HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
(On OL Cam Robinson’s injury status) “Fine. He’s fine. He’s good.”
(On making strides to execute Cover 2 better) “That’s something that, again, it depends on
the game plan too. It depends on if you have a lot of Cover 2 in your plan or not. That
particular week we did and obviously those are situations. I guess it’d be like our short-
yardage or fourth-and-one last week too. We’ve got to just teach that and coach those up a
little bit better when we’re in those situations again.”
(On how he feels about how the players have responded during this week’s preparation) “I
feel good. They feel good. Obviously, the number one thing for me is just getting them back
physically because of the heat and all that this week and so making sure that the bodies
will be fresh for Sunday. I think mentally the guys are—they’ve turned the page. They’re
obviously focused on this week and trying to bounce back.”
(On if he expects everyone listed on the injury report to play on Sunday vs. Cleveland,
excluding S Darnell Savage) “Yes.”
(On if he’s excited to play in “TrEverBank” Stadium this week) “I like it EverBank (laughs).”
(On if his gameplan for the defense will change based on the Browns’ player availability on
their offensive line) “I don’t think so. You’ve got to still go out and play whoever’s out there
for them, whoever’s out there for us. I mean, they’re not going to change, we’re not going to
change. I just think you have to go execute and play and study the man that you’re going up
against and study his tendencies. I think that’s the most important thing. Now, once you get
into the game, if situations arise, you can obviously alter and change and do different
things, but I think going into it you just stick to your game plan and trust that what you’ve
done this week is enough to get the job done.
(On if what teams look like fluctuates from week-to-week particularly early in the season) “I
think so. I think what you’re seeing too is you’re seeing—with injury too—with injury things
change and teams are not, in September, where they want to be in December and January.
So just everybody’s kind of working through those things and we’re doing that as well. You
just try to improve each week.”
(On if those fluctuations make it harder to game plan) “I think too it goes back to if you’re
going to game plan, I think you’ve just got to look at the coordinator who you’re scheming
against, the same way that they’re looking at us. I think you go off of those tendencies.
Again, it depends too. You get into the game, and they may, sometimes—just flip it to our
side. If we’re in a situation where we need to alter something than what we’ve shown on
film, then we would alter it during the week, right? So, same way, our opponent. If there’s an
injury over there, they may have to alter something that we haven’t seen during the week
and those are just the adjustments you have to make in-game.”
(On how CB Montaric Brown’s confidence has grown) “Yeah, it’s a lot of confidence and I
can’t say enough good things. He’s done a nice job when he’s been in there, whether he’s
started or came in off the bench. Gets an opportunity this week to play a lot and just
continues to grow as a young player.”
(On how he would make the decision to keep guys in the game or pull them out regarding
head injury) “Obviously, I don’t know the whole situation. Obviously, it’s what you see on TV
and what happened, but I think if it happened to, say it’s one of our guys, I think you have to
be very careful and do the right thing for the player. I think that’s the most important thing.
It’s part of the game that, obviously, we’re trying to remove. I just don’t know if you can fully
remove it because of the nature of these hits, but I think you just have to continue to think
about the player and the health and safety of the player, and making sure that they’re 100,
1000 percent healthy. Those are just decisions that I think personally, as a player, you have
to consider, I think as you think about your career, and you think about wanting to play.
That’s the thing about it is everybody wants to play, and they love this game so much, and
they give so much to it that when things like this happen, reality kind of hits a little bit. It just
shows the human nature, or the human side of our sport.”
(On how Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s mobility and athleticism impact any of the
coaching points on how to defend him this week) “Yeah, you have to—one, is you study him
from a defensive perspective, study him, how he and where he likes to scramble. Which
side does he like to—to his throwing sides, to his back door side, up the middle. It’s when
you put your, I think, rush package together just understanding all of that. When you get
opportunities to tackle him, you’ve got to tackle him and get him on the ground because he
can be elusive and get out of the pocket. If you rush too high, they’re going to step up and
they’re going to escape. So, it’s just a matter of staying disciplined and trusting the rush
plan for the week.”
