LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
November 14, 2024
Opening Statement: “How about that defense and special teams? They’re both cooking right now. Obviously that game last week, we didn’t start the way we wanted to. The first half was some of the poorest football we’ve probably played in the last two-and-a-half years and fortunately at halftime we got our act together. I know we still had a couple of turnovers there in the second half, but our guys are playing harder and certainly, in the fourth quarter we did what we needed to do to win that football game. That was good to see, it was a different type of game. We hadn’t seen that from the 2024 Detroit Lions yet, that much adversity, particularly early in a game and to be able to overcome that was pretty promising for what could unfold down the road here.”
On how they combat an opponent that is amped up in a primetime environment on defense: “I feel like we typically get the opponent’s best shot each and every week right now. That’s something we learned in training camp, we talked about it as a unit that when we faced the Giants, we didn’t have maybe our best two days in a row there, and so we learned early on that when you come in with that high expectations, there’s a little bit of a target on your back and everyone’s going to give you their best. So, that certainly happened on Sunday night, primetime game like you said, and that’s what that defense is really known for as well. It’s not a complex scheme necessarily, but they do, they bring it. They showed it on tape, I said it, they’re a fast, aggressive, physical unit and they brought that to us there early in the game. There are some things schematically that we were hoping to do to slow them down, and probably didn’t work as well as we had hoped there. But we found our footing there at halftime and am really proud of how the guys came out at halftime and responded.”
On if the Texans game was one of Lions WR Jameson Williams’ better games and if he was impressed with his ball handling: “Right we absolutely needed him. The one third down early in the game was – (Lions QB) Jared (Goff) said he put it behind him just a little bit and he was able to come down with that ball and extend that drive. And then in the fourth quarter there, you saw the one where – I don’t know if I’ve seen him make that catch even in practice over the last two-and-a-half years. So, that was certainly encouraging to see. He’s really coming on and showing up. When you challenge him on the sidelines, he typically responds in a positive way and we knew, particularly with the turnovers, our margin for error had gone down, so he needed to make that play for us at that time and he did. But the level of confidence in him and his hands and his detail continues to rise.”
On what he learned about Lions QB Jared Goff’s ability to bounce back in the second half of the Texans game: “It’s really been the same guy though. I spend probably the most time with him than any other player on the roster, so I’ve gotten to know him really well. He’s had his lumps over the years, and this was another one where it was just a little stumble and block, and he handled it as well as you possibly could imagine. I mean, on the sideline, we’re talking through what he’s seeing and he’s seeing it all great and as much as I can, I’m trying to reassure him, it’s on me as much as anything else because what we saw on tape and what we said was going to happen didn’t quite turn out the way that we wanted. So, just telling him that I’m as responsible as he is for those interceptions and he certainly showed up there, like I said, in the fourth quarter, he came out and was still firing that ball. A lot of guys would clam up and be afraid to make a mistake and he did not do that.”
On if they have more to process this week in terms of how to improve offensively and his approach to it: “I think it’s business as usual. We have a process that we trust, and we feel good about how we approach each and every week. In general, I would say not just that game, but the last three weeks there are things that we haven’t been consistent enough with going back to the Tennessee game. I know we scored 50-something points, but that was more gifted to us I feel like more than us pulling our own weight. Same thing with Green Bay, we played half a game really well and we didn’t finish the second half the way we were capable of. And then certainly last week we didn’t start the game like we wanted to. We just – we’re still fighting to play 60 minutes of consistent football like we’re capable of and we’ve shown flashes that we can be a dominant unit when we’re all executing at a high level and we believe in what we’re doing, but we just need to put it together again. That’s all.”
On if the offense can feel the energy when the defense is doing so well in a game: “There’s no question. It’s year 13, I say this all the time, best defense I’ve ever been around. It is a comforting thought knowing that we are putting them in some tough spots at times and they’re just powering through. They don’t blink an eye. Turnover, poor field position, a three-and-out by us, they go out there and they just get us the ball right back right away. It’s a very comforting thought and the challenge for us as an offense right now is to pull our weight because we feel like those two other units are doing it on their side of the ball right now.”
On the team’s ability to have a different unit pull the weight each week: “Yeah, that’s what good teams do and that’s shown up so far this year is when one unit is not playing up to snuff, then the other one’s pulling them right along. So, that’s why we’re 8-1 right now to be quite frank with you and that’s a good thing. That’s what teams that win in the tournament do.”
On how working with Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn and learning the defense has helped shape his offensive scheme: “It feels like every year in springtime in camp, they’ve shifted philosophies a little bit, over the last three years and a natural evolution of who he has on their side of the ball, you can kind of tell early on in camp that they were going to be really potent this year. And schematically, I think it’s probably less in general first and second down and even third down, it’s more the minutiae of situational football that you learn more from each other than anything else. We sit in these game management meetings with (Lions Head) Coach (Dan) Campbell almost every week and see things from around the League that are going on and we can kind of spitball back and – ‘Hey, what would we do if we were in this two-minute drill with this situation? AG, what would you be thinking with your call? Ben, what would you be thinking with your call?’ So, there’s a lot of banter back and forth and I think that’s really how you grow as a coach, is get put in those type of spots that if you’re not challenging yourself and asking yourself those tough questions that you wouldn’t normally get to.”
On Lions T Dan Skipper’s performance against the Texans: “Up and down at times, but he fought his butt off just like we knew he would. There were a couple of times that he got edged and in the run game maybe didn’t get to his responsibility, but overall was not unpleased with how he played. Up front, it kind of shifted around to whether it was the pass protection or the run game, what little piece was off. (Lions T) Penei (Sewell) didn’t play his best half there in the first half, a couple times in pass pro, I know (Lions OL) Graham (Glasgow) got got on one of the third downs, so it was kind of all over the place there and then they came together and played well there in the second half.”
On challenging Lions WR Jameson Williams on the sidelines: “The one that, I think it was the last interception that we threw up, he came to me and was like, ‘Hey was my angle right?’ I was like ‘No, it wasn’t right, it’s not what we had talked about. But the ball’s going to come to you in the fourth quarter here and we need you to make a play.’ And he responded to that call just like that. I think that happens within practice, it happens in the meeting room, and it certainly happened on game day last week for us.”
On if he sees anything different in Jacksonville’s defense recently than at the beginning of the season: “Yeah, I think you’re seeing the coverage start to tighten up. This is an aggressive, press defense, whether they’re in single-high or two-high. They like to get up in your grill and challenge. They had some coverage breakdowns early in the year, you probably saw in the Miami game. Miami got half of their yardage off of two plays. So, they’ve given up some explosives, they limited that to a larger degree last week, and they played good red zone defense and held them to a field goal. So, talented, talented unit. I have a lot of respect for their defensive coordinator, good scheme, coaches them hard, and they have talent at all three levels all across the board. So, you have to take the rankings with a little bit of a grain of salt because if you fall asleep on a team like this, they’ll come out and embarrass you in a hurry.”
On if Lions C Frank Ragnow is playing better due to his health or if there is something else to attribute it to: “Yeah, I think he probably feels good, I don’t know you’d have to ask him that one. Probably as good as you could feel midseason right now, but he’s mastered everything we’ve thrown at him mentally in terms of identification. He’s a quarterback of the offensive line, of the blocking unit for sure, and I think there’s a comfort level to go with that. I agree with you, he’s playing some of his best ball of his career right now. Won the game ball last week as a result of that.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
November 14, 2024
Opening Statement: “This was a critical, critical win for our team for a number of different reasons. To be able to go to Houston against an opponent that we highly respected, that’s been making a lot of noise around this League. From last year going to this year, to be down by the number of points that we were down, to come back after halftime and see our team fight, be resilient, and always have the confidence – and this is something I spoke about to you guys last week – to have the confidence that we can win under any circumstances was outstanding. I give a lot of credit to the players and how they operated through that whole situation and the trust and belief in what we were doing was shown throughout the game. There’s a number of guys that stand out in that game, but the one guy that stood out more to me than anybody, and this is going to sound a little funny with me saying this, is our quarterback. For him to go through what he did and to be able to take this team under his wing and drive the ball and score the touchdown that we needed and make the critical plays that we needed to give us a chance to win that game was outstanding. He didn’t blink and that’s the one thing that showed up more than anything is the leadership, the toughness, the ability to take a team on his back and go win a game was outstanding to see. So, a lot of kudos to our quarterback. Other defensive players that stood out, (Lions DL Josh) Paschal had an outstanding game, he’s steady growing in his role and he did some really good things in the run and pass game. (Lions DL) James Houston showed some promise in things that he did, and I’m talking about the role players that we expect to come out and do some things, and he’s going to continue to improve and that was good to see him, not just in a pass rush perspective, but the way that he played the run also was really good. Listen, we are on to another opponent, an opponent that has a ton of talent on both sides of the ball and we have a lot of respect for them because we know what they can do, and we just look at the players that they have and the way – you watch the Philly game – the way that they were 22 to nothing, then boom, they got 16 points right then to come back shows what they have. And I’m talking offensively now, they can get themselves back in the game. So, we’re grinding through what they do on tape and this is going to be a big week for us as a defense to make sure that we are on top of our gameplan to make sure that we go out there and do the things that we need to do.”
On the area in the defense that he wants to tighten up in the second half of the season: “Listen, our guys have done a good job of understanding the gameplan from an overall perspective of, this is how we want to defend the run, this is how we want to defend the pass, and then taking a lot of things or stats that we really don’t care about and understanding what we do care about. So, for example, our DBs, they hate the fact that they gave up 240 yards. But when you look at the things behind that, what’s the completion percentage? What’s the quarterback rating? Those are the things that are most important, and they’ve grown in understanding that. And the things that we have to tighten up, I want to get right back to where we were when it comes to our run defense, and we started that against Houston which was really good to see. Listen, our corners are doing a hell of a job understanding what their role is in this defense and they’re going to continue to do that. They have a ways to go when it comes to the improvement factor in that, and I’m looking forward to that. Same with our two young safeties. But overall, to answer your question, just to solidify the run defense a lot better than what we’ve done early in the season. Not saying that we’ve done a bad job, but I expect a lot more from us.”
On how much he is looking forward to Lions DL Za’Darius Smith playing on Sunday and what he can bring to the defense: “He’s a vet, looking forward to getting him out there, have a number of things that we want to do with him, but just going through the walkthrough with him, you can tell how excited he is to be a part of this organization. And listen, we’re throwing some things at him and he’s not going to pick everything up right away, but there are some situations that we want to make sure that he’s on the field to utilize his ability to rush the passer and his ability to play the run. In our mind, we have some things for him, we’re not going to try to overload him, but we’re going to push as much on him as we can to get him out there to go play for us.”
On the growth of Lions DL Alim McNeill since Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson’s injury: “It doesn’t surprise me at all. I expect those things from him. For a defensive lineman, sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve for doing the dirty work, and he’s been doing that for a while. And I will say this, that’s the reason why (Lions LB) Jack Campbell has improved with him and (Lions DL) DJ Reader because a lot of those guys – a lot of those times, they’re not getting blocked by anybody because of what those guys do and within our defense, especially when we’re playing on light box, we expect our D-linemen to take two so our linebackers can run, and those guys are two of the best in the League at doing that. And then his ability to rush the passer is starting to show up a little bit. He’s always had that ability because of his talent but you can tell right now that part of his game is really starting to get an uptick and the tools in his toolbox, he’s starting to utilize a lot more.”
On Lions DL Za’Darius Smith coaching on the sidelines of the Texans game: “That’s who he is. This team, we want guys to be themselves, we’re as authentic as can be and that’s who he’s always been. When just talking to people that’s been around him, highly energetic, loves the game, and loves to make sure he implores what he knows to the younger guys, and you really saw that with (Lions DL Josh) Paschal for the most part. And I’ll tell you what, you can see Paschal using some of his tricks to go out there and be successful and it shows why Paschal had a really good game too. The thing is, he’s still a growing player too, so it’s good to have that player with us.”
On the ‘Seatbelt Gang’ t-shirt he is wearing: “This is an old shirt. I think (former Lions DB) Jerry (Jacobs) gave me this shirt back in the day. Listen, you guys know I’m not really a clothes guy. Listen, my wife and daughter do a good job of really picking out my attire and if it’s there folded up on the chair, I’m putting it on. So, it was there, and I put it on. But yeah, I think Jerry gave me this a while ago.”
On if Lions DL James Houston has turned a corner: “I don’t want to say turned the corner, but I will say that you saw the improvement and I think he got the message of what the expectations of him needs to be and that has to be on a week-to-week basis. And again, like I said, the pass rush, I knew that was going to be there. The way he played the run in this game, that’s what I was excited about for that player because now it’s just going to give him the confidence to go out and do all the things that we know he can do at a better rate.”
On if Lions DL Josh Paschal’s increase in workload has helped him develop quicker: “I think we all know, it seems like every year he had this injury that kind of set him back from really developing. I think that with the addition of (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport, I think with the addition of (Lions DL Za’Darius Smith) Z, I always thought with (Lions DL) Aidan (Hutchinson), helped him become the player that he is because what he’s done, he’s starting to understand, ‘This is who I am. I’m not Aidan, I’m not Davenport, I’m Paschal and here’s what my strong points are.’ And that’s a beautiful thing to see when a player starts to recognize, ‘Here’s who I am and here’s what I’m good at and I’m going to do that the best I can be and I’m continuing to learn the other things that I want to continue to improve on.’ He’s starting to do that.”
On what he has learned from the past coaches that he played for that he uses in his coaching philosophy: “I think the number one thing is be yourself and I think that’s one thing that I learned as a player from a coach. Don’t try to be somebody else, be yourself. Whoever that may be because players know a fake when they see one and when you try to fake your way through this business, you get yourself put out of this business really quick because then the respect factor is gone. And when it comes to leadership, leadership to me comes down to one word and that’s influence. How are you influencing the players? How are you influencing the coaches that are around you? Leadership is not me sitting up in front of the players giving this rah-rah speech. They’ve heard that before. It’s how I’m influencing those guys, so those are the things that I take.”
On if there is a direct line from defenses that he played for to his defense now: “Schematically? Absolutely. I was with (former Jets Head Coach) Rex Ryan when I was with the Jets there as a scout, and then going to Cleveland, (Vikings Assistant Head Coach/Outside Linebackers) Mike Pettine was on the Rex Ryan tree, so there’s a lot of things that I do, especially on third down, that comes from the Rex Ryan tree. And then being in New Orleans for the six years I was there, there was a number of concepts that we use there, and a lot of that comes from (former Saints Head Coach) Dennis Allen, (DC Defenders Defensive Coordinator) Gregg Williams, that tree right there, and I’ve just put those things together and tried to build my own.”
On if he feels like he is a better defensive coordinator now than he was in 2021: “That was a question that was asked last week if I can recall, and being able to understand offensive coordinators has helped me a ton. And I spent a lot of time throughout the years, since 2021, going to visit offensive coordinators and just talking to them on how they see the game and how they prepare for a game and that has opened my eyes on how I should prepare for a game. The other thing is, I’m always eager to learn and there’s a number of college coaches that I’ve went and visited from a defensive perspective, just to understand their thought process of the game. There are some concepts that they have that I would never use, but it’s good to sit there and listen to them and get the why behind why they use them because at some point, hell I might use it. So, there’s a lot of information that I’ve gathered throughout the years to help me be not just a better defensive coordinator, but a better coach, and that can be understanding the offense, special teams, across the board.”
On how Lions DL Brodric Martin has picked up from where he left off in training camp: “That’s a tough situation for any player, especially at that position because of the physical nature of that position. He’s a big man, he’s a big man with long arms, something we require here to play that position, but being able to go through the physical task of doing those things on a day-to-day basis is something that he’s got to get back to and I would never put a guy out there that hasn’t had a chance to practice and feel that. It was the same situation with (Lions DL) DJ Reader coming off of his injury. There were times we just had to get him out there, get some of those bigger guys that we have and just make him feel – like what it is going to feel like taking on double team? What is it going to feel like getting that bump block and being able to recapture your gap. So, those are things that we have to see with him as he goes through this process. But listen, we all know what type of player he is, and we knew where he had to improve to be a part of what we’re trying to do. We hate the fact that it happened because we did think that he was improving, so that clock just has to start right back over with him, and it starts with him going out there in practice.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
November 14, 2024
On if anything that Lions K Jake Bates does surprises him after his performance at Houston: “Yeah, I mean the performance was obviously big time, it was incredible, it was fun to watch. I feel the exact same way about him as I have, really, from the beginning. I mean, he’s still a developing player and he’s going to continue to get better and he’s still got things to work on. We wanted those balls right down the middle, not on the edge of the uprights. But I mean, obviously I’m really, super happy for him and proud of him. He’s just kept his head down and he’s really focused on himself and what he’s doing and he’s really a great example of that and he’s just worried about that because he’s obviously had a bunch that he’s had to work on and focus on and improve, and he’s really focused on that, he’s not worried about anything else, he’s just taking care of his job and I think that’s a big part of his success so far. But, obviously really happy with where he is. I’ll say the same thing I said at the very beginning of the year, he’s going to have some ups and downs, it’s obviously been a lot of ups for us so far, but at that position that’s how it goes and you can’t really get caught up in the outcome, you’ve just got to stay focused on your process and what you’re doing and how you’re preparing and how you’re hitting the ball, trying to improve your contact and placement every rep and go from there.”
On the aerodynamics of Lions K Jake Bates’s kicks and how he is able to convert longer field goals: “Well, I think – I’ll just explain it like this, I’m not super smart but I do think I have kind of a lot of common sense, which has done OK for me – that said, Arizona education. But it is – I mean, there’s some people that are so brilliant that it’s like, ‘Gah, I mean, are you serious? You don’t get it?’ So I think the easiest way to say that, the guy hits the ball so hard, not a lot affects it. I think the easiest thing to say, it would be like this, if the ball is traveling 100 miles per hour, a little wind from the side’s not going to do very much, but if the ball’s traveling five miles per hour, that wind is now going to move the ball a whole lot more because it’s got less velocity. The aerodynamics or science behind that, I have no idea, but I do know that’s the fact. So, the challenge that happens for guys is, the short kicks, the wind doesn’t affect them very much, but as you back up, now the velocity on the ball is starting to decrease as it gets closer to the uprights and now that wind that’s hitting it from the side is starting to blow it out of there at a much higher rate. If that ball’s traveling at a high rate of speed or velocity, it’ll just cut right through it and continue to carry on straight until that ball starts to slow down, so a big-leg guy, the ball’s not slowing down as early as a guy with not as much leg. That’s probably the easiest way to say it.”
On where he is most happy with the special teams unit and where they need to improve the most at the halfway point of the season: “Yeah, I think it’s a great question. The one thing that we do is say, ‘Every week, how can we improve?’ And that’s all the way across the board starting with myself, ‘What are the things I can do better?’ And the first team that we look at is always our team, and then we go onto each phase, and we look back at our team again. I mean, we’re constantly evaluating ourselves because it’s the most important team and it’s who we can control, so I would say, number one, we’re really always doing that. But, in terms of things that I think that we’ve done the best is – and I’m going to say this, you’re not going to love it, but we’ve won eight games and we’ve been a part of winning eight games and the things that we’ve done the worst is, we were a part of losing one of them, and I really mean that. And I say that because I do think that inside this building, one of the things that we do an incredible job of, and not every building does this, a lot of buildings get caught up in the, ‘How are we performing in this area, how are we performing in that, is it good enough, is it good enough to compare to around the League?’ And what we focus on in this building is, ‘How can we win this game this week?’ And we really don’t care how it happens, and because we focus so hard on finding a way to win that game against that matchup with this team, we find ways to win in a lot of different ways, I really believe that. There are teams that I’ve been a part of where it’s more about, ‘Hey, how come that punt’s not very good, or how come your punt return’s not as good?’ Well, maybe it doesn’t need to be and maybe it does need to be, or in this game maybe we need it to turn on and not the other. We really focus on how to win one game at a time any given week much more so than any place I’ve ever been. So, I would say, statistically – I’ll give you more on statistics, my filibuster. So, I was in here and somebody asked me – I’m going to go two things, I’m going to go DVOA, which is supposedly some statistic or metric that’s out there that somebody said – a guy in this building said, ‘Hey, did you see where you are on the DVOA?’ And I said, ‘No, number one, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but number two, whatever.’ So, then he said, ‘Type it in the computer.’ So, we pulled it up, we looked at it, and it ranks each team on offense, defense, special teams, and then I’m reading like, ‘Well, how do they come up with this? Number one, who is it and how’d they come up with it? Can we trust what you’re reading?’ Not that that’s a hot topic right now or anything. So anyway, I’m like, ‘OK, well yeah, can I trust what I’m reading?’ So, I look at it, I read – number one, it’s proprietary, so they can’t really tell you how they’re getting what they get. That’s not great. Number two, then you start reading on special teams, like how’s your score influence or whatever, but on the return game it’s influenced by return yards. Well, return yards mean very little to me, I’ve shared that with you guys in the past. If they punt the ball 30 yards and we return it for none, well, they’ve got a 30-yard net, if they punt the ball 60 and then we return it 10, they’ve got a 50-yard net, but my return yards are better on this DVOA statistic or whatever, which really doesn’t make our team better. So, I would say, the challenge to those people, listen to the staff inside the buildings instead of asking people who might not really know. There are buildings out there that get involved with that stuff, which is crazy. OK, so then, let me go to the next one. So, the next one is PFF, and I’ve got two good stories for you on PFF, and it’s the PFF grades. And this came up this week again because somebody in the building came to me and said, ‘Hey, there is this player, he’s playing really well for you guys.’ And I’m like, ‘Who said that?’ They said, ‘Well, PFF.’ And I was like, ‘OK.’ Well, here’s two stories for you on PFF. Number one is, I get on a plane, I think I was going to the Combine, this is years ago, and when I sit down, this guy sitting next to me says, ‘Hey, are you a coach for – ‘ I think I was with Philly at the time. I’m like, ‘Yeah,’ And he’s like, ‘Ah, I’m a grader of PFF.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ He was a young guy, I’m like, ‘Tell me about yourself.’ The guy had never coached football, never played football and he’s grading our players on who played good and who played bad. So, I’m like, ‘Wow.’ So, the PFF grade, like, OK. And the next thing on that is, we play a game at the Giants and the special teams coach at the time or assistant there at the time was a good friend of mine, and he came up to me before the game and he said, ‘Hey man, just so you know, this player –‘ I can’t say his name, he’s actually in the media nowadays, but he said, ‘This player, he’s the best rated front-line blocker on kickoff return in the National Football League.’ And I was like, ‘Who said that?’ And he was like, ‘PFF.’ And then I was like, ‘PFF?’ I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I’m like, ‘Number one, this guy’s like the worst blocker on our team.’ But number two, we put him on these matchups on the backside of the return every week where he’s blocking basically a guy that doesn’t need to be block, but we kind of have to block him just in case. So, he wins the matchup, so he got a good PFF grade, and he’s really the worst player on our team at this job description, but he’s really the best with PFF. So, when those two things came up, DVOA, PFF, where you’ve got to be good at, all that stuff, you’ve got to be better in the football games and we’ve done a good job of that. But we’ve got our hands full, man, it’s not going to get easier.”
On where they rank in DVOA: “I don’t know, I stay away from that. It doesn’t matter. It’s the same thing as – what I was saying, the League went over the tape, guy comes into my office and he says, ‘Do you have any plays you want to turn in for penalties against the other team that should’ve been called?’ I always say, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘Why not?’ I’m like, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’ They come back and they say the day after that, yeah, it should’ve been a block in the back, oh well. It doesn’t do you any good, so whatever. I don’t really care.”
On how the development of his own special teams metric is coming along: “I really like it actually, I think it’s real out in front. I’m excited about it, I would compare it to polling. I think our number’s going to be right on. It is definitely proprietary, I don’t know how to get around that, but I will say I have some validity. It’s like, well, this guy’s actually coached it before.”
On Lions RB Sione Vaki’s performance at Houston: “No, I will say – I mean, if PFF has him high, then they did a good job because he has played at a high level. Really, I thought he had a very good game. We didn’t punt the ball very well in the game, that was disappointing early on. Mishit the first two punts, it really put the coverage in a stressful position, I thought those guys did a great job. And obviously, (Lions P Jack) Fox, he’s been one of our best players for us since I’ve been here. But I thought the coverage did a great job, Vaki did a great job, he had a nice hit on that one, (Lions LB Ezekiel Turner) Zeke Turner did a nice job on the other one at minimizing the damage there on those plays. Then Fox came back around and hit a nice one on a steady punt and then he pinned them down late. I think the best sign for us in that game was – just going to talk about the game, is, it didn’t go well, really, for us as a team for a while, it wasn’t looking great, obviously those guys hung in there, they kept chipping away and then, really, in the time that it mattered at the end of the third quarter, we were able to punt and pin them down at the nine-yard line, and then the sequence after that is, they go three-and-out, they punt the ball back to us, we go down and score a touchdown, and then we trade off. We end up kicking the 58-yarder and then they end up missing a 58-yarder, and then we come back and hit the 52-yarder at the end, so we ended up finishing strong as a team, really in all three phases and found a way to win the football game.”
On when he sensed that Lions K Jake Bates had the right disposition to perform in clutch moments: “Yeah, so I’ll just give a story with him on his focus or concentration on game day. Every player that you coach is different. I think a lot of times, coaching that position, people overcoach those guys all the time. They get in the way, it’s a position to me where less is a lot more. And the thing is, you can make kind of make everything around him as good as you can, the snap, the hold, and you really try to help that guy that way, it’s probably more valuable in my time and energy than giving him too much. Everybody’s got a different stroke, everybody’s got a different technique or way of going about it. So, I am definitely less is more with that position in general. But, to get back to the story, so we’re going in the preseason and I’m getting to know him and we’re in the middle of a preseason game and I go up to him to say something, and man, you could tell he wanted no part of nothing at that moment. He was so locked in and focused, and then I kind of watched him more in his pregame. I mean, he doesn’t talk to anybody, he stays locked in, he’s obviously focusing – you’d have to ask him on whatever he does, and he’s got his way about it. But the truth is, for me, on game day I stay away from him. I watch him in the warmups if there’s any pointers to give at that time, just very subtle things that I think might help, and then I say it. If not, I let him go, I’ll stay working on other guys around him, but the rest of it’s on him. So really, I credit him for being highly focused and highly concentrated and obviously he’s done a great job.”
