Opening Statement: “First day back, really getting the guys moving again. Really just back to the fundamentals and then getting the body sparked again, and then we’ll hit it tomorrow. First, second down, we’ll go tomorrow. It’s good to have everybody back though.”
On if he still has the ‘controlled fury’ from the last time they faced Dallas: “Well, that never really leaves. But yeah, I’m excited. I’m excited for this one. And really, look, it’s the next one in front of us and it’s a conference opponent and they’ve had our number for a while and I grew up down there, so I have a lot of people there. I think it’ll be a special game. National television, four o’clock, which, that’s awesome. Early national televised games instead of the late ones. But look, they played pretty good last night. They did what they had to do to win it. That was a tough environment, conditions in that game. It’s a good defense and what they do on offense – I’m talking about Pittsburgh, was not going to make it easy, and they found a way to win that game. So, we know we’ve got our hands full.”
On if they should not let too much emotion seep into a game like this: “Well, no, I think you always have to be able to – you’ve got to keep your head about you no matter what it is, and I think each game – look, you can always find something. To me, you always find a nugget, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. There are reasons behind why you want to win them, and you find what those are and they’re different every week. But you’ve got to play a clean game, you’ve got to keep your head about you, we’ve got to be disciplined, we’ve got to play fundamental football, we’ve got to have a good gameplan, we’ve got to execute it, take care of the football, we need to get some takeaways, it’s the same song and dance it always is. So, look, our guys will be ready because it’s the next one, we’re coming out of a bye, on the road, it’s been a while – Arizona was the last time we were on the road, so we’ll be looking forward to this.”
On if they will make a tackle eligible on the first play of the game: “We’re not that far along yet. We don’t have the full gameplan in just yet.”
On how they keep the rhythm of playing well coming off of a bye week: “The emphasis really is still on improving. We have to improve. And it’s really about, ‘Alright, we’ve got to,’ – we did some things on Monday night that were – that’s more what we’re looking for, and so now that’s the floor. How do we continue to play even better than that, how do we clean up some of the things that got us in trouble in that game? It wasn’t all perfect, and so I think you just continue to strive that way and try to be – you’re trying to play a perfect game – sure, (Lions QB Jared) Goff did. You’re trying to coach it, you’re trying to play it knowing it’s not going to happen, but that doesn’t mean you’re not trying to do everything that you can to play as perfect as you can play. So, we’ve got things to clean up, and so it really is, it’s about improving, that’s what you’ve got to do during the week.”
On the strength of the NFC North: “I’m not surprised. I mean, I expected this. I mean, I expect us sitting here in another month and it’s going to look very similar, we’re all in there together. I think it’s going to be one of the toughest divisions. I felt that way going in this year, and so I’m not shocked one bit. We knew it was going to be a competitive division. You don’t want it any other way, really. I think that’s awesome, I think it’s a good thing. And you get to duke it out with some teams that are playing really good football. They’ve got players over there too and they’re getting coached well, and so it’s kind of exciting, honestly.”
On how much last year’s matchup against Dallas strengthened the team’s resolve and cohesion: “Well, I think everything that happens during a season makes you or breaks you, and that was just another one of the things that I felt like happened that we had to overcome, and we grew from, and I do think it helped us. And I would say that about all those – I would say that about Baltimore, I would say it about Chicago on the road, I would say it about Dallas, I would say it about Seattle early in the year, as well as I would say it about the wins. But you learn and grow from all of those, so I do think it was big. And really it was big for what it did the week after that. For us to bounce back, at home, Minnesota, finish the season out, man, I thought we just responded the right way, which I’m not surprised, we got the right guys. I mean, these guys are pros, they understand how to bounce back and how to correct the issues. They don’t go in the tank, they don’t freak out, you just put the work in, clean it up.”
On what the team learned about themselves during the self-scout at the bye week: “Yeah, I’m not going to get into all that. I knew you were going to ask that. We went through all of it with the coaches. I would tell you one, communication on my part. Overall communication, particularly with the staff, is where I can be much better.”
On injury updates for Lions DB Brian Branch and Lions C Frank Ragnow: “Yeah, they were both out there practicing today, so, as of right now, they look good.”
On if there is anything in particular about communication that he wants to improve on: “No.”
On if his ties to Dallas makes this game different: “Look, it’s no secret, growing up in Texas, Dallas was the – you grew up, you’re listening to (Cowboys Play by Play Announcer) Brad Sham out on the radio, out in the middle of nowhere, listening to these games. And so, it was always kind of special in that regard. And then The Triplets, that was my teenage years, growing up in high school, early college, was those guys. So, it’s always kind of had this special aura about it, but that being said, once you get in and you start playing and then you’re playing against them and then you’re coaching against them, that goes away pretty quick because now you’ve got to find a way to win those and you’re on the other side of it all. So, I think it kind of came and went, I guess.”
On if there is any legitimacy to teams having a let-down game after facing Detroit: “I don’t know. I know that’s – I’ve heard that. I don’t know if there’s anything to that. Look, we play a certain style and it’s what we do, and no matter whether we win or lose, we always say, ‘No matter what it is, you’re going to know you were in a dog fight.’ And so, we’re trying to play that way. I don’t know what to say other than that.”
On if there was ever a team he faced as a player or coach where he felt the aftereffects of playing against them: “Well, I think Baltimore back in the day was – I mean, they had those defenses with (former Ravens LB) Ray Lewis, I mean they played a physical style. Their brand of football was relentless and physical and violent and everything they did was that way. I know when you always played those, you knew you were in one of those when you woke up the next day.”
On if he has a potential timeframe for Lions LB Derrick Barnes’s return: “Yeah, I think it’s tough to say right now. I think we will be fortunate to get him at any point this year. I don’t want to say it’s not going to happen, but I think we would be pretty fortunate if it does.”
On if he sensed that the rest of the country hated his team when he played for Dallas: “Yeah, I mean, I think you knew you were looked at a certain way, you were perceived a certain way. But you can’t worry about it. It’s like everything else, those guys have got to line up and go play ball, and that’s what we had to do when we were there.”
On if the hate from Dallas fueled the team when he played for them: “Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think there’s enough that, pretty soon, that’s the world you live in, so you’ve got to adapt to it. Look, those guys have won a lot of games. They’ve won a lot of games for a while now, really. And so, we’re going to get their best. We’re going to go out there – they’re back home, that was a huge win for them, they’ve got plenty of weapons. I know we all know (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Mike Zimmer, I think he’s a hell of a coach, he’s a hell of a defensive coordinator and every week that goes by he is figuring things out, and those guys are playing hard, they’re sound, he’s going to create issues, and we’ve got to be on top of our game, that’s the bottom line. And it’s going to take all three phases, we know that, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
On how the Dallas defense is different this year from last year: “I think a lot of it is more – last year, you’ve got a lot of nickel and a lot of dime, and that was regardless of what you were – you bring in two tight ends for us, 12-personnel, you were getting a lot of those. And then structure of it, so you could get nickel, you get dime, and then you’re getting three-down, you’re getting five-down, you’re getting the four-down, and it was a lot of – they’d move (Cowboys DE Micah Parsons) 11 around, obviously, and so some of it was for confusion, some of it was because of the way the offense is playing, they’re able to pin their ears back and cut it loose. And I think now, it’s a little bit more match-personnel, pretty steady, a lot of things that (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer) Zim has done for years is in there, and a little less chaotic but more sound, if you will, just when you’re watching it from an offense. I’m not saying that what (former Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Dan Quinn and them were doing was not sound, that’s not what I’m saying, it’s just, when you look at it as an offense, it’s a little more sound and structured.”
