Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski talks at the podium postgame after a home win vs the Chicago Bears 20-17.
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00:00 I appreciate that locker room. That's a bunch of fighters.
00:03 Not always pretty. It wasn't perfect. Not going to be perfect.
00:07 But to see those guys fight for 60 minutes, which we did all 60,
00:12 the push through, guys pushing through injuries, guys out of the lineup, guys filling in,
00:18 that's a resilient bunch of them. So I'm really proud of them.
00:22 Proud to get that one.
00:24 And then we know where we are. Another big one coming up in the AFC next week.
00:29 But we're just proud of the effort to get, clean up about a thousand things.
00:33 But it's a good one.
00:35 How about Joe?
00:41 We were talking about the clock again.
00:44 Yeah. Yeah.
00:45 Obviously, Joe made some unbelievable throws there.
00:48 The one to David there at the end on the third and 14th, maybe.
00:53 That's very similar, different but similar to the David Bell one.
00:59 Todd drifted, made some room, felt like there was somewhere to loft the ball up,
01:06 and then Dave and Joe did what Dave does anyway.
01:09 It was a huge fight for us.
01:11 But yeah, Joe, just can't say enough good things about how he played in that fourth quarter and late in that football.
01:19 Kevin, you guys set a franchise record today. Four in the final few minutes to win the game.
01:24 You're in fifth.
01:25 What is it about this team where you guys are able to come through winning plays over and over again despite the injuries?
01:33 Malcolm?
01:34 Yeah, it's the greatest team game there is.
01:38 What I love about it is it takes the offensive defense and special teams.
01:42 It ends up a moment like you're describing.
01:44 Everybody has to come through.
01:46 And that's what we've done this season.
01:50 The guys did a great job of understanding the situation, what we're going to do, but credit to the players for executing.
02:01 Yeah, you know, just talk about David in that locker room.
02:04 I'm proud of Dave and the person he is, the player he is.
02:07 He's one of the best teammates I've ever been around.
02:11 The growth that he's made both as a person and a player, he's got that mettality where he fights for everything.
02:18 I put it on the splice bag. He really did.
02:20 So we needed him. He's a great leader for our football team.
02:23 And those three defensive coaches, they all seem to be messaging the line.
02:30 The top coach, Coach Scott Peters, John McOster, those guys did a great job.
02:40 It's hard. You have backups in there. You have guys playing different positions.
02:45 You make sure that they know they have a job to do.
02:48 It's not always pretty. It wasn't always perfect.
02:50 I know there's places I can help them out for sure.
02:53 But Coach does a great job, not just on Sunday. He does a great job during the week.
02:58 We talked about that, you know, basically two pick sixes and a shutout over a minute.
03:04 Yeah, played outstanding.
03:06 Talking about a couple of plays that he wishes he could have played a little bit differently.
03:12 But man, to play how we did for most of that football game, again, offensively, turned the ball over.
03:18 It was the story of that game that kept it in.
03:22 And then for us to do that, put our defense in some really tough spots, they scored seven off of an offensive giveaway.
03:29 So for a large, large, large portion of our defense, we played south.
03:33 We played south, getting them third and long, harassing the passer, playing the ball.
03:38 When it was in the air, I thought we were going to stop the run.
03:40 Very nice.
03:41 We mentioned Dustin Hopkins before, but I mean, he does a lot of stuff.
03:46 He's a good guy to be playing.
03:49 Yeah. You know, we took the ball to start the game.
03:53 Felt like wind might be a factor.
03:55 And then leaned on Dustin, and if he wanted to go that way in the fourths, just felt like where the wind was going.
04:01 A guy you trust, I mean, really, a guy that's come through for our football team time and time again.
04:07 So he's been excellent.
04:09 What happened to Joel?
04:11 Yeah, just something in his free knee, just felt it.
04:13 He locked up a little bit, tried to go, just could not.
04:17 Wanted to.
04:18 Kevin wanted to.
04:23 Yeah, it was a beautiful day out there.
04:27 Proud of the crew that was in there cheering.
04:30 And I've said this before, we need to -- it takes everybody, and it takes our fans, too.
04:37 They make such a big difference.
04:38 I don't think anybody likes coming here, playing in front of all our fans.
04:42 And what's going through your head on that last drive and then the hail?
04:49 Talking about the situation, make sure everybody's on the same page.
04:53 They should not have gotten that big play to get them down there, obviously.
04:56 That was just conversations about what they're going to do next.
04:59 And, honestly, felt like the ball was going to go in the end zone on that last one.
05:03 And you have to execute.
05:05 I know it wasn't perfect by us.
05:07 I know they can say we got lucky or whatever, but the guys understood what they had to do.
05:12 What's it like to be behind the scenes?
05:19 Yeah, I mean, honestly, that's the situation.
05:22 Sometimes you've got to trust the guys.
05:27 Trust that line.
05:29 Work the pucks off.
05:31 [Inaudible]
05:38 You get to make the decision in the second half in terms of which direction to alternate points.
05:44 [Inaudible]
05:48 Yeah, I thought those guys tackled well.
05:50 Obviously, you have to look at the American way, but really conscientious, diligent workers.
05:55 Coach Ephraim does a great job getting those guys ready to play, so really proud of them.
06:00 When you're struggling to run the ball, you've got the back of the lineman in, there's pressure on Joey,
06:04 and you're down 10, how do you as a play caller kind of come up with the plan that's going to get you in?
06:11 All those variables.
06:12 It's all those things.
06:13 Just trying to find ways to be explosive, find ways to get the ball out of the quarterback's hand,
06:18 find ways to, at the end of the day, think about your players.
06:23 You've got Amari, Elijah, and our guys.
06:26 How do we get the ball to those guys?
06:28 For us, in this instance with an offensive stack, it's what's available to you, what you're good at.
06:36 How about finally giving you a chance to go deep to Marquis?
06:41 Yeah, great throw.
06:44 Joe handed that one off.
06:45 That was incredible.
06:46 Marquis exactly what he was supposed to do, tracked it well, got a huge play there.
06:51 That game, that's good defense.
06:53 Coach Bluestem, great job.
06:55 They did good players in all three levels.
06:57 That was a tough outfit for us up front.
07:02 I'm really impressed with that crew in the back end, so it was a challenge.
07:06 You had a lot of backups.
07:08 He plays in the fourth quarter.
07:09 Cam Mitchell took the field, Alex Wright, and Marquis had to catch.
07:15 You went on those guys stepping up in those moments.
07:19 You don't win without them.
07:20 It's a next man mentality, but I think we have the right guys, so they're stepping into those roles.
07:25 That is a credit to him for this roster.
07:28 We've got guys that we feel really good about when we're asking them to step in for a start.
07:34 [inaudible]
07:45 Great football player.
07:48 You're all trying to find ways to get him on the ball.
07:50 Jumped it in a very tight window, and then Marquis did the tight rope down the sideline.
07:56 Very tight player.
07:58 He's made huge plays for us.
08:00 [INAUDIBLE]