 Can you just talk about that?
02:53 >> Yeah, they did a great job.
02:55 Credit to the players, to coaches.
02:57 Coach put together a really good game plan.
02:59 We played our stuff, we were sound in what we were doing,
03:02 made plays on the football.
03:04 But I think we're gonna top to bottom coverage to the rush, to the linebackers.
03:09 I thought the guys, they did their job.
03:11 That's probably what it was.
03:12 >> [INAUDIBLE]
03:13 >> No update, we'll get an MRI tomorrow.
03:16 >> James. >> Real unfortunate,
03:18 downer about such a euphoric day.
03:20 So many good performances, it's potentially losing Jack for a long time.
03:23 >> Yeah, injuries are the worst.
03:26 It's part of it, but we don't like it.
03:29 But James stepped in there and did good, Jack.
03:31 >> He did a pro shave, really seemed to give you a life on that punt return.
03:34 >> He did, yeah, really pleased with him.
03:36 Obviously, he has a history, and so you can study him and how he runs.
03:42 But he's very dependable, I thought he feels the ball exceptionally well.
03:45 Made really good decisions, got north, south immediately.
03:48 So yeah, I thought he did a nice job for his first time out there.
03:51 >> And obviously, there's been a lot of uncertainty with Deshaun for
03:53 the last month.
03:54 So when did you know that he was gonna be able to play and
03:57 be like himself, like you said?
03:59 >> Really, we wanted to see three days of practice, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
04:03 I felt like after Wednesday and Thursday, it was trending that way.
04:06 I had a good practice Friday.
04:08 >> But with that, though, you thought the same thing going into the Colts game?
04:12 >> Yeah, I just didn't have three days of practice.
04:15 >> When in the game did you come to the conclusion that he looked like himself?
04:21 >> Pre-game.
04:22 >> Really? >> Yeah.
04:22 >> [LAUGH] >> You mentioned Amari at the beginning.
04:26 Just how comforting must it be for a quarterback to have him,
04:29 because he's played well for now for a long time.
04:31 The last few weeks have had a lot of production, so for
04:34 Deshaun to have him come back.
04:35 >> Yeah, I mean, Amari gets a ton of attention.
04:37 The big pass, again, we drove him to dirt, they drove him to dirt, I called it.
04:43 But that was them seeing something, and that was Amari getting double.
04:48 I mean, he ran right through a double team.
04:50 So he gets a ton of attention.
04:51 I think you watched that tape, they're running to him in single safety, and
04:55 the safety's remaining to him.
04:56 So we know that, it opens up opportunities for other guys.
04:59 But we're always trying to find ways to get them to the ball.
05:02 >> How about the way that he stuck with it on the touchdown pass when it kind of
05:05 banked off the guys, ace and ace and whatever?
05:07 >> Yeah, that was crazy.
05:10 Yeah, he's got great ball skills.
05:12 You gotta get lucky sometimes, we were living right there.
05:16 >> Any update on Goodwin?
05:18 >> No update, in the concussion protocol, but no update.
05:21 >> Okay, thoughts on Tillman?
05:23 I mean, I know he only had one target, but big shoes for him to fill.
05:25 >> Yeah, big shoes.
05:28 Obviously, we put him in there quite a bit, and
05:32 put him in that role that Donovan has done for us,
05:34 which is a lot of dirty work role, a lot of in the run game.
05:38 So first time out there getting some reps under his belt,
05:41 I think he'll continue to do just good there.
05:43 >> You guys are really starting to protect your late front home here, and
05:47 giving your home crowd a lot to cheer about.
05:49 >> Yeah, they were outstanding.
05:51 They had a beautiful day, so I guess the media lot was packed early.
05:54 But they were loud, they were into it.
05:56 When our defense is playing at that level, they feed off the energy of this crowd.
06:01 I think that's without a doubt.
06:02 So they did a great job today, and we'll see them when we're back out there.
06:05 >> Is it just a game ball for a defensive shutout, or
06:07 did you do something special?
06:10 >> Well, I mean, just the numbers themselves are so good,
06:13 just top to bottom in the run game, holding the 17 yards passing, that sort of thing.
06:18 So we'll give out game balls tomorrow, but I don't think we had 30 to get out there.
06:23 >> Good.
06:26 >> Okay, thanks guys.
06:26 >> Thank you.
06:27 - All right, good.