It wasn’t his boss who asked the question. One would hope Stevens had enough awareness to understand that the question would be posed (especially if there had been ongoing discussions, as some are alleging). There was a way to issue a non-denial / coach doublespeak response, but he chose to be much more definitive. Why do you think he would do that, even if he was unsure of his next step? Don’t you believe he is a little more savvy than that? He’s not some neophyte who lacks worldliness, but you’re “defending” a response that would be widely viewed as unsophisticated and misleading, at best. Smart guys would never put themselves in that spot, so I don’t believe Stevens would, either.