LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY THREE QUOTE SHEET July 26, 2024 Opening Statement: “I’m going to start with this, (Lions K Michael) Badgley had a significant injury yesterday getting ready for practice, so he will be on injured reserve coming up, he’ll be out for the season, so he’s actually having surgery. Anyway – feel awful for Badge, man, he worked his tail off to get ready for this season. He was having a good spring and was ready for camp and so – anyway, it’s tough. So, start there and other than that, we’re day three now, the guys that are – you’ve got a little bit of running on you, they’ll be a little bit sore, but they’ll – we’re going to get loose, get moving and really redzone today. It’s been good, it’s been two good days, there again, we’re not – we don’t have pads on, but it’s been good.” On if he feels that the team needs to add another kicker to compete with Lions K Jake Bates: “Yeah, we actually just had a workout and brought in some guys just to take a look at. It’s something that (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I are talking about right now, but we’re not in a hurry either. We find the right guy that helps us for competition, and for camp, then we’ll do that.” On if there is still a belief among coaches that kickers need to convert a high percentage of kicks from inside of 40 yards: “I think so. I think, really, you just look at the numbers, you want to know that that percentage is very high. And where is that at? That could be, ‘You’ve got to get inside the 40.’ It could be, ‘You’ve got to get inside the 35.’ And then until that point, don’t ask them to do it until you have to, you absolutely have to. Now, that being said, if you told me, ‘Yeah, hey man, we’re at the 40 and this guy is golden.’ We’re talking about a very high percentage, well above the average, then that’s a great thing to have, right? Everybody wants the leg with accuracy. But what you find out is that’s not always the case. Once you start getting into the high 40s these – it just is not – the percentages go down significantly than it does in the mid and low 40s.” On how much a kicker being able to make field goals from long distance changes his aggressiveness in play-calling: “I think it’s – honestly, I view it no different than I do any other position or any other part of this team, offense, defense, special teams. Man, let’s ask our guys to do what they do well and put them in position to have success, and the kicker is no different. So that’s how I view it. Some of that does come down to, you’re at the 40-yard line and you’ve got a 58-yard kick and you’ve gauged him, you’ve seen how he’s kicked, you also know it’s a long one, or it’s fourth-and-2, you want your offense to go, ‘Do we like the play, do we like the matchup, what are they running on defense, are we going to have a chance to get the one-on-one that we want offensively?’ And so, I think all of that comes into play. But it can have an effect. It will have an effect, it will.” On if it is hard to turn down automatic points if he thinks the player is able to make kicks from 50 yards: “Not necessarily only because there’s still that you can get four more, you can squeeze four more out of that drive potentially, depending on where you’re at. And so, I think the automatic points, it’s – it could be more, ‘Is it fourth-and-4, is it – how far is this fourth down?’ So, I think, to answer your question, I know I’m kind of – I want to put our kicker in the best position to have success, to help us. Otherwise, if it doesn’t work out, that’s on me and that bothers me. I don’t want it to be that case because that’s – it’s kind of not fair to them either. I mean, we do it for the quarterback, we’ll do it for offensive line, we do it for the backs, we do it for receivers, we do it for the nickel, the safety, and then it’s not fair to not do it for your kicker, too. I know he’s got a job, he’s got a task, so do all those guys. I mean, it’s like, we’ve got two of the best tackles in this League and it’s like, ‘Well, they have to block one-on-one. That’s what they do, it’s what they get paid’ – yeah, but every once in a while, it would be to nudge over there. It’s not fair to go 65 plays and not give them help every once in a while, to give them a breather. So, anyway.” On if it is a concern that Lions K Jake Bates did not kick field goals in college: “I think we’ve just – we’ve got to put him in as many pressure situations as we can in camp. And he has kicked in games, I know it’s not the same thing, but a little bit of it – the only way you’re going to know is you’ve got to put him out there and you’ve got to see how he does and that’ll come. I mean, look, right now he looks pretty good, and it’s early, but he has big leg and I like his personality, his aura, I mean, he’s got some confidence about him, which is nice, he seems pretty consistent about the way he goes about his business, kind of the same guy every day, which I appreciate. So, we’ll just see. We’ll keep working him through practice and see where this goes.” On what he has seen so far from Lions CB Terrion Arnold and Lions CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr.: “Well, I would tell you – and, there again, when I say this, careful, I see improvement from the spring, which is great. That means that they retained what we were doing in the spring and here we are two days into training camp and, man, some of those lessons, they’ve learned and it’s already showing up. This is their second chance to get through the install. They got it in the spring and now, ‘Here we go.’ And so, man, they retained some of those coaching points and improved on them, and so I like both of those because I love the fact that Arnold will get up there and challenge, big, physical, pretty smart guy, just time on task, he’s got to learn, and Rakestraw is the same way. Rakestraw is pretty instinctive, he got our one takeaway yesterday, he got a ball on the ground, which is great. So, look, those guys are a work in progress, but after two days and a spring we like where they’re at.” On the biggest change he has noticed in Lions QB Hendon Hooker since the spring: “He’s another guy I would say, coming back, you wanted to feel like he retained what we did, and there was just another – you felt like he just took one little step forward and, alright we’re not back to, ‘Here’s the read. Ah, he should’ve thrown this here, should’ve checked it down, should’ve launched the post.’ Man, he’s done some things that are good, that are really good. It’s like, ‘OK.’ You feel just a little bit of growth, which is what we wanted to feel. Taking command of the huddle and some of his decision-making has been good. The accuracy has been better after two days. Now, he’s like anybody else, he’s got things to clean up, but yeah, we’re certainly not disappointed after two days.” On if having Lions QB Nate Sudfeld on the roster gives him confidence that he can allow Lions QB Hendon Hooker to develop organically: “Yeah, and I mean, look, that’s a competition. It is. We like both of those guys, but there is a reason Nate’s here. Nate has played before, he’s got a lot of experience and he’s just – that’s what he’s got, he’s got more years and a little bit more experience, certainly, than Hooker does. But this is a competition, I mean, at the end of the day, both of those guys are going to roll between the twos and threes, and by the time we get to the end of camp we need to know who our two is and we’re not going to have our two be somebody we don’t trust in the moment.” LIONS QUARTERBACK JARED GOFF TRAINING CAMP DAY THREE QUOTE SHEET July 26, 2024 On if he has noticed an increase in energy from the defense: “Yeah, for sure. Certainly, it’s a new personnel over there, but yeah, they’ve brought the energy and they’ve done a good job of getting where they need to be and doing their thing. It’s still early, and they’re still learning, as are we on offense but yeah, it’s been fun to see and fun to compete against and I think (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG’s doing a great job.” On what he is seeing from the receivers on the bottom of the depth chart: “Yeah, there’s a space open there. You know, we lose (Broncos WR) Josh (Reynolds) in free agency and there’s some catches to be had, so there’s someone that’s going to step up that’s going to continue to make plays, and I think they’re all battling right now, doing a good job, and I’m enjoying watching them compete.” On how he would explain what ‘starting at 401’ means from a quarterback’s perspective: “Yeah, no doubt. I think like today, we’re talking about what we want to do in a two-minute drill, and me and (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson) are pretty deep into the playbook as far as what we want to run, and our offense is – the players are able to make those adjustments really quickly without having to install it necessarily, having the meeting time, so yeah, we’re able to kind of do some stuff on the fly on the field, and it allows the speed of learning to go a little faster.” On the potential of this offense: “Yeah, there’s a ton of potential. There always is. We’ve got a lot of good players, good coaches, great offensive line, obviously, and great skill players. So, a ton of potential. We know the sky is the limit and we’re excited.” On if he feels like he is entering his prime coming into training camp: “Yeah, I think I may have said that a year or two ago. I feel like I was entering my prime and hopefully am smack dab in the middle of it now, but yeah, I feel good and feel confident in the guys around me, and they feel confident in me and it’s a good place to be.” On what it is like to enter training camp knowing it is about this year’s team and not the franchise’s past: “It feels good. We don’t have to answer those questions anymore about trying to snap any streaks or anything like that, so it does feel good, but we’ve got bigger goals, and we are excited to try to obtain those.” On Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson always evolving as a coach and if they are already working out wrinkles: “Oh yeah, back in the spring, there’s a ton of stuff that we even did last year that we can tweak and get better at, but yeah some new stuff certainly in the spring and into training camp, stuff that we will play around with and see if it works, and probably use a lot of it.” On what Lions WR Jameson Williams can bring to the game now that he can take more snaps: “Well he’s a guy that can score in one play and you’ve seen it quite a bit in his career. He gets the ball, he scores quite a bit, but yeah, he just continues to get better. It’s exciting. His consistency has raised a ton, and he knows what time it is for himself and our team, has come to work really well, and he’s done a good job.” On if it is fun to have Lions WR Jameson Williams’s style of football in the offense and what it does for the offense: “Of course, yeah. It becomes more explosive. If he can obviously stay healthy like he has been and be on the field for us the way he has early in camp, it’s a whole new explosion of our offense, and he’s fun to throw to.” On what Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs’s ceiling is like as a pass catcher: “He’s kind of a ton better at that too, you can see he’s been working on it. He really has. His hands and his route running has improved pretty significantly, and I know we plan to use him in a lot of ways.” On if the secondary feels and looks different from the last few days: “Yeah, for sure. I think the new personnel, the new energy, I think they all are different in a lot of ways than a lot of the guys we had last year and want to prove that. So, they’ve done a good job up to this point. It’s only been three days, but it’s been fun to compete against.” On the emphasis of operating at a new tempo with this offense: “Yeah, that’s always the emphasis, I think especially early on in camp. You want to get in and out of the huddle, you want to get through your checks quickly because once the game comes around, you don’t want to be getting delay of games and moving slowly, so you try to push that now and really get ahead of that and stay on top of it and I thought we’ve done a good job. We’ve had some lulls in the last three days of our tempo, but it’s my job to make sure there aren’t any.” On what his impressions are of Lions QB Hendon Hooker: “Yeah, he’s done a good job, man. He really has. He continues to get better and he’s a lot of fun to have in the room.” On how it helps to have contract extensions done before training camp to start the season in stride: “Yeah, it certainly does. Not having any of those distractions or narratives going on, I guess, certainly helps me to focus on what matters, and yeah, it’s been good.” On who has the most swag on the offense: “Oh man, I’m going to get in trouble. Probably (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow). Frank or (Lions OL) Graham (Glasgow). Yeah, those guys bring it every day. Yeah, the camo, the Birkenstocks, they do a good job.” On if he can see himself being as comfortable with Lions WR Jameson Williams on a deep ball as he is with Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: “Of course, oh yeah. It’s just reps, I’ve been saying that since he got here. It’s just reps, just amount of time and a matter of time. He and I continue to get on the same page and continue to work towards that, and like I said early on in camp, he’s done a great job, and we just keep on growing and improving.” | |
