CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A day after the Browns 17-15 loss to the Commanders in their second preseason game, head coach Kevin Stefanski touched on a variety of subjects.
Here are our top Brownie Bites from Saturday’s Zoom video conference.
First the bad news: linebacker Jacob Phillips has been lost for the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle for the second consecutive year. “Very, very disappointed for the young man,” Stefanski said. “I know he’s battled injuries, but he’s got a very strong will, so I know he will bounce back from this with the other injuries.” It is unclear how Phillips got injured Friday night, but he left the stadium with his right arm in a sling. He will require surgery. “That’s the worst part of this game, seeing guys get injured and especially you see them how hard they work,” Stefanski said. “So it hurts. I hurt for Jacob, and this is why we’re teammates and why we support each other. But yeah, worst part of the game.”
What is said publicly by the Browns is that their confidence in kicker Cade York remains unchanged after he missed from 46 yards against Washington. “I think Cade’s got the makeup for that role,” Stefanski said. “As you know, he works very hard at his craft. It’s also part of being a player in the NFL, and certainly part of being a kicker in the NFL is you got to bounce back from a miss, and I think he did that in the game last night.” York, who is 0-2 on preseason field goals, pushed a 49-yard try in the Hall of Fame Game wide right as well. “I don't think there's a common thread,” Stefanski said. “I think it’s a small sample size and he’s going to continue to work. Cade’s working very hard just like the rest of our team is. I think it’s preseason football for all of us. None of us are ready to play or coach in that first game just yet. So we’re working through it.”
Saturday afternoon afforded the first opportunity for Stefanski to speak about his newest defensive tackle – Shelby Harris, who signed a one-year deal earlier this week. “Productive football player has been very disruptive in his career.,” Stefanski said. “I’ve gone against him, has had an interesting career. Didn’t play a ton early in his career, but has really come on, played very, very meaningful snaps and good snaps for a bunch of good defenses. So we’ll see where he fits. We just got him in the building, getting him around. Our guys certainly know that he has the ability to play in our scheme, but really a productive veteran.” Last season for Seattle Harris started 15 games and had 2.0 sacks, six QB hits, five tackles-for-loss and four pass breakups at the line.
Receiver Elijah Moore underwent X-rays on his ribs, which came back negative, Friday night but Stefanski wasn’t sure about his availability this coming week in Philadelphia. “I’d call him day to day,” Stefanski said. “I’m hopeful.” The good news is Moore doesn’t figure to be in line to miss extended time, which considering how Stefanski plans to use him this season, is a major sigh of relief. “It’s the classic, the more you can do,” Stefanski said. “And I think for us, we’re early on and being around Elijah, so what is fun is there’s no shortage what he can do, I think physically, but also just mentally you can put a lot on his plate. So that’s the fun part for us in trying to just make ourselves difficult to defend from the defense.”
Undrafted rookie safety Ronnie Hickman had himself quite the night against Washington. Hickman came up with a pair of interceptions, thwarting Commander’s scoring threats. “Ronnie, like really a lot of these rookies, it’s an impressive rookie class from a intelligence standpoint,” Stefanski said. “And Ronnie certainly fits in that group – knowing where to go and what to do, and just the ability, you can’t do your job if you don't know your job. He’s a young man that really works hard at knowing what to, so that he puts himself in position, and I think he’s got really good ball skills and that was evident last night.” The former Ohio State Buckeye could play himself onto the 53, or earn a practice squad slot if he continues to practice and play well.
With a pair of joint practices against the Eagles on tap Monday and Tuesday, Stefanski plans to take a similar approach to playing time like he did in Canton against the Jets. “We’ll use these practices to get the ones and twos a lot of reps, and then it’ll be primarily backups in the game Thursday night,” Stefanski said.
