LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
October 10, 2024
Opening Statement: “Heck of a job there by the Tigers, that’s fun to watch. Here’s what I’d say, bye week, early in the season, normally we like to do a big dive into who we are, and I think we have a great idea of what our identity is and where we want to go from here. Unfortunately, the sample size is still small after four weeks to truly get some good tendencies on ourselves in what we might want to go a different direction for, but it came at a good time just in terms of the health of our team. Like I think a number of guys have said so far since the Seattle game, it really felt like we’re starting to get more of a rhythm as an offense, which was encouraging to see in that game. So, looking to continue on that momentum.”
On how he fits in a self-scout later into the season: “Every four weeks or so we try to get other parties involved. Analytics, our advance scouts do a number of things just in terms of the other team, but also, they can give us the same data on ourselves, and so we’ve got a lot of people in the building that are working continuously to give us that type of information. And then we try to do our own on a weekly basis, just last four games or so, just where we stand. Run, pass and general tendencies.”
On if he will still get the self-scout he would normally get during the bye week at some point later on: “Yeah, we try to do that every week. Just up to date on where we might be attacked.”
On what the offensive identity is for the team: “We believe that we are an extremely physical, detailed and explosive unit, alright, in general sense. That’s what we want to bring to the table each and every week, we want our physicality to show up. Obviously, the easiest way to do that is in the run game, but we have perimeter players that are going to block down the field, we have players that don’t have the ball in their hands, but they’re finding a way to finish around the football. And so, that’s our definition of finishing and being a physical team. I think when you watch us on tape, you see a deliberateness in our guys and where they get lined up, the depths of their routes, the execution, the fundamentals, that’s the detail part of it. And then, so far this year, we’ve been fairly explosive in both the run game and the passing game. I know our numbers dipped because we had the bye week, just relative to the League, but prior to the bye week we were top 10 in regards to explosives. So, hopefully when teams turn on the tape, that’s what they’re seeing. Physical, detailed and explosive.”
On the reasoning for Lions QB Jared Goff’s recent successful stretch throwing the football: “Yeah, I mean, he downloads the gameplan and looks to go out there and execute it. I mean, shoot, you can look at that Seattle game and there’s some not-so-great play-calls and we’ve got some guys making things right. That was my big point to the until last week before we went on break was, we had a couple explosive plays where I wish I had sent the protection a different direction and cleaned the picture up for them, but he was able to buy some time – I think it was the first catch there to (Lions WR) Tim Patrick was not ideal, but they both made it work and it ended up being a 20-something-yard gain. So, when he’s – he knows exactly what we’re looking for, he knows what the bad looks are too. He knows why each play is being called and the premier look for that play, but he also knows what could give us some issues, and so just his general awareness of how to make things right now when I’m not timing things up quite right – it’s been really impressive. And so, we’re getting into our own rhythm, just our week to week, what does a Tuesday look like as we’re starting into the week, a Wednesday, Thursday, and he and I like to close the door in the early evenings and just make sure we’re squared away. And so, I think we’re getting into a nice groove between the two of us as well.”
On if Lions QB Jared Goff being close to an NFL record for consecutive completions impacts the gameplan for this game: “Not even on my thought process, no. We’re playing ball.”
On what makes Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defenses do so well on third down: “Yeah, I mean, he finds exactly what you’re trying to do in protection and knows how to attack it. He’s been doing it for so long now and he’s really the godfather here of this Double A-gap, and he’s evolved it over the years as well, and he seems to always find a way, each week, to get an unblocked guy on the quarterback. And that’s really what he fancies himself doing and I think he does a great job of it. And so, those guys – I think what you’ve seen with this Dallas defense is growth through five weeks. Whatever the numbers say, throw them out the window. The last two weeks, they’ve been playing great football. If you just look at those last two weeks, both in a yardage perspective, shutting down the run game, third downs, red zone, they’re playing really good defense, it doesn’t matter who’s out there for them. (Cowboys DE Micah) Parsons, (Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence) 90, it doesn’t matter who’s out there, they’re out there, they’re playing hard, they’re playing for each other. They’ve got some tone-setters over there, I’ve got a lot of respect for their safeties, I’ve got a lot of respect for this young linebacker, (Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown) 13, he’ll go running around and hit you in the mouth. And so, we’ve got to rise up to the enthusiasm with which they play ball and we’ve got to match that here this week.”
On how much more important Dallas’ rush defense makes Lions C Frank Ragnow’s return: “Yeah, he certainly – he’s got a lot of experience against this type of scheme. Before I even was here, he was going against (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike) Zimmer’s defense, so he knows what issues that particular scheme can bring up. It’s interesting, year one for them in this scheme, how much is going to dive back into his Minnesota years, but that’s where we have a little bit of familiarity with him, particularly with Frank because he’s been able to see all of this. And so, he knows exactly what we want to do.”
On how much he thinks of how his decision to stay in Detroit impacted the Cowboys organization: “No, I mean, everything kind of cycles through here in the NFL. Every year there’s job openings and guys take them, guys get fired. I mean, that’s the name of the game. I know the name on my coordinator office right now, that’s not permanent, that’s going to come down at some point. We know that, we get into it, it is musical chairs to a degree. But, like I said, I think they’re doing a great job out there with a different scheme, he’s getting those guys to play hard. (Cowboys Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs Coach) Al Harris, their DBs coach, he’s been there for a long time, and I believe he’s got that secondary – in the last three years they have the most interceptions in the League. And so, there is some continuity there on the back end at least with that defense, and you can see it with their players and their style of play.”
On if he sees Lions WR Tim Patrick’s comfort level growing: “Yeah, no question. Something I mentioned to (Lions Head) Coach (Dan) Campbell at the end of training camp there was, as we were looking to add to that room is, it’s not easy to digest what we do in a short period of time, and his experience and his professionalism has allowed him to go out there and play at a high level despite – he probably doesn’t feel comfortable yet. I really don’t think he does, but it’s coming and it’s – like I said, I would’ve thought we would’ve seen more mental errors up to this point, but that’s a credit to him with what he’s been able to accomplish in a short period of time.”
On if he agrees with what Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell said last week about Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs being primed for a breakaway run: “Yeah, I think we’ve got him up on a safety a couple of times and I know he always is – if he can’t break that tackle. But our guys are doing a great job up front, O-line, tight ends, of covering guys up and I think what you see with our skill group, I’m talking about our receivers, I don’t know if there’s another group in the NFL that blocks like they do down the field. And so, it’s probably Coach’s confidence not in Gibbs and what he can do, but it’s also what our unit’s been putting on tape so far that, yeah, it’s just a matter of time before he breaks some big ones out.”
On if the blocking from the receivers is a coaching point or if the players are just wired that way: “I think it’s a combination of both. I think (Lions Wide Receivers) Coach (Antwaan) Randle El does a phenomenal job in instilling that in those guys and when your lead dog (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, does what he does, everyone follows suit in that room. And so, I think we have a lot of guys that are willing, a lot of guys that are unselfish, and it’s a combination of Saint and Randle El leading the charge there.”
On how much time he is spending trying to manufacture plays for Lions WR Jameson Williams because of his explosiveness in the open field: “Yeah, I mean, it’s – the best thing we have going right now is, we have so many weapons. He’s not the only one, so it’s hard for a defense to come out and say, ‘Hey, we just want to shut this one guy down.’ I don’t know that they can do that with how we distribute the ball. So, I think the easiest thing for teams, with his speed, would be to cloud his side, which we think about in everything that we do. So, we’ll continue to have plays up for him when he’s primary and there’s plenty of times when he’s not primary where we get back to him within the progression as well. But we haven’t changed, necessarily, our approach to that yet.”
On if he has ever seen a block like Lions T Taylor Decker’s on Lions RB David Montgomery’s 40-yard reception versus Seattle: “Yeah, I’m telling you that – you talk about our poor third quarters, when you have a play like that to start off our third quarter, you know we’re just going to start rolling from there. I mean, from D-Mo to Decker to the skill guys blocking down the field, that was really impressive.”
On how his family is doing in the midst of the hurricanes impacting the South: “Family’s OK. A lot of death and destruction down there, as you guys are well aware. Fortunately, immediate family has been fine, but I have a lot of people that I grew up with that lost family members, that lost homes and lost their businesses. So, it’s tough down there, but that group of people, they’re resilient and I know they’ll bounce back. But, certainly, have been thinking about that a lot.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
October 10, 2024
Opening Statement: “Obviously, every coach in the NFL hates an early bye week, but we had it. And being able to do self-scout is always tough after four games, but there are some things that you can pick up on and as a staff we do everything we can to try to see, ‘What are the positives, what are the negatives, what are things that I can do better to help put our players in position to be successful, what are calls – new calls, we want to bring into our system?’ And things like that. And I think one of the things that really showed up, obviously, the penalties that we have. But, man, that is a double-edged sword, also, because, along with that, I think we’re like second or third in the League as far as pass breakups, so that’s something that we’ve emphasized and I’ve wanted here for a long time. And I know a lot of times that can be back and forth because now, when you’re not challenging, then you’re playing too soft, when you are challenging, you’re getting those. So, the thing is, I’m going to ride with the fact that our guys are out there challenging and we’re going to continue to do what we do. Now, we’re going to get better at these penalties also, and our guys know that, and we’re going to continue to emphasize that. Another thing that stands out is, man, I think our two safeties are doing a really good job. I think our coaches are doing a really good job of understanding exactly how we want to operate with those guys, the different positions that (Lions DB Brian Branch) BB’s playing, the way (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph) has improved, and (Lions Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach) Deshea (Townsend) and (Lions Defensive Assistant) Jim O’Neil have done a good job of understanding exactly how I want those guys to play and making sure they coach those guys up that way. Also, our pressures are up there as far as the League is concerned, and a lot of that has to do with (Lions DL) Aidan (Hutchinson) and, listen, we don’t have to talk about that, you guys know how I feel about Aidan, and he knows exactly what we expect of him, and we’ll move forward with that. But, other than that, I think statistically there’s a lot of things that we’re doing a really good job of, but there are some things that we want to improve on also.”
On if avoiding penalties is something that the team practices: “Absolutely, and I think we’re one of the – and I don’t know how other teams practice, but we still do one-on-ones in practice, receivers and DBs, D-line and O-line, linebackers, tight ends and running backs. And when you’re in those situations, and you’re in a tussle match, where are your hands at? There’s a lot of things that we have to – and a lot of that comes from guys in college, because you’re able to do that when you’re in college, so that’s one of the things that (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA is doing a really good job of, of trying to work on those things. And we worked on it our first day in practice when we came back and we’re going to continue to work on those things.”
On if he has ever made defensive backs wear oven mitts in practice: “Listen, I was a part of that – golly, when was it? I forgot when it was, but you don’t play with oven mitts on, so I don’t want to put oven mitts on guys.”
On if he had to put oven mitts on during practice when he played under Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer: “It probably was. Zim’s my guy, so he probably made me do that.”
On Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer: “Listen, he is a – I love the man as a coach, and one of the reasons why I love him, because he’s demanding, he’s up front, but he cares. And it’s somewhat similar to (former Head Coach Bill) Belichick, even though he’s demanding and up front, he has a side to him that’s pretty funny and sometimes guys don’t understand that. But I’ve had both of those guys and I love both of those guys.”
On the play of the linebackers that have filled a big loss with Lions LB Derrick Barnes on Reserve/Injured: “Absolutely, listen. We’ve had two huge losses on our defense, that’s with (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport and with Barnes, but listen, we make no excuses about that. We continue to play because no one cares. No one cares, and for us, other guys have to step up, and against Seattle, (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) had to do that job for the most part. He did a good job with that, and then we have (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske that’s coming in, that’s playing the SAM, I’m glad we got him back because he’s a good body type and he can run. But we’re going to continue to put people in those positions, see the best matchup for us. But yes, it truly, to me – losing Barnes was huge. But, again, we have guys that are going to continue to work at that, and I think they’ll do a good job for us.”
On what it says about Lions LB Alex Anzalone that he can fill in at the SAM linebacker position: “Well, listen, I’ve said this about that room several times, the versatility that room has. And listen, I have no issue with bringing (Lions LB) Malcolm (Rodriguez) in and him being a starter for us, and that’s what actually happened in that situation, so Alex being able to move out and play that job, I mean, that’s who Alex is. He’s always been that. Even in New Orleans he did that, he played a number of different positions. He’s going to continue to do that for us, so any time there’s any issues that go on with the linebacker room, listen, we have five guys that can go out there and play at the drop of a hat, and we’re going to continue to look at it that way.”
On if there is anything that can be said about a player like Lions DL Josh Paschal who can disrupt the flow of the offense when he gets more snaps: “Well, that’s something that I talked about when (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport went down, that he’s going to have to step up. And I expect more from that player, also, and he’s expecting more from himself. And yes, he did a really good job against Seattle, but the thing is, we have to consistently be able to do that, week in and week out. So, I’m looking forward to seeing how he’s going to come out this week, and I know he’s going to do a good job. He’s practicing his butt off, he’s learning a lot from (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, and those guys are spending a lot of time together on how they want to operate and how they want to rush the passer.”
On if a player like Lions LB Trevor Nowaske having an impact with limited snaps makes him want to find more snaps for him: “Well, we don’t want to put him in the (former LB) Lawrence Taylor role just yet. That was just one game. The thing is, yes, he does open our eyes on some things that he can do, but we’ve been knowing Nowaske since he’s been here. We know what he brings to the table. We hated to lose him the first time, but we’re glad we got him back. So, we’re going to continue to try to up his role and try to help him be the player that we know that he can be. But again, we want to make sure we take that slowly and not try to just put him in that role I was just talking about, as far as Lawrence Taylor’s concerned.”
On how long it takes for a player like Lions LB Trevor Nowaske to get acclimated to his job at the NFL level from college: “Yeah, I mean, obviously that’s a transition. You see the same thing with (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA, but football is football, and those guys know football. The thing is, what are we asking them to do and how they’re doing it. That’s the transition for the most part. And then, understanding exactly how the League officiates when it comes to a ref’s perspective. But, to me, at the end of the day, it is football, and we try to get our guys to understand that. Don’t take this more than what it is, play football like you’ve always done, since you were maybe six or seven years old. Go out there, enjoy what you’re doing and play fast and play physical.”
On what jumps out about Dallas as he prepares for them: “This quarterback is pretty good now. He’s pretty good, this receiver’s pretty good. Listen, I think they’ve done a good job with the personnel that they’ve had, and they’ve lost some guys too. So, again – and I’m sure they feel the same way I do – no excuses, just go out there and execute. But we know that we have to pay close attention to the tight end, also, (Cowboys TE Jake) Ferguson, I think he’s doing a really good job and people don’t really talk about that player. I think he’s physical, I think he’s tough. You watch him on these seam balls, he does a good job of contorting his body and going up and catching the ball. So, this is not going to be an easy out, we know that. Every time we play Dallas it’s going to be a dogfight, and we’re ready for it.”
On what it is about Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb that makes him so hard to defend: “Body control, patience. When some people feel like you have to be in a rush to do things, he seems like he is very patient as far as trying to get open. You can tell him and (Cowboys QB) Dak (Prescott) have a rapport with each other, that they understand each other, and Dak understands how he’s going to release off the ball and things like that. So, it’s going to be a challenge for us, but again, our corners, they’re ready for it.”
On if facing a receiver like Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb who plays a lot of snaps from the slot causes a defense to go all out in defending him: “It’s all hand on deck no matter what – we’ve got to understand where that player is at all times, and all the cover guys have to understand that. Sometimes you double him, sometimes you’re going to be by yourself. But to me, it’s more of the challenge aspect. Man, we want to look at these guys like they’re a nameless face and let’s go play, and our guys will do a good job of that.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
October 10, 2024
On if the 67 percent touchback rate is what he thought it would be: “Yeah, I think, I don’t know, I think everyone kind of has a different feel, opinion, everyone’s feeling it out. I think the touchback rate’s probably gone up each week, so as teams figure out more and more, maybe there’s less returns. I still think it’s a valuable play. There’s teams that are covering kicks, some more than others. Again, the whole thing really comes back to the risk and the reward, and the play’s a volatile play and we’ve seen that and teams that have gotten hit on the play obviously get nervous about it. In our last game out, we had that post-safety situation where we were kicking off at the 20 and they returned the ball and they got out around our left side, now there’s a holding call out there, but it still shows some of the volatility of the play.”
On the Cowboys allowing more returns on kickoffs: “Yeah, they kick a bunch of balls. Their kicker does a good job, and I think that factors into the decision too, is your kicker and the balls he can hit. He kicks a low-trajectory ball, he can spray it around both left and right, so that challenges the return group a little bit more. They kind of invite you into that right at the goal line, are you backing up, catching it, you’re hitting it downhill. If you’re backing up, the coverage group’s getting a little bit of a head start, so now instead of the 29.4-yard line on average, maybe that gives them four more yards, now they’re looking at a closer 25-yard line to start it out, so maybe they think that’s an advantage for them. I think there’s a lot of different theories still floating around. I think by the end of the year everyone will kind of narrow it down and get more on the same page, but we’re excited to play these guys for sure. I’ve gone against Dallas for a long time and it’s always fun playing there in their place against a good team. We respect them quite a bit. They play special teams the right way and our group’s ready to go too, so it should be a great matchup.”
On if they do anything different on field goals when facing Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey: “No, you just try to apply pressure to him, force him to execute efficiently and protect it the right way and make the guy kick on time and make him kick a certain trajectory ball, and you put as much pressure on him as you can for him to execute and then ultimately if they go out there and execute like they’ve done a good job of, he’s done a good job of, he ends up making a lot of kicks.”
On why they did not have Lions WR Jameson Williams return the Seahawks long field goal: “Yeah that’s a good question. Really what happened to us on the play, there wasn’t a time out so it was a running clock, and so we sent out the field goal group, we knew we were going to have the returner back there and so part of that plan is a guy who’s our call side corner, which is (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey, who also is a returner, we put him back there deep. But then I was looking around, I actually tried to get (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf, and I didn’t see him right next to me. Then at that point, it’s like, ‘OK well we’re not going to push him up five yards with a penalty or something like that, so let’s just go out there with that group.’ The truth is, yeah, we should have had someone better back there. I could have done better with that for sure. It can be Leaf, it can be Jamo, it can be (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs, any one of those guys would be a good option, but yeah. And I think highly of Dorsey and think he can do a good job too, so it’s not like I felt like we had somebody back there that I didn’t believe in. But there was probably other options too. Had we had time, more time, to get the right guy, but the offense is all the way down on the far side of the bench, to me the last thing is give them five yards and a better shot at making the kick.”
On the return set up for the Seahawks long field goal: “Yeah, it was pretty good. We just didn’t get back to that left side. We had a big wall and a bunch of people over there and then we kind of got cut off and didn’t quite get out there to that left hand side.”
On if players are excited to play a field goal that they have a chance to return: “Yeah, and you don’t really know. If the guy hits a good ball, he probably has enough distance on it and gets it out of there. We had pretty good pressure on the inside of it, which if he hit a low ball, it might have gotten blocked. So that forced him to hit a little bit higher ball, or he hit a little higher ball, and it didn’t quite get there. Obviously, it’s fun when you get a chance to make a play like that. I wish we had done better at it. I wish I would have coached it better.”
On how much they talk about the sun glare and the effect for the Cowboys game: “Yeah, you obviously look into all that. For me, I was in Philly for eight years, so we went there eight times during that time, then I’ve been there a couple times here, so I’ve been in there a lot and seen the sun and the effects of all that. Obviously, it comes down there low. At the end of the day, both teams have to play with it. If it happens in between quarters, you got it one way and you got it the other way in the next quarter, so you have a little bit of both too. But bottom line is, concentrate on the football and do your job. An old coach told me, Homer Smith, incredible coach, been around college football for a long time, obviously he’s passed away, but he used to say, ‘The sun’s been there for a million years, it’s not going anywhere so you better just learn how to deal with it.’”
On if the sun glare plays into their strategy in the second quarter depending on where they are: “I think there’s some of that. I think the punt is different than the kickoff. The punt’s a little bit higher so it gets above that sunlight a little bit. That sun is coming in at a low angle, but the kickoff, when they hit the low-trajectory ball like they do, that has a chance to be a little bit more of a factor. Like I said, you can time it up, but if it happens right in between quarters, then half the quarter you’re going to get it one way, half the other. Or the next quarter you’re going to get it. One quarter you get it one way, the next quarter you get it the opposite, so if it is in that range there.”
On if Cowboys WR KaVontae Turpin is as dangerous as it gets: “Yeah, he’s a great player. He’s competitive, he’s obviously quick, elusive, he’s got a great feel for setting coverage, pushing guys, moving blockers, and moving coverage guys also helping set up his blockers. He’s a great player, we have a lot of respect for him, we’re looking forward to going against him. It’ll be a good opportunity for us.”
On if Lions RB Sione Vaki is delivering on his expectations as a special teams player: “Yeah, I think Vaki’s done a great job for us. He’s got a good skillset. Obviously, his college experience probably helps. He was a defensive player and an offensive player in college, so he can play coverage aspects on special teams and return. He obviously has the catch for us on the fake, that’s a big play there. He’s done a good job in protection on punt, and really on all four phases I feel like he’s done a good job, I think. Whatever he’s got to continue to improve, all of us do, myself included, but I think he’ll continue to get better and better and better.”
On if no longer having a kicker on the practice squad means he has full confidence in Lions K Jake Bates: “I don’t see it that way, but I had confidence in him the whole time and I think it was just more a matter of, we need some other guys, we brought in some outside linebackers, defensive ends. It was more a matter of that than it is the kicker situation, so I don’t see it any differently. I’ve felt the same way all year.”
On if Lions K Jake Bates’ make on a 48-yard extra point said something to him: “Yeah, I think it was a good opportunity for him. But, I think for me the biggest thing is, I’ll say the same thing I said kind of at the beginning of the year, is I have a large volume of data on him from his kicks in practice and that really tells me more than any one kick in any one game. And that’s the problem. There’s the so much focus put on just one kick and one game, but it’s like if the whole body of work is trending one way, he’s probably going to trend that way in games also. I said that last year when we were talking about (Lions K Michael) Badgley and Riley (Patterson) and all that. But, yeah, it’s definitely good, it’s encouraging. Obviously, there’s nothing like being out there in the moment in a big game. The Kansas City game in the preseason, he hits the kick at the end of that, those all count for something, but I feel like the way you practice is the way you’re going to trend in the games and the larger the sample size you have, the more information you really have.”
On the biggest improvement in Lions K Jake Bates from the start of training camp to now: “Yeah, for Bates I think honestly the biggest thing for him is he really had – it’s well documented he wasn’t the kicker in college and all that. I mean, he kicked, but he wasn’t the guy all the time. He just didn’t have a lot of reps, so you have a young player who doesn’t have a ton of reps, has a tremendous skillset and talent and upside, and so really, it’s building a volume of repetition and it certainly helps when he’s got some really good players around him. I mean, (Lions LS) Hogan (Hatten)’s doing a great job snapping those snaps, that really helps him out. (Lions P Jack) Fox is doing a great job getting the ball down. But for the three of those guys, the more reps they can get, the better he’s going to be. He’s just going to keep on getting better and better throughout the course of the year, and that’s not to say – he’s going to have a miss here or there, that’s coming for sure, but ultimately, I’ve seen improvement already from his charting preseason stuff and then since the season began and the direction that charting’s going has been steady improvement. The biggest challenge with that is you just can’t kick a guy a million reps because it wears the leg out or it will injure him. So, you have to balance him right now a lot of volume and getting a lot of reps and experience, but also not wearing the guy out and making sure he’s fresh and ready to go.”
On Lions K Jake Bates and Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey not having a lot of experience prior to the NFL and if it opens his eyes to what is possible for other players: “I think definitely. Even watching Aubrey helps me have confidence with Bates, a guy who hasn’t had as many kicks as somebody else for sure. The bottom line is these guys are talented guys. They’re definitely ball strikers before, they’re playing soccer, they’re doing a lot of other sports. They’re not just a high school kicker who’s done it his whole life. These guys are good athletes, they’re good players, they’re super talented, and I think those guys have a – they can get better, and they can improve. And it doesn’t hurt – when you come into this League, the quality of players around you really helps out. Then I think I said to you guys maybe a couple years ago now, I talked about the hash from college to the NFL. The hash is narrower than the NFL which makes every kick a straighter kick. In college when you’re kicking with the ball on the five-yard line, it’s a hard angle to get that thing in there. So, for me, when you’re kicking in the National Football League, it’s really the same kick darn near every single time. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the left hash, the right hash, if the balls on the 30-yard line or the balls on the five-yard line, you’re darn near hitting a straight bullet every single time, where in college, I think you are having to hit a hard angle kick from the left hash, hard angle kick from the right hash, and now you’re adding a bunch of different kicks. I think in college that helps those guys who can move the ball around a little bit more. In the NFL, it really helps those guys with that big leg who can hit a straighter ball be better.”
On if there has ever been talk of changing the hashes for field goals in college: “I have no idea. I coached college for 10 years, I loved it more than anything in the world. I never thought I would coach in the NFL, I really never had any interest in it to be honest with you. Then I got an opportunity to work in this League, now I think it’s the best thing ever, but yeah, I don’t know.”
