LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
January 2, 2025
Opening Statement: “I’m going to just talk about this one coming up. This is a huge one as we all know, great game against a great opponent back at home here. So, really looking forward to it. The last time we played these guys, there was a lot of back and forth, they started off hot, then we were able to respond there, second quarter and third quarter then it came down the wire. So, good team, great defense, really well-coached, great players all across the board, and looking forward to this opportunity.”
On the key to getting a consistent offense in terms of point production that coaches strive for: “I don’t know if I always feel the same way that you do by saying that. We’ve had a number of 20-point games that we felt like, as a coaching staff and players, that there was more out there to be had. I would say probably the last four or five games we’ve been playing more consistent football, less three-and-outs. That’s really where I gauge it more off of is, are we able to move the ball? Not everything’s going to be perfect every week or every series or every play, but we’ve had guys stepping up and when it’s not perfect, they’re over there making it right. (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo is one of those guys, (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown is one of those guys, (Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs) Gibby is one of those guys. We had a play last week where we’re trying to do a bit of misdirection and the end didn’t take the cheese, it should’ve been a tackle for loss and then the next thing you know, Gibby is crossing the court and going to the other direction and makes it a positive play. I think that has a lot to do with it. These guys are going out there and playing confident football and they’re playing really well right now.”
On Lions QB Jared Goff getting a block: “Yeah, Jared got a nice one. That helps his PFF grade I think.”
On how long it took him to form a relationship with Lions WR Jameson Williams to where they are on the same page with his demands: “Yeah, it’s been a learning experience for everybody, I think. Since he got in the building here, it’s been all of us coaches, (Lions Head) Coach (Dan) Campbell, myself, (Lions Wide Receivers Coach Antwaan Randle) El, all of us have been on board trying to have him understand the expectation and what we really need, what (Lions QB) Jared (Goff) needs, what the O-line needs, what we all need for this whole thing to work and it’s taken a little bit of time, but it’s really taken off now at this point. He’s very detailed, very smart, very smart and that might go unnoticed, but you say something to him, and you coach him, and it hits him. He understands it and I think because he’s so smart, he’s able to really grasp what we’re trying to do and it’s just a matter of getting him all of the reps and all of the looks and he’s been really good here second half of the season.”
On changing the play-calling to beat Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores’ tendencies as the matchups continue: “Yeah, he does a great job. He does a great job. Each week you try to find a weakness in the armor and look to attack it, and this defense, it just doesn’t have much. It’s been that way for two years now. You can tell that this whole unit, they’ve been together, they’ve been playing in this scheme, they have the answers, they know when they get hit with something how to respond. He always has a curve ball every week, I think (Packers Head Coach) Matt LaFleur said last week that they weren’t anticipating quite as much man as they got early in the game and had to make some adjustments. There’s no question, as a coaching staff, all of us, we have to be on our Ps and Qs and just make sure we’re able to respond if he’s hitting them with something that we weren’t necessarily prepared for.”
On his relationship with Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores: “I knew of him because he’s a Boston College guy and that’s where I did my GA spot, and of course he’s in New England and we faced across the sideline there for a couple of years. I didn’t get to know him, I met him at the Combine a couple of years ago, seems like a great guy, has a great reputation. When he took that job at Miami, he had a staff already in his head of who he wanted, so I was let go and that was that.”
On when he realized he found something in Lions T Dan Skipper and what about him makes him trust him: “Yeah, this goes back to the (Lions Head Coach) pre-(Dan) Campbell days because he was – Dan’s been in and out for a number of years here. What you notice right away was that he’s the guy that every couple of weeks was going to get into a fight during training camp and that’s really because he loves the game so much, he’s passionate about what he does, he brings all that energy and enthusiasm to the practice field every day. He only knows green light, red light. It’s stop or go and that’s what you’re going to get from him. So, when you see a guy that practices that way and loves the game like he does, once we got him on the roster, we knew that we wanted to get him out on the field because we know what he’s going to bring to the table. He’s one of those glue guys, we have a number of those guys on this team that fly under the radar a little bit, but they play critical roles for us, and he certainly does that.”
On how he drowns out the media attention about his head coaching candidacy: “This is exactly where I need to be right now. I think I’ve talked about it before, there’s an obligation to the people in this building and I’m going to honor that obligation. It’s nothing but the Minnesota Vikings right now.”
On how Lions WR Jameson Williams can be considered a number one wide receiver: “He certainly has that ability. Obviously, his superpower is his speed and that’s shown up every game. Every game we’re looking to create space for him and get the ball in his hands so that he can have run after catch or get over the top of the defense and what we’ve seen from training camp until now is other parts of the game develop. Have a lot more trust in his route tree, that’s really grown over the course of the season, we try to challenge him with some new things every week that maybe he hasn’t done quite yet and I’m really excited to see how that expands. A full offseason of spring, training camp, healthy, no outside noise would continue his development in a good way.”
On how the run game evolved with Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and Lions RB Craig Reynolds through two games without Lions RB David Montgomery: “Yeah, both of those guys have done a great job for us. (Lions RB Jermar) Jefferson got some burn too and same with (Lions RB Sione) Vaki, we really like that rotation right now and honestly, it hasn’t really changed how we approach the run game in terms of schematics. We felt all year long that Gibby and D-Mo are equally successful doing the same things and that really hasn’t changed our mindset the last couple of games. So, hopefully we continue that trend, and both of those guys play big roles for us, Craig and Gibby.”
On if defenses have changed with Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs carrying more of the load: “I have not seen that, maybe, I have not seen that quite as much. Each week we do something a little bit different with him, maybe from the backfield or extend him out wide, but that’s kind of been the theme all year long. Didn’t see anything from San Fran that was anything different than we expected.”
On how much of Lions QB Jared Goff’s ability under pressure is him or the play design: “The guy was a number one pick for a reason. He’s been super talented throwing the football and here he is entering year nine and he’s got all of these banked reps from L.A. and now Detroit and they all add up. The defense is moving slower, he knows where his eyes need to go, he knows what he’s trying to do. We’re really aggressive at times with what we put on his plate, and he doesn’t bat an eye, really, he embraces it. He came in this morning, he’s like, ‘Hey, load me up. I’m ready to go.’ So, that’s what we try to do and it’s a credit to him that he really wants to be able to control all – he’s playing so well post-snap, and you guys are seeing that, that there’s not enough appreciation for what he does before the snap with the cadence, the motions, the shifts, the premiere plays that we try to get into at times. That’s what really, I think, makes our offense special.”
On how important Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is to be an option when Lions QB Jared Goff is under pressure: “The stress, obviously, is on the unit up front, the O-line, the running backs when we face a team like this. I think the big completion to Saint that you’re talking about, (Lions T) Penei (Sewell) had a hell of a block on that one. So, really as long as we can buy him enough time, he’s doing a nice job finding those outlets and Saint has found a way to be that guy over the last couple of years. So, it’ll take all hands on deck though with this crew. I know he’ll throw something at us that we haven’t seen.”
On how important intelligence is across the entire offense: “We do it because we can. That’s why this offense is the way it is, is because we have smart players. We have a veteran offensive line that’s played a lot of ball, we have a quarterback that can handle a lot on his plate and we’ve got good, smart perimeter guys that are willing to block and do all of the dirty work and prepare during the course of the week. I’m so fortunate as a coordinator because when you have that, now you take the governor off and you can do almost anything that you want to do. And it’s not like that at every place. I’ve been a number of places, a number of different offenses and coordinators and we just couldn’t push it to this level and that’s a credit to the guys, that has nothing to do with us as a coaching staff. But we’ll push it as long as we think it’s sound and it can help them out, we’ll push it to the limit.”
On what is clicking with Lions TE Sam LaPorta: “I’ll have to go back at the end of the year and look at why it didn’t click sooner. I really felt like early in the year we were going to have some of the games that he’s had over the last few. I know that he’s feeling as healthy as he has all year long, he’s playing confident football right now. I know (Lions QB) Jared (Goff) has a lot of faith in him. I certainly felt that way earlier in the year too, so I can’t tell you why it’s different now than it was before but we’ve always seen him as an integral part of what we do in the passing game and the ball seems to just be finding it’s way there right now.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
January 2, 2025
Opening Statement: “First off, I want to make sure I hit this. Thoughts and prayers to what’s going on in the city of New Orleans. I was there for six years and to hear exactly what’s going on – and I don’t know all the ins and outs about it, but that’s tough to see, that’s tough to hear. I just want to make sure that I put that out there to everybody in that city because I know what that city’s about. It’s a city with a lot of grinders and they don’t deserve that at all, so thoughts and prayers to the men and women, kids, everybody in New Orleans. This week’s game, really good win by us as a team. Obviously, defensively in that first half we did not play as well as we should have played, and we understand that. But here’s what I hang my hat on when it comes to us defensively, and I said this during the week on what I want to see, is the adjustments that we made coming out of halftime to where our guys – we pressured (49ers QB Brock) Purdy as much as we can to try to get him to make some mistakes because he’s a damn good quarterback and I said this last week, he’s pretty surgical about what he does. But we want to combat that in the second half by making sure we get in his face and make him have some issues, and I thought we did that. I thought that our top players outwilled their top players, and to me, that’s what the focus is on for us. How many impact plays we can make and how our top players are going to outwill their top players. We send (Lions DB) Brian Branch on a blitz, he goes up there and he makes the play. We send (Lions S) Kerby Joseph on plays where he can get a chance to go and make some plays and he does that. Third-and-9, (Lions CB) Amik Robertson makes a huge pass breakup on a play that we needed, and he did that. And that’s what we’re looking for because last year, and I told you guys, we didn’t have that. Those were the guys that were making those plays, but this is the year our guys are making them and that’s what we focus on. Listen, are we where we need to be defensively? Not at all. We understand that. But where we are is we’re making impact plays at times that we need to make them and I’m proud of our guys for doing that.”
On if they can win the Super Bowl with the same defensive mentality: “Absolutely, you can. The thing is, I go back, and I look at the Ravens. No one thought that they could win a Super Bowl when they were averaging 13, 14 points a game with (former Ravens QB) Trent Dilfer at the quarterback, but they found ways to win. I know New England had some defenses that wasn’t the top of the charts, but they won Super Bowls. New Orleans won the Super Bowl in 2009, the thing is they had like 36 takeaways, but they weren’t a top defense going into that year. So, you’re damn right we can do it. The thing we have to continue to do is make these impact plays that we’ve been making and we’re going to continue to do that.”
On the art of linebackers playing play-action: “Well, it depends on if you’re in man or zone coverage. If you’re in man coverage, your eyes have to be focused on your man and sometimes that’s hard to do because you want to make so many plays and if you have a man and you’re in a C gap and you end up punching that C gap when that guy that’s in that gap is your man, he ends up trying to block and didn’t get out, that’s a tough situation for some guys. But the thing is, you have to continue to trust your ability to cover your guys and still be able to have your gap. That’s one situation that’s pretty tough, but our guys try to do as good a job as they can in that situation because we expect you to be physical and get downhill. When you’re in zone coverage, when you have a gap and you get downhill, now you have to get ready to punch out and be able to hit your landmark drop which our guys work on every day. So, you can sit back and allow teams to get five, six yards a carry, or you can stop those and end up punching back in zone coverages and try to do the best that you can. I want our guys to be physical, I want our guys to attack the line of scrimmage, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
On what the defense has missed with Lions LB Alex Anzalone being on Reserve/Injured: “Alex is a unique guy, and the way that I say that is because he’s always upbeat. Nothing ever gets him down, no matter what the situation is. Him and (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell) are two totally different people. Jack is a serious – I mean, always here. Alex can be here a little bit, and that’s not a bad thing. Actually, it’s a good thing because it keeps me centered for the most part. But just him, his presence, his calming presence, and the players are just so used to him being around. And that’s nothing against Jack or whatnot, they’re just two totally different people in how they operate. But I’m looking forward to getting him back out there, I can’t say if he’ll be out there this week. He’s getting himself back, acclimating to how we do things and practicing. So, hopefully we get him back really soon.”
On what he has learned from the matchups against Vikings WR Justin Jefferson: “I haven’t learned anything, I already know it. He is a special one. He’s my type of guy and you see the way that he’s playing is starting to permeate through some of those other receivers and the reason why I say that is, I’m watching today and I’m watching them against Jacksonville and I see (Vikings WR Jordan) Addison go across the middle in the red zone. I mean, he takes a hit, and you see Jefferson goes over there and picks him up like, ‘Let’s get up, get back to the huddle. If you’re hurting, let the huddle see it, not the defensive guys.’ I think he’s one of the toughest guys playing in that position. He’s an old school player in my opinion. It’s almost like he’s a defensive guy playing receiver. But listen, we’re going to do everything we can to stop him. I thought the first game, we did a pretty good job of limiting what he can do. I know that he made the one play on (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson), and we’re going to try to continue to do that. Great players are going to end up making plays at some point in the game, it’s hard to hold those guys down, but we’re going to do everything we can to do it. This is going to be a fun game, I’m just telling you that right now, and we are looking forward to it because there is no better way to end this season than playing against a team like that. So, it’s going to be a fun one.”
On what he has seen from Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson’s development: “Well they target him quite a bit which is pretty interesting, that once he gets back that he’s getting the ball as much as he’s getting. But we know that he’s a good player, so that doesn’t surprise me. Savvy, smart, understands how to get open in zone coverage, so we have to make sure we eliminate that as much as possible and don’t allow him to find these zones, be able to sit down and be a target for the quarterback. So, we have different packages that we’re going to put on him to make sure that we try to stimy him, and we’re going to do everything we can to get to this quarterback so he can’t get the ball out also. So, there’s a number of things that we plan on doing, but I’ll tell you what, this is a good team and obviously we know how their offense is and I know (Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores) B-Flo is going to do a good job with their defense, but I do know that (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson)’s going to do a good job on the offensive side. Again, from both parties, we’re looking forward to this one.”
On Lions DB Brian Branch making the Pro Bowl and his intangibles about wanting to improve: “That player is so hard on himself, it kind of reminds me of who I was as a player, of wanting to be perfect in everything or trying to perfect your craft of who you want to be, who you’re trying to be. He asks the right questions, his practice habits are like no other and that’s pre-practice, during practice, and after practice of him trying to improve. In every part of his game, he wants to make sure that he is top notch. I’m not surprised that he’s a Pro Bowler. That’s not what he’s looking at. He’s just looking at trying to be the best he can. If anything like that comes along, it comes along. He just wants to be the best player that he can and that’s no different than (Lions S) Kerby Joseph. To me, Kerby Joseph is a Pro Bowler also. He might not have it by name, but he is a Pro Bowler in my opinion. I think he is a Pro Bowler in a lot of opinions across this League, too and we know where that all comes from. But he is one of the best, if not the best safety in this League also.”
On if Lions S Kerby Joseph will use not making the Pro Bowl as motivation: “He doesn’t need that as motivation, he knows that he’s a good player. What he needs to know, he has nine interceptions, a ton of tackles, he’s made impact plays as we saw last week, and that was done on national tv. So, he doesn’t need that as motivation.”
On why he thinks Lions S Kerby Joseph did not make the Pro Bowl: “I think we all know that. But it is what it is. The thing is, he knows who he is.”
On if teams have targeted their tight ends more due to the Lions linebackers’ injuries: “I think when you look at us – first off, and let’s go back, we had (Lions CB) Carlton (Davis III) out there. Carlton is one of the top corners in this League, so I don’t think a lot of people really targeted him. I think (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA early on, he was getting targeted a lot, then he started improving, really. So, I don’t think his targets are actually up to where they were early in the season. (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson)’s always been a dog. He’s always been a guy that’s been really good in coverage, and I just think at some point they would be like, ‘OK well, who am I going to go at?’ And then they start going at the tight ends. And I can just tell you totally, is it a matchup problem or whatnot. I do know that our guys do a good job in the coverage area when it comes to man coverage. We just have to continue to improve on some of the explosive plays and some of the mistakes as far as switching off on guys and making sure that we don’t have anybody running wide open.”
On the renaissance of Vikings QB Sam Darnold’s career: “You’ve seen that with (Buccaneers QB) Baker Mayfield, you see it with him. There are some of these quarterbacks or players in this League that people just give up on so fast. Sometimes, the environment has a lot to do with that and I think that he’s gotten to an environment to where he can ‘Woosah.’ I think it all started when he went to San Francisco and then he ended up going to Minnesota. And listen, (Vikings Head Coach Kevin) O’Connell is a really good coach and when you get around that and you get around players that believe in you also, I think that everything that you’ve built yourself up to be really starts to come out, and I think that’s what he’s doing right now. He’s always had the talent, I think he’s always had the mentality to be a good player, and I think now you’re starting to see it come out just like you see with Baker right now also.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
January 2, 2025
On what happened with Lions LS Hogan Hatten getting pushed down in San Francisco: “Yeah, I mean, they rushed the A gap, it’s – we talked about it. I mean, the bottom line is people have been rushing the A gap all season. The League is – the game is like a living, breathing thing, in my opinion, and it – everything kind of moves. The League is trying to make sure that they balance player safety and they also get the entertainment that they want, the officials are trying to do what the League wants them to do, and so they say, ‘Hey, we don’t – that’s a little bit too much for us.’ Or, ‘That’s not enough to warrant a flag.’ And so, the game kind of adjusts as you’re playing it, and ultimately, we talked about it, inside there in the A gaps, it’s kind of a moving target a little bit right now, and I think the officials are incredible. These guys – I know they get jammed up all the time for the one call they miss, but the million calls they get right are unbelievable, so I think the officials in this League are the best by far, and I have nothing but a ton of respect for them. I’m always shocked at like, ‘Dang, how did he see that? I didn’t see it.’ I guess I couldn’t be an official, they couldn’t be a coach maybe. But anyway – and then I think the League does a great job. I mean, they’re trying to balance all aspects of the game, so anyway, sometimes there’s some stuff that’s a little gray. Ultimately, Hogan got caught off guard and that shouldn’t have happened, and that starts with me and then trickles down to him. I mean, the whole rest of the game they did the same thing and we protected it fine. So, ultimately for us, I’d say it’s a lesson we’ve got to learn. You hate learning things the hard way, and that’s really my job to prevent that from happening. And so – anyway, we’ve got to get ready for this week and get it fixed. I think we kind of fixed it in the game, so I feel good about it going forward, but yeah, it’s shouldn’t have happened, I was disappointed.”
On how proud he is of Lions P Jack Fox for being selected to the Pro Bowl: “Yeah, it’s awesome. I mean, obviously the guy was a Pro Bowl player before I got here in his first year, but it’s difficult to do for these guys. It’s an award that’s obviously a great accomplishment for him, but it’s also an award that’s a great accomplishment for the group of players that played around him too, because I know without (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey out there running down the field and covering those things, then he’s definitely not getting that, and he knows that too, so it’s a product of a lot of people, the snapper giving him a great snap so that he can concentrate on the punt and not the catch of the snap, so awesome for him. At the end of the day, for us, man, it’s Minnesota and we’re trying to get ready for the next game. And you guys asked me – I guess it was a year ago, about (Lions LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin) Germ, I mean I’m super happy for the individual, but I also know that with those awards, a lot of times the right guys don’t get them too, so it’s with a grain of salt, but his is definitely deserved and earned, I thought Germ’s was also. And so, really happy for him, for sure.”
On the big returns that were allowed in the game at San Francisco: “Yeah kickoff returns I’m assuming you’re talking about, there weren’t a lot of punt returns. Man, that’s crazy. Anyway, yeah, kickoff returns – no it was good, man. First thing I’m going to tell you is, man, I respect the heck out of (49ers WR) Deebo Samuel (Sr.). I know I said that before the game, but, man, for a guy like that of his stature and the recognition and what he’s accomplished in his career at this point, to go back there, it obviously starts with him saying, ‘I want to do it.’ And you can tell by the way he plays the play, he’s a violent downhill runner. I would say he’s probably worth eight yards more than the next best guy’s getting or most of those guys are getting just because of run after contact. So anyway, great player, man, I love watching him, I love competing against him, it’s fun, he competes, he makes you better, so it’s good. I thought our guys covered well, we got the penalty that helps us out, at the end of the day, I think their drive-start was inside the 30 on those and ours was outside the 30, so we kind of won that battle, but he made it tough, and that first one he brought out darn near to the 40-yard line on us. It was going to be tough, I mean, as we talked about, it was colder weather, as the ball gets colder there’s a little wind that hangs that ball up, those guys are catching it downhill, short of the end zone, coming right back you and you kind of have to pick your poison on how you’re going to cover some of those kicks. You’re either going to be very sound and you might give up a little but not a lot, or you’re going to cut it loose and go for it and you might gain a little bit more, so that risk-reward – little more risk, little higher reward. We probably went a little bit more conservative, just making sure we were getting them down on the ground, and against a guy like that, he helps you kind of decide how you want to play. But anyway, yeah, it was good, it was fun, I enjoyed it.”
On if Lions P Jack Fox not punting as much makes it difficult to get into a rhythm: “I would say it’s probably a better question for him. I wonder the same thing too at times. It’s like, ‘Man, you haven’t gotten a lot of kicks here or punts.’ Or in a game and then all of a sudden, it comes up, inevitably, late in the game, maybe, and it’s – the game’s on the line and they’re crucial situations, but I know this, every time we’ve called his number, he’s ready to play, and I really say this time of year is Fox time of year, man. This guy’s a clutch player who plays big in big games and I feel like we’re going to need him this week. These guys do a good job on defense obviously, so we’re counting on every phase of this game being really important, including that one.”
On if the new kickoff rules have affected special teams as a whole with the number of punts going down: “Yeah, I don’t think so. I think we’re probably a little bit of an abnormality here and the product of a really good offense. I mean, I think our offense is probably – I don’t know if it’s historic in the numbers, but obviously really good, and then you combine that with a little bit of our style of play, we go for it a lot on fourth down and all that, so when you add those two things up, we probably see a little bit different version of the NFL than a lot of teams are seeing. So, I don’t know the League numbers off the top of my head on number of punts and all that. I know that they’ve been steadily decreasing, but slowly, through the years, and I think there are a lot of teams that punt a lot more than us, so I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
On if the trajectory of Lions K Jake Bates’ kicks stay the same on longer kicks: “Yeah, so the one thing that he’s got going for him on the trajectory is, he’s got such a big leg that he can still afford to hit a higher kick and it’s still got plenty of distance on it. So, for him to have to change, you’re talking about going back to long 60s, I would say, before I think he feels like he needs to do anything different on his kick, which – that’s an advantage to me, because now on those longer field goals, you’re hitting the same ball as you would on a shorter field goal, you should be more consistent at that.”
On if most kickers in the NFL have a lower trajectory on longer kicks: “I think, in general, yeah, definitely. And that all starts somewhere for everybody, and when you don’t have as big of a leg, that starts earlier than it does for a guy like (Lions K Jake) Bates with that big leg.”
On Lions K Jake Bates going viral on the ESPN broadcast: “Yeah, no, I’ll give you the funniest story. So, I get off the – we finish the game, whatever, get changed and hit the bus, and I pick up my phone and my wife’s like, ‘Is Bates OK?’ And I’m like, ‘Geez.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I thought he was fine, but what happened, something must have happened.’ So, I called her and I’m like, ‘Hey, what are you talking about?’ And she’s like, ‘Well, they said on the TV that he hurt or his hip or something.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I never heard anything about it, so I don’t know.’ And then she’s like, ‘Yeah, there’s this photo, it’s going viral.’ And so, she actually text messaged it to me, and that was the first I saw of it. But no – and I asked him again when we came in here the other day – yesterday when I saw him for the first time after the game, and I said, ‘Hey, tell me, are you OK or is there anything going on?’ I mean, you could tell he was so frustrated, he’s getting upset at me, I’m like, ‘Hey man, don’t get mad at me, I’m just asking. I just need to know if you’re OK or not.’ He’s like, ‘I’m fine.’ So, I think he’s ready to move past that.”
