Kevin Stefanski and Jim Schwartz offer conflicting assessments on fourth quarter penalty

The Cleveland Browns are going nowhere fast during this 2025 season, but at least not everyone within the organization seems to be OK with that.

While answering a question from reporters regarding Cameron Thomas’ egregious offside penalty that virtually sealed Cleveland’s loss against the Jets, head coach Kevin Stefanski and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz provided -- in different media sessions -- very distinct answers.

Stefanski, who was seen spewing an “Oh my God!” on the sidelines when the actual play happened during the fourth quarter of the Jets game, evidently didn’t want to go too deep into it, saying on Wednesday: “Part of the accountability is a shared accountability, so it’s all of us.”

Stefanski’s evasive response pretty much follows the same playbook he’s been using when being questioned on quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s shortcomings during the past weeks, opting for very generic phrases that dilute accountability.

On the other hand, also on Wednesday, Schwartz didn’t attempt to sugarcoat nor pass it on as a collective issue, although he did state that there were many mistakes on both sides during the game, before detailing, “We jump offsides you know, cardinal sin in four-minute really embarrassing play for us.

“The thing that I’m, you know, sort of, I’m disappointed with Cam, is that he played a really good game other than that. But that one he’s gonna, that one play defines his game as opposed to his pressures, his run defense, he got a sack. Did a lot of good things in the game. But that’s just the way this game goes and that’s the spotlight we all live under and we have to do better.”

Thomas jumped offsides on a fourth-and-5 with 58 seconds to play in the game at midfield, when the Jets had no intention of snapping the ball, handing them a first down and putting the last nail in Cleveland’s coffin by allowing New York to kneel down a couple of times to secure the win.

Cameron Thomas : 2 tackles, sack & 2 QB hits (Jumped offsides on 4th & 4 with 59 seconds left. Cleveland had no timeouts) pic.twitter.com/ulLE8csUUg
— Lee Harvey (@Sayian_Warrior) November 9, 2025

While it might be a stretch to interpret those two answers as a disconnect between two of the most important game-time decision makers for the dysfunctional organization, it does speak to a difference in attitude towards accountability, at least publicly.

Schwartz is being very frank about the situation but in no way is he throwing Thomas under the bus, because the mistake was so painfully obvious and costly at the same time, everybody saw it along with Stefanski’s initial reaction.

On the flipside, Stefanski gives off some very unsettling “This is fine” meme vibes, like he’s trying to sweep everything under the rug.