Mike Bajakian - Head Coach, browns Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-08-08 | Full transcript (primary source).
On August 8, 2026, Mike Bajakian, the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, addressed the media during a press conference held at the team's training camp. The session focused on the performance of players, particularly quarterback Shador, as the team prepared for the upcoming NFL season.
Transcript
Bajakian: Let's start with Shador. How has he been doing this entire camp, and how do you think he's handling himself in his quarterback competitions? They're working hard. All our guys are working hard. Shador is putting in the time. He's studying, working physically. And that goes for all of our guys. You know, it's training camp, right? There's nothing else in life besides football at this point. And that goes for players, that goes for coaches. He's done a good job of taking care of the ball. You know, he's continued where he left off in regards to the little things about technique, with footwork, with body position. He's doing a good job.
Unknown: Mike, can you talk so much about the snap operation from how it changed your playing game and checked the cadences. As a quarterback's coach, can you think about how lean the snap operation was for a step by step? What does that look like?
Bajakian: Sure. It depends on the play call. Depends on the play call. Depends on each quarterback's own process. Playing quarterback, to me, is the hardest position in all of sports. And I think in the spring, maybe you guys asked me, what's the number one trait you look for in a quarterback? I think you have to process information so quickly. That's what separates that specific position from every other position in every other sport. So there's a lot that goes into it, from front identification to coverage identification. Is it run? Is it pass? Is it man? Is it zone? You have to be able to process information quickly and operate. That comes with reps, with experience, comes with work.
Unknown: So how do you see Chidora improve on that recognition just now, as you've talked about?
Bajakian: His knowledge of the game. And that goes for everybody. I'm a young man at 50-something. I won't give you the exact age. But we're always growing. We're always learning, no matter how old we are, no matter what our role is. So Deshaun, as a multi-year vet, will tell you that he's continuing to learn. Chidora, as a second year player, is also doing that. Coach Monk talked about, we had phase one, phase two, and phase three of the off season, of spring season. And then we come to training camp. And each time we go through an install, we're putting a layer of code on. And their understanding gets deeper and deeper and deeper. So now that we're in training camp, this is now the third or fourth layer that we're putting on. And you're able to get into a deeper understanding of all the little details, from our physical fundamentals, to the thought process behind the play, to even the thought process behind. Coach Monk, I talk to the players a lot about, hey, with this specific play call, what is the intention to the play call? And that's where we're continuing to put those layers of those coats of paint on what we're doing.
Unknown: It looked like Deshaun might've had his best two practices. Wednesday and Friday, the last few times, he was with the first team. I don't know if you agree with that, but what have you seen, how have you seen him improve over these nine days of training?
Bajakian: Well, he threw some interceptions early. And he's done a good job of protecting the football as of late. There was a string of three or four practices, I can't remember, the days were running together, where there were zero picks from him. So, number one, he's done a good job of that. And the question was asked of Shador, how has he improved? Well, I'd say the same thing with Deshaun. The more comfortable you are in the scheme, the more comfortable you are with the techniques, the quicker you can react, and the more decisive you can be. And speed of the game, as it relates to the quarterback position, is not about running four, four, four, five, whatever. It's about how quickly you can process the information, how decisive you can be. So, when he's had those good days, it's because he's been able to be decisive, and now his anticipation's on point, he's getting rid of the ball on time, he doesn't have to move in the pocket, things like that.
Unknown: So, there's been 17 interceptions for non-practices?
Bajakian: Yes. An incredible number. Do you think it's more on the quarterback, so it's worth the defense?
Bajakian: It's an incredible number. It's a lot. And one is an incredible number, okay? He's seen 17 times. Yeah, you know, and I'd say it's on a whole lot of things. We'd have to go up and watch every single practice of every single rep, every single interception, okay? Yeah, there's a lot that goes into it, okay? Quarterbacks with timing and decisiveness, okay? Ball location, decision-making process, other techniques like footwork, sometimes it could be a spacing issue, sometimes it could be a rush issue. There's a lot that goes into it. I'm not gonna pinpoint it on any one thing.
Unknown: I think you said in the spring was we thought when we got the training camp, it wouldn't take long for the leader of the quarterback competition to emerge. Yeah, here we are through nine days. Yeah. Has one emerged?
Bajakian: I'm gonna let Coach Munken address any questions related to, you know, where we are on the depth chart and all that.
Unknown: Do you see one of those perfect late periods where you've written on all the three-step motions and getting aligned and all that kind of stuff? How do you work on the post now, you know, speeding that process up for the quarterbacks?
Bajakian: It is. Boy, that's a great question and that's, I can't tell you how much time I've dedicated to trying to master that. I think as a teacher, there's so much that goes into it. It's how you teach them to think, okay? I use the word triggers a lot, okay? You hear a long play call, all right? I ask my guys all the time, what's the first thing to pop into your head when you hear X, Y, or Z? Okay, what's the next thing? Okay, you can't necessarily belabor one thing or another, all right? And so in terms of how do you teach that post snap, well, our whole meeting structure is designed to make guys think quick. You know, I'm a Jersey guy, I talk fast, all right? Well, I talk fast on purpose because it makes you think fast. You know, I listen to all my podcasts on 2.0 speed, all right? And what I found is that makes me think a lot faster, okay? Well, the same thing goes for quarterbacks. How can we make them think faster, okay? I don't present a play and leave it up there the whole time and say, all right, what's our footwork? What's our progression? I flash it up there quickly and give me the information back quickly. So there's a lot you can do in the meeting room setting to help them process post snap. There's a lot you can do on the field, you know? I think, you know, you might see a split safety shell and they might have a three and a hitch drop working this progression. And all of a sudden at the snap of the ball, there's rotation, their progression changes, their footwork and rhythm subtly change, okay? Well, I gotta emulate that on individual work and things like that.
Unknown: Couple more. There's a lot that goes into it. You know, from voice intonation to timing, to being an actor, the whole time, again, it's not like we're just going through a cadence to go through a cadence. Why are we going through that cadence? Well, at the same time that we're going through the cadence, we're trying to feed the quarterback information from the defense, right? There could be different looks. That can change this thought process, right? So it's not just verbalizing the cadence and the different intonations of the cadence that make it more convincing. It's, okay, what other information are we processing? Why are we going through this cadence? What are we trying to disguise in doing so or what kind of information are we trying to get? There's a ton that goes on in mastering that. And I think it's, you know, you look at some of the best that have done it. Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, I mean, those guys, you know, Wiley Vets that have been through it and perfected that part of their craft over years and years and years.
Unknown: Coach, you also have a rotation at center kind of going on in front of your quarterbacks. How much does that impact some of the details we're talking about here? And is that something that you would like to see Coach Muckin kind of solidify in front of the quarterback and help give some stability there?
Bajakian: You have to control what you could control, which is your own performance and what you put into it. This time of year training camp, you're going to play with a lot of different guys. I don't think there's a lot to that necessarily. Now would it help? Yeah, once we get going, obviously once we get into the season, it's important to have that chemistry with the center, with the o-line, with the receivers and tight ends, et cetera. I think that's relevant.
Unknown: Very good. So, Deshaun, how cognizant are you or how much do you have to take into account the fact that he's come off some surgeries. He hasn't played football in almost two years. Just the whole knocking off the rust and gaining confidence again.
Bajakian: That was more relevant in the spring, I would say. And now as we get into games, that will pop up again. In my conversations with Deshaun, I made sure his physical health is first and foremost. And I wanted to make sure that what we were doing on the field, individual team, et cetera, that there would be no repercussion for him physically. He's assured me, he said, Coach, I'm in the best shape of my life. Let's take the reins off and go. So, it has not been a consideration in anything we've done physically or mentally as it relates to his preparation.
Unknown: When you guys broke for the spring, what was the message that you gave to both Deshaun and Chidore in terms of, hey, let's come back and be better at it. And Dylan and Talon, for that matter.
Bajakian: The message when you leave at the end of the spring and come back in the summer, there's a lot to it. Number one, it's about the physical conditioning, okay? I have a college background, I bounce back and forth to the NFL and college, you know, too many times, okay? In college, you get the guys year round, right? And you're working with them year round. And in the summer, they're training, okay? So, the emphasis was make sure from a physical standpoint, make sure you're physically ready to go, okay? And then, because this is such a taxing job, mentally, it stays sharp as it relates to installs and schemes and protections and videos. They have access to all of our cut-ups all the time. So, the message was make sure you stay sharp with the different procedures and different calls and different schemes that we have. Well, now, it's a little different here in training camp than it is in the spring for a lot of reasons. In the spring, you know, you have Monday through Thursday, they got three-day weekends, you got them for four hours at a time, then you got them for six hours at a time. They got a lot of free time to do a lot of extra prep on their own. We install one and two and then review one and two. Then we install three, then we might have a few days off. It doesn't come at them nearly as quick. You get in the training camp and it's day after day after day, it's like drinking water through a fire hose. And that's not just here, that's everywhere. That's the NFL, that's college. It's all 32 teams in the NFL and 130-something in college. That's the difference between the spring and training camp. And then at the season, it kind of emulates training camp. We put in a game plan on a Monday as a staff, hand it to them Tuesday morning and enroll. And they got to be able to process it quickly and absorb a lot of information quickly.
Unknown: Thank you.