LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
November 9, 2023
On what he did during the bye week: “Didn’t do much. Tried to be a husband and a father for the first time in a few months, so it was good, which meant I caught up on sleep. It was good to be with the family though. We stayed local.”
On what his self-scout during the bye week revealed: “A lot of things. We’re doing a lot of things really well as an offense and I think we are getting better on a weekly basis. I think if you look at it just within cutups, you might be like, ‘Eh,’ but if you look at it chronologically, you feel pretty good about our trajectory right now. The run game is certainly getting better each and every week. I think the guys are trusting the technique that we’re asking them more and more. Our backs are seeing it a lot better. They’re trusting their landmarks, and so we’re seeing growth there in the run game that hopefully will continue on here in the second half of the season. Base downs were really good, third down we’ve got some room for improvement, particularly call it 7-plus area, we’ve got some work to do there. And then I think we all know, red zone hasn’t been what it needs to be, particularly the last three games. It’s something that we brought to their attention, they’re aware of it and so, certainly tonight we’ll come up with a good plan and tomorrow will be our red zone day and we can tackle those issues.”
On if Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs’s performance in the Raiders game boosted his confidence and if that is what he should strive for every game: “Yeah, no, hopefully 152 every game. It makes my life a lot easier. But no, I mean he’s done an incredible job breaking tackles. Heck, that was the first game of the season against the Chiefs. He’s an explosive player. It’s exactly what we saw on tape and the player that we were looking to draft. And I don’t know if it’s adding to his confidence at all. He’s come in – he’s been a confident individual ever since he got into this building, but certainly for us, we feel good about continuing to push the different schemes at him. He’s been effective inside the tackles, he’s not just a perimeter player like I think the narrative might be out there for him in the run game and then his route tree’s still growing. So, looking forward to getting him and (Lions RB David Montgomery) Monty both their fair load of touches. They both have proven worthy of it. I was talking to the skill guys earlier this week, it’s a good problem to have right now having some mouths to feed. So, it’s not just that room, but receivers and tight ends as well.”
On the stress having both Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery on the field at the same time puts on a defense: “It’s always a fun exercise to do and certainly do it at the end of the season, the bye week’s another good time to do it, but you kind of look through your roster, the guys that are available to you and you kind of – you might rank them. You say, ‘Hey, these are our top 11 guys that we really feel good about on offense,’ and usually you want to get those 11 guys out on the field together as much as possible and I think both those guys are within those top 11 players that we have on offense. So, yeah, there’s a strong argument to get them both out there together more often.”
On the plan to divide the workload between both Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery: “To be determined. No, (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs) Scottie (Montgomery)’s done a great job with both those guys. They know the entire gameplan in and out, so some might be by series, some might be play-specific, but both those guys can handle a lot.”
On if Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs’s versatility will be utilized more when on the field at the same time as Lions RB David Montgomery: “Oh, yeah, for sure. And we’ve been growing that route tree from the springtime, so outside the numbers, in the slot from the backfield, he keeps learning, he keeps growing and he’s doing a good job with it.”
On how hard it is to assess the team’s trajectory given the number of injuries within the first eight games: “Yeah, probably – I don’t even look at it within that lens of who we had out there. We talk about it all the time, it’s next man up, so doesn’t matter the injuries we’ve had on the O-line. Listen, I’m certainly excited to get possibly some reinforcements back this week, really at all the positions, so. But no, when we look at it and we’re evaluating the scheme and what we’ve done so far, it’s less, ‘Hey, oh, but it was because we had so-and-so out.’ No, we put those guys out there because we feel like they can execute what we call and so whether we do or not, that’s a different story.”
On the biggest thing that stands out about the Chargers’ defense: “Shoot, they’re really good in the key areas, which to me is the run game. They’re a top-10, top-5 defense in the run game this year. To me, when you watch the film from last year to this year, it’s a completely different run defense. Maybe not schematically, but those guys – they’re doing a heck of a job bottling up the run, that’s number one. Number two, they’re a really good third down team. And then number three, they’re really good in the sack area too. And so, those two really go hand-in-hand because they’re able to generate pressure and it’s not so much maybe the different exotic blitzes that we’ve seen over the past few weeks, it’s really they’ve got some really good rushers. And so, our O-line has a big challenge here this week picking them up here in the protection game.”
On what Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones adds to the team that was missing before: “He – I remember when he was coming out of Michigan, I really liked his tape coming out of there. I actually thought he fell in the Draft a little further than what a guy of his skillset might. I mean you’re talking about 6’2, 210 and can run under a 4.5. So, those guys don’t grow on trees, and I think so far what we’ve seen from him is exactly that. Really fluid route runner, strong hands, big catch radius and I think he can work both outside and inside. And probably, even better than that at least from my perspective, is everyone talks about how smart he is. And so, that’s something that we really need in that room. We ask a lot out of our guys lining up in different areas and being very detailed. So, I think he’ll fit in really nicely.”
On if Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones’s skillset will be helpful in the red zone: “Oh, no question. Yeah, red zone, he makes some plays down the field, in the open field as well, so looking forward to getting him out there.”
On if he has a sense as to why Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones’s production dropped this year with the Cleveland Browns: “I can’t speak to that, no. I don’t know that.”
On if missed opportunities are more of a cause for lower red zone numbers as opposed to a specific problem: “Yeah, I mean – listen, last year we were solid in the red zone and you talk to our analytics guys, the red zone offense is a variable that doesn’t – it changes year-to-year. It’s very inconstant, it’s not a stabilizing force. And so what we look to do, is we have a philosophy that we adhere to last year and we’re attempting to adhere to again this year, and the guys are aware of it, we brought it up again, ‘Hey, this is what we want to do when we get down there,’ and like you said, we’ve been going backwards too much as opposed to going forward. We’ve had too many negative plays, particularly when we get from the 12-yard line on in, I think we’ve had like 50 plays and 10 of them end up going backwards which is – that’s really what’s killing us at the end of the day. So, we’ll get that solved and hopefully we’ll find more success down there.”
On if the variance in red zone success year-to-year is based on talent or execution: “No, listen, I mean I can’t speak to it, but they bring all these things by and they had a bunch of them at the end of the year. Last year, they were like, ‘Hey, just because you guys were good in red zone or because you were good in screens that’s just something over time one year could be dipped.’ You might stay the same, you might dip down, but there’s no carryover effect so much as maybe some of the other categories.”
On if the variance in red zone success this year could be due to a having a small sample size so far: “I don’t think so. I mean – yeah, that one I took as a challenge. I was like, ‘Oh, you’re saying we can’t be good again in the red zone.’ So, maybe they’re right so far, but we’ll get it worked out and we’ll be in good shape. The guys understand, and just like any issue that we’ve had, you bring it to their attention, they dive into it and normally we’re pretty good about it. I mean turnovers is another area that we’ve got to continue to improve. We had three of them last game and so we’ve got to clean that up as well.”
On what makes Chargers OLBs Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa special pass rushers one-on-one: “Yeah, I mean they get singled up, isolated and they just go to work. They’ve got an array of pass-rush moves and really, yeah, you can talk about them in the pass rush game, but they’re really good run defenders as well. Mack I think has really made a name for himself over the years as a run defender. They’ve got one more edge guy, rookie, (Chargers OLB Tuli Tuipulotu) 45 that does a heck of a job for them also, so I do think that’s a strength for them. Obviously, their edge guys, you know about the two other ones, but 45’s doing a good job. And then you combine that with some good athletic linebackers, it creates a handful.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
November 9, 2023
Opening Statement: “Alright, really good bye week. Me and my wife had a chance to get out of town, went to Arizona. I had a chance to play the TPC (Scottsdale), I did. The one that happens during the Super Bowl, and I love golf. It was a horrible, horrible experience, but you know what, it was horrible, it was horrible, but I had a really good time. Alright, so my mind got away from football for four hours and that – because I think the same amount of words I say in a game, playing golf, but man, it was outstanding to spend some time with my wife.”
On his score on hole number 16 at the TPC Scottsdale golf course: “Wouldn’t you like to know? It wasn’t a good score, I’ll just tell you that.”
On the big takeaways from his self-scout over the bye week: “I would say this first and foremost, that man, our guys have really done a good job of understanding exactly what we’re trying to create as a defense. To come out this first part of the season where we’re in third down, explosive plays, run defense, and I would even say pass defense for how we’ve stopped the run, has been really, really good. And I’m impressed with the way our guys are understanding that. The things that we’ve got to do a better job at, man, we’ve got to do a better job in the red zone. And we as coaches, and the players, understand that that’s a joint effort between all of us. And that’s something that we’ve talked about quite a bit coming back from the bye of getting better at that. And man, continue to try to get these takeaways. And now, we’re not going to force them, and we’re not going to go out of our way to try to get them because we do know they come in bunches. Alright, it happened last year to us. We’re expecting the same things this year. So, those are two things that really came out of that is red zone and to continue to create takeaways.”
On if there is one thing specifically that would improve their red zone performance: “You know what, not really. I would go execution on both ends, as coaches and as players. I have to make sure I put these guys in good positions and they have to go out there and execute. And that’s how I’m always going to look at it. No matter what happens, the first person I’ll look at is myself when things are not happening the right way, and then I talk to the players about that and then the players look at themselves as far as (to) execute.”
On what Chargers QB Justin Herbert does well that will present challenges: “He’s a big, physical, athletic quarterback with a huge arm that will sit in the pocket. And man, he will take a hit and still deliver the ball and deliver it with accuracy. And usually when you have guys like that, they’re going to have good careers. So, man, we have to do a good job of getting to him and when we get to him, we’ve got to get him down because you see a lot of times, he’s breaking a lot of tackles back there when guys have him corralled so – and then man, we’ve got to stop this (Chargers WR) Keenan Allen. I mean obviously he’s looking for him, just look at the number of catches that he has and everybody else has. I mean it’s pretty out of whack, but if I had him, I would throw it to him all the time too, so. But man, it’s going to be a challenge for us, it’s going to be a challenge. And we understand that, and our guys will be ready for it, they’ll be ready for it. We have a good day of practice today with third down and then we’ll be ready for this Sunday.”
On the respect given to a quarterback willing to take a hit like Chargers QB Justin Herbert: “To me, when you – on the offensive side, especially your receivers, your linemen, when they see a quarter that’s going to stand in the pocket and take a hit – because offensively a lineman would say, ‘Man, that’s my fault. I let my quarterback get hit, but he stood in there and he delivered the ball.’ I mean you have the utmost respect because he’s doing every he can do to help the team win. And you see that all through the tape with this player, so I mean there’s no question of why this guy’s going to be a good player in this League because of those things that he does.”
On what Chargers WR Keenan Allen does well: “Very smart, understands coverage, his ability to come in and out of routes as a guy that big is special, and his change of speed. I mean he has a pace the way he plays that he’s in tune with the quarterback that you don’t see a lot of people have. So, he’s not always running at full speed, but man, once he hits his break, man, he’s out of there and he’s creating this separation to get the quarterback just a really good air of vision for him to throw the ball. You see that quite a bit and you don’t have a lot of players that can do that because the timing has to be on point and him and the quarterback have really good timing right now.”
On which other Chargers players present a threat to the secondary: “Well, (Chargers WR Jalen) Guyton’s coming back who is a speed guy for them, so we have to be aware of him. And you look at this tight end, (Chargers TE Donald Parham Jr.) 89 I mean in the red zone, he’s playing basketball out there, so he’s catching touchdowns like crazy. And I’ve always had respect for the tight end, number seven (Chargers TE Gerald Everett). Man, he’s a really, really good athlete and his ability also to make plays. You watch him when guys are trying to tackle him, he’s breaking a lot of tackles also. So, they have weapons, and you can never forget about the running back (Chargers RB Austin Ekeler). I mean not only can he run it, but his ability to catch these screen passes and make explosive plays, with screens and with checkdowns, that you have to be aware of where he’s at. So, they have weapons. Regardless of who’s out, they still have them.”
On what he has seen from the Chargers’ offensive line and where they have grown throughout the season: “They’re trying to build it the right way, you see that, how you’re building it inside out. And when you go get guys like (Chargers G) Zion (Johnson), you get (Chargers T Rashawn) Slater, a first round pick, man, those guys are – they’re tough, they’re athletic, really athletic. And man, you just see those guys getting in tune with the quarterback and that’s one of the things that it always takes time, is that O-line to work together for the most part. And I think those guys are doing a pretty good job.”
On his assessment of Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley as a defensive mind: “I’m not looking at their defense, so I don’t know. I’ve got bigger fish to fry with this quarterback and these receivers and running backs they have.”
On Lions DL Brodric Martin’s debut performance in the Raiders game: “I thought it was good to get him out there and get him in live action. We’re going to continue to work this player in. We said this from the beginning, it’s going to be a work in progress with this player, but he has all the skills that we look for in a D-lineman. It’s just a fact of him coming from where he came from now into the NFL, but he has continued to see these different plays that are coming at him, obviously in how he’s going to play these blocks and understand exactly what we’re trying to do as far as a D-line to continue to improve. So, happy (with) where he’s at, going to continue to work with this player and it’s going to be good things with this player as the season progresses.”
On if Lions DL Brodric Martin’s ability to get pad-level since training camp has improved: “Hey, when you’re 6’6, it’s always going to be an issue, so. It has, it really has. His understanding – because he’s a smart player. His understanding of playing blocks, that’s the thing that’s different from this player because he didn’t see them in college, and now he’s seeing them from the different run schemes that you get, he’s able to play those now. So, I’m happy with where he’s at. We look forward to continue to work with this player and again, he’s a player that’s going to be a good player as the season progresses.”
On what he needs from his defense to get to where they want to go at the end of the season: “Improvement. I’ve said this from the beginning, we’re in the business of improvement from myself, the staff and with the players. And when you take that next step as a team, you look at things a lot different. There are things that are just unacceptable when it comes to practice. There are things that are unacceptable when it comes to meetings. There are things that are unacceptable when it comes to walkthrough. And the guys have to understand that because the stage is bigger, the expectations are bigger. And now you want to put yourself in that elite category, and that’s what we’re doing as a team and as an organization. We’re trying to be one of these organizations that year in and year out, we’re going to be up there in the fight. And listen, that’s how we want to be, and I’ve said this before, I want to be a part of one of these organizations that every year, when you go 9-8, there’s a chance you can get fired because the expectations are so high. And I’ve been a part of that in New Orleans, and this is where we’re going with this organization.”
On if they strive to maintain an elite level at all times within the organization: “Absolutely, absolutely. That’s what you want. I mean you look at Pittsburgh, you look at Baltimore, you look at those organizations I mean, they think like that and we’re on our way to thinking like that too.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
November 9, 2023
On how his bye week was: “Bye was great, well, obviously, can’t be good. No, it was incredible. We went down to the University of Alabama and College Gameday was there. They were playing LSU. I got to see that for the first time in my career. Pat McAfee was on there letting it rip, which was pretty cool. And then just being with our daughter in that environment was incredible. She’s doing great and, God man, it’s big football. Football’s alive and well down south, that’s for sure. We were in the upper deck, it was great, end zone, the top of the thing. Dixieland Delight starts playing, the whole place is rocking, it’s an incredible experience. But yeah, tickets weren’t cheap, they’re paying Saban a lot of money. We helped his salary, it was good.”
On how much he works on getting players accustomed to the kicker and long snapper positions in case of emergency similar to the Texans game: “Yeah, obviously, you have to have contingency plans in case. Unfortunately, for me, I’ve been a part of a handful of situations where we’ve had to do that, both the snapper position, the kicker position. I don’t think I’ve been in a situation where we had to have an emergency kicker kick a field goal, but we’ve definitely had a guy kickoff before. It’s something that you’ve got to practice and be prepared for. We do snap those guys, our backup guys, we have them snap, not necessarily with the team, but we have them snap at least once a week where they’re taking snaps for us and preparing in case it comes up. Ultimately, hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, it can be big. Those guys in Houston did a great job of executing. Fortunately for us, unfortunately – (Lions LS) Scott (Daly) got hurt, obviously – fortunately for us, we didn’t have to kick the ball or punt the ball at the end of the game, but we did have a plan in place.”
On who is the best non-kicker kicker on the team: “Non-kicker, kicker, well, our punter is the best non-kicker, kicker. It’s unbelievable how many punters can’t kick the ball. Like my son said, ‘Well, why doesn’t the punter kick?’ And I’m like, well, the punter can’t kick a lot of times and their punter, (Texans P) Cam Johnston, an Australian guy and those guys didn’t grow up kicking the ball and sometimes it’s crazy how bad the punter is at actually kicking a ball. So, anyway, other than that, I don’t know. I know that (Lions P Jack) Fox would be our backup plan if something didn’t happen – or if something happened to our kicker, so.”
On the positives and areas for growth he saw from the team when self-scouting during the bye: “Yeah, so that’s an interesting topic. Number one, I feel like we can improve everywhere, all the time. So, I would start with that. The whole self-scout thing, to me, is also kind of funny because it’s like what, you wait until a bye week to all of a sudden look at yourself? I would say every week, before we play, the most important team that we can worry about is our own team. And so really, I like to start every meeting, if we’re talking about our kickoff coverage, we’re watching ourselves cover and what are the things that we can do to improve? So, I really feel like, in today’s world, you’re self-scouting all the time, every week, after every game. And with the resources that we have nowadays, whether it be computers and, I mean with a touch of a button, you could pull up any one of our punts, punts that have been returned, punts that have been returned for greater than X yards and you can look at all that stuff instantly and we have more manpower than we’ve ever had in our buildings in general to be able to input all the data and all that stuff. So, I feel like, really, that stuff goes on all the time, but yeah. What are things we could do better? To answer your question, besides a million things, we’d like to get (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf going a little bit more. I think (Lions Head) Coach (Dan) Campbell said that and he’s done a great job when he’s touched the ball. I think he’s averaging over 10 yards a return, or something like that, so it’s not like he’s been poor. A lot of the punt, punt return game, a lot of the numbers inside there get lost. I think we talked about that a year or two ago when we were talking about statistics, and they get lost in where you’re punting on the field, the down and distance of the punt and some of those things, who the punter is that you’re going against, so part of it’s things that we could do better, or I could do better, some of it’s things that you can’t control and it’s just, it is what it is, but. So that would be one of them.”
On if the difference in the mechanics of a kick and a punt is why punters are sometimes unable to kick: “Yeah, it’s just a totally different kick. I know, you would think, I thought the same thing, ‘Don’t these guys grow up – they’re kicking, they’re punting, didn’t they grow up kicking a ball, or kicking a soccer ball?’ You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard, but I’ve seen a number of punters – it looks rough when they try to kick it. And maybe they’re just doing that so they don’t have to be the emergency guy, but I don’t know.”
On how valuable Lions P Jack Fox is when needed in emergency situations: “Yeah, Fox is valuable.”
On what he has seen from the Chargers special teams unit and their returner Chargers WR Derius Davis: “Yeah, they’ve done a nice job. The returner’s an explosive player. He can run, obviously did that the other night against those guys. The thing that’s not difficult but part of this guy’s game is he can run around the edge on the outside, he’s got enough speed to run around everybody, but then in that Jets game, he put his foot in the ground and took it up the middle of the field, also, so he makes you cover the whole field. They do a nice job with that. Their players play hard, I would definitely say that. These guys compete in the return game. They do a good job of that, so it’ll be a good matchup.”
On if he is getting an itch to run a fake punt: “I haven’t won the lottery yet, so. I’ve got to keep trying. It’s down too low. It’s like 250 or something, I saw this morning on the way in. I only play it when it gets to 500.”
On if he is waiting for the right time to run a fake punt since the fake punt they ran in Week 1: “Yeah, I think – I mean we always kind of are working on stuff and have stuff in our back pocket, or whatever, some of it’s a situation that presents itself. Some of it’s the look. We’ve actually have had – between now and then, we’ve had one on that didn’t go because of a look, or whatever. So, we’ll see.”
On if he finds that opponents are more alert this season because they are expecting them to run a fake punt: “Oh yeah, for us, I mean yeah, we say every week, whatever’s on film and whatever they’ve done against these other guys, we’re going to get something different, we know that. So, it’s definitely been different, it’s week-to-week for us and, so we have some things we can put on or take off and if the look’s there, then we can run it. If not, we don’t.”
On if they look at aspects of their rush when trying to affect an accurate kicker: “Yeah, I feel like that is, that’s true. It is tough to impact them. I think you can put pressure on the – with your rush and put pressure on their protection and you can force the coach during the week to say, ‘Hey man, these guys really play hard. They come after it, they get their hands up, they get penetration. We’re going to have to do a good job with our operation time and our lift on the ball,’ and maybe some of that influences the way the guy plays on game day. And then some of it truly is just being at the right place, right time and it’s unlucky for them and good for us, but – so there’s some of that. Some of it is a certain kicker’s different styles, maybe they would perform better with a right to left wind, than a left to right wind and the ball not – depending on the wind, which hash the ball’s on, that can affect it too. And if a guy hits a ball a certain way, it’ll be a harder kick for them. So, there’s a lot that goes into it.”
On how unusual it is for a kick like Lions K Riley Patterson 52-yard field goal to be tipped and still go through the uprights: “Yeah, I would say the protection certainly wasn’t good enough, let’s start with that and really my fault on that. I’ve got to do a better job with those guys in there, scenario that we want to improve at, but I don’t know if it got tipped and I’m not totally sure. The copies that I’ve seen, I think it may have gone right by the guy’s arm and sometimes when a ball passes by a guy’s arm, I know it sounds crazy, but I think it’s the wind blowing back against the arm, that it actually moves the ball a little bit as it passes his arm. Anyway, so it looked to me like that’s kind of what happened, but I can’t guarantee that. But yeah, so he hit a good ball and it was a good kick, 52 yards, we didn’t like the 26-yarder as much, but.”
On how soon he will get Lions LB Trevor Nowaske and Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones active on special teams: “Yeah, for Nowaske, he’s been with us, so it’s pretty quick. I mean, if he were up and playing in a game and active on game day, we’d get him in right away at a bunch of different spots. He practices every week. A lot of these guys, they’re practicing, the opponents look, but a lot of it is similar to our stuff and if they’re doing – they might use our technique, but give us their return, or something like that, so they’re always working on their skillset as they go. Peoples-Jones, obviously, we haven’t had him, but he’s been playing in the League and we’ve got film on him and all that. So, I think, usually with players like that, you can get him in right away.”
On if Chargers K Cameron Dicker has a stronger leg than last year: “Yeah, so he was a guy that when we were in that Senior Bowl and we were part of coaching it, he was with our team on that and he’s got a good leg. He’s always had a really strong leg. And he obviously is very strong on his kickoffs and strong on his field goals. I don’t know in terms of – they’re an aggressive group, go for it a lot on fourth down, I believe, all that type of stuff, analytics. So maybe, in the past a little less of that, I’m not really sure, obviously this year he’s hit more, but he’s got a big leg.” |
