Vikings - 21, Browns - 17
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Obviously extremely disappointed to not come away with the win there. We need to do a better job closing out. That's an offensive thing, defense, special teams, coaches, players, you name it. We've got to come away and be at our best in those moments, and we were not. And that's the disappointing, frustrating part for me.
But we'll keep grinding. We'll get back and get back to work. That's what we've got to do.
Q. Can you talk about sort of the offensive drought once you got to the (indiscernible) quarter on quarter after (inaudible)?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Just felt a little, didn't get into very many advantageous down-and-distances. Ended up in too many third-and-longs. There were penalties. We just have to be better, have to score some points.
Q. Would you do anything differently on the next-to-last drive when you ran the three plays in 11 seconds?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Yeah, we ran it twice. They called their timeouts. Felt decent about the pass. Obviously got an incomplete there. Yeah, I mean, to answer your question, whenever you don't come through in a drive, you always think about doing something different, yes.
Q. Was that a throw-away on third down, just something not there or trying to keep --
KEVIN STEFANSKI: I've got to see it. I'm not sure.
Q. Was there any thought of using your fullback on that drive to open some holes?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: We're always talking about different personnel groups.
Q. How would you assess Dillon Gabriel's first start, the performance overall?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Again, probably premature to grade it in those type of things. There were some good things, some rookie things to certainly clean up.
Q. Late in the second quarter you were in the red zone. We didn't see Quinshon Judkins out there at that time. Is that, as a rookie, you trust Jerome Ford more in that role or something else as he kind of carried your offense?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: It's a little bit of both. We certainly trust Jerome in some of those moments as well as we do Q. Always mindful of the load you have Q going.
Q. Your defense has come through for you consistently time and time again. Like you said, it was an offense, defense, special teams, but how disappointed were you that the defense wasn't able to close it out?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Just disappointed for the team. We expect our guys to go do their job -- again, all of us collectively, players, coaches -- and we just didn't come through in that moment.
Q. What happened with the touchdown, (indiscernible) you were behind --
KEVIN STEFANSKI: We'll have to talk through it first.
Q. Were you using your timeouts at the end to give your defense rest?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Yeah, potentially if they score there, if they kick a field goal there, just to give you time on the other side.
Q. Did you guys feel -- you went into the game hoping to really exploit Carson Wentz's turnover (indiscernible). Were you disappointed you weren't able to do it?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: We got two takeaways. Certainly I know there's a bunch of things that we feel we can do better.
Q. That last third down with two minutes to go, did you consider running to make them use their last timeout, or did you think you had --
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Yeah, you factor all those things in on all downs. You consider what to do there. But ultimately, we expect -- listen, we've got to come through, bottom line, in down and distance or in that situation, those sets of sticks, and we did not.
Q. You talked about penalties being issued, 10 penalties today, over 70 yards. Is there anything you could point to, Cam Robinson coming in, the travel over here, is there anything specifically you can think?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: No, we just have to be cleaner. I didn't get a look at some of the post-snap ones. They were costly. There were some plays, those were yards that came back.
Q. Was that always part of your plan for Cam (indiscernible)?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Yes.
Q. You just (indiscernible) it back in his performance?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: We'll get him up to speed.
Q. John Jefferson, typical game we've seen that kind of game from him before.
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Justin Jefferson? Great player. You know how talented he is. We feel like we have to do a better job.
Q. What can you say about Carson Wentz and the backup quarterback (inaudible)?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Obviously you give credit to the Vikings, give credit where credit is due. They won the game. We're disappointed that we didn't do the things necessary to win that game, but you've got to give them credit.
Q. Anything earlier in the fourth down you wish you could have done differently or -- I think you went three-and-out three times. Is there something you could have done differently or you just had to leave it most to get a run?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: Any which way, I don't care if you run it or pass it, we have to be better.
Q. Can you attribute any of that to the fact that this is an incredibly young football team and you've got a ton of rookies out there and it's going to be some growing pains?
KEVIN STEFANSKI: No. I understand what you're saying, but we trust our guys when they're out there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports