FORD FIELD
WEEK 17: SUNDAY, DEC. 29, 2019
The following are post-game notes and quotes from the Detroit Lions’ 23-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019.
POST-GAME NOTES
LIONS SCORING PLAYS
- First Quarter: WR Danny Amendola threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to QB David Blough with 7:59 left in the
quarter to give Detroit a 7-0 lead. K Matt Prater converted the extra point. - Second Quarter: RB Kerryon Johnson rushed for a one-yard score to push Detroit’s lead to 14-0 with 3:13 left to
play. K Matt Prater made the extra point. - Second Quarter: K Matt Prater made a 42-yard field goal as time expired to give the Lions a 17-3 halftime lead.
- Fourth Quarter: K Matt Prater connected on a 56-yard field goal to give Detroit a 20-13 lead with 11:08 left to play.
TEAM NOTES
The Lions… - Had their first wide receiver-to-quarterback touchdown pass in franchise history.
- Topped 170 rushing yards for the third time this season, marking their most 170+-yard rushing games in a season
since doing so seven times in the 1997 season. - Averaged 6.8 yards per rush on at least 25 attempts for the first time in a home game since doing so vs. Chicago on
Nov. 27, 1997. - Had three running backs (RBs Kerryon Johnson, Ty Johnson and Bo Scarbrough) each top 40 rushing yards in the
same game for the first time since doing so on Nov. 16, 1997 vs. Minnesota (RBs Barry Sanders, Ron Rivers and
Tommy Vardell). - Rushed for 115 yards in the first half. This marks the most rushing yards the Lions have had in the first half of a
home game since they had 148 vs. Green Bay on Nov. 28, 2013. - Forced Packers QB Aaron Rodgers into 28 incompletions. This is the fourth-most incompletions the Lions have ever
forced in a game, following Colts QB Andrew Luck in 2012 (30), Yankees QB John Rauch in 1951 (30) and Falcons QB Chris Miller in 1989 (29). This marks the most incompletions in Rodgers’ career and fourth-most in Packers history. This also marks the most incompletions by a Packers quarterback since QB Brett Favre’s 33 incompletions vs. San Francisco on Oct. 14, 1996. - Held Packers QB Aaron Rodgers to a 49.1 completion percentage, the first time Rodgers has ever completed fewer than half of his passes when attempting 45-or-more passes.
- Scored at least 17 points in their seventh-straight home game. This matches their longest single-season streak since doing so in the 2015 season.
- Have three wide receivers with at least 60 receptions and 675 receiving yards in the same season for the first time in team history.
- Had two safeties (S Tavon Wilson and S Tracy Walker) finish a season with 90-or-more tackles for the first time in team history.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
WR DANNY AMENDOLA - Finished with two receptions for 16 yards (8.0 average) and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to QB David Blough.
- Became only the second wide receiver in Lions history to throw a touchdown pass, joining WR Larry Walton, who did
so against the Rams on Nov. 16, 1969. - Became the second-oldest wide receiver in NFL history to throw a touchdown pass at 34 years and 57 days old.
- Became the first wide receiver in NFL history to throw two touchdown passes at age 33-or-older.
QB DAVID BLOUGH
- Finished 12-of-29 for 122 passing yards and caught one pass for a 19-yard touchdown.
- Joined Titans QB Marcus Mariota (2015) as the only rookie quarterbacks since the 1970 merger to record a
touchdown reception. - Caught a 19-yard touchdown pass to become only the second quarterback in Lions history to record a touchdown
reception. The only other Lions quarterback to do so was QB Gary Danielson against the Eagles on Nov. 4, 1984. - Became only the second quarterback in NFL history to catch a touchdown pass against the Packers, joining Saints
QB Bobby Hebert on Nov. 17, 1985.
WR KENNY GOLLADAY - Recorded three receptions for 72 yards (24.0 avg.), hauling in a game-long 42-yard reception.
- Caught his 13th-reception of 30-plus yards this season, tied for the most in the NFL.
S WILL HARRIS - Logged four solo tackles, 1.0 sack, one tackle for loss and one pass defense.
- Became the first Lions rookie defensive back since 2012 to produce a sack. He’s also the ninth rookie defensive
back in franchise history to notch a sack in their first season.
RB KERRYON JOHNSON - Finished with 11 carries for 53 yards (4.8 avg.) and one rushing touchdown.
- Recorded a 20-yard rush, his season-best.
RB TY JOHNSON - Totaled three carries for 65 yards (21.7 avg.), with a long of 40 yards. His other carries gained 14 and 11 yards, respectively, resulting in all three of his carries going for 10 yards or more.
- Became the first player in franchise history to finish a game with a rushing average of 20-or-more yards per carry on at least three attempts since Gene Gedman did so vs. Cleveland on Dec. 8, 1957.
P SAM MARTIN - Finished with seven punts for 317 yards (45.3 avg., 40.0 net) and pinned one punt inside the 20-yard line.
- Joined P Nick Harris as the only players in franchise history with multiple seasons with 30-punts punts downed inside
the 20-yardline. - Passed P John Jett (21,494) for the fourth-most punting yards in Lions history.
LS DON MUHLBACH - Appeared in his 160th game this decade (2010-19), becoming the first player in franchise history to appear in all 160 games in a given decade since the NFL expanded to 160 games in 1978.
LB ANTHONY PITTMAN - Appeared in his first-career regular season game. A native of Birmingham, Mich., Pittman continued the Lions’ streak of having at least one Michigan native appear in a regular season game for the team since they moved to Detroit in 1934.
CB AMANI ORUWARIYE - Produced four solo tackles, one pass defense and one interception.
- Became the first Lions rookie cornerback since CB Bryant Westbrook in 1997 to produce two interceptions as a
rookie. - Became the first Lions rookie since S Amari Spievey in 2010 to produce two interceptions as a rookie.
K MATT PRATER - Finished two-of-two on field goal attempts and one-of-one on extra points to produce seven points on the day,
- Launched a 56-yard field goal in the third quarter, his longest in two seasons. With the kick, he converted his 53rd-
career field goal of 50-or-more yards, passing K Jason Hanson (52) for the second-most field goals converted from 50-plus yards in NFL history. Only K Sebastian Janikowski (58) has more.
DB TRACY WALKER - Finished with four tackles (three solo) and two pass defenses.
- Became the first defensive back in franchise history to produce at least 100 tackles in 13-or-fewer games played.
- Became the third defensive back in franchise history to total at least 100 tackles in a season and first since S Ron
Rice in 1999. - Became the first player in franchise history to finish a season with at least 100 tackles, five pass defenses, five
tackles for loss, one interception and one forced fumble.
POST-GAME QUOTES
LIONS HEAD COACH MATT PATRICIA QUOTE SHEET
Opening statement: “Well, I mean obviously the team fought as hard as we could. I think we tried to do everything we could to give ourselves a chance. Obviously, we needed to make a couple more plays. Give Green Bay credit, they made some plays, at the end especially, that they needed to (in order) to win. I think this team, like I’ve said all year, and I think today was another great example of how hard this team works, how hard they fight. I think we probably played a ton of guys here today, rolled a lot of bodies through and a lot of guys that hadn’t even played an NFL game before. (They) went out and played as hard as they could to give ourselves a chance. I’m proud of the toughness of this team. I think it’s the foundation of what we’re looking for. I think we want to be tough. I think we want to be a team that competes, and I think we’re a team that wants to go out and try to work hard every single day. We obviously have a lot of work to do here. We understand that. We’ll close out tomorrow with the team, and be able to have our last squad meeting there and kind of address some of the things as we go forward. Certainly, just proud of these guys, proud of that locker room for as hard as they work, and they fight. I know to a lot of people there wasn’t much on the line, but to us there is every single week. We’re going to go out and we’re going to compete, and we’re going to play that game and we’re going to do everything we can. We have an opportunity to go compete in the National Football League – I think you should do everything possible to do your best. I think the team in that locker room does that really well. We just have to make some more plays to win. I think that’s the bottom line.”
On DT Damon Harrison Sr. stating he is considering retirement and if he helps a player navigate that
decision: “Well, I think there is obviously all different ends of the spectrum with how you help guys. Certainly, that’s why we’re here, that’s why I’m a coach. I’m going to try to do everything I can to assist those guys in not only the game of football, but in anything outside of football they need help with. For us, my message is always pretty clear to the players: just take a minute. It’s an emotional game. We just got done playing a really hard game. We just got done playing a really physical, competitive game, and emotions are high as they always are after a football game, and everyone has to just kind of let all of that settle. In the end, we’ll get to whatever points we get to with any guys on our team and address them when they come up. But right now, it’s really not the time for any of that, for myself certainly to get into with those guys.”
On if he is not surprised by DT Damon Harrison Sr.’s comments: “I would say, I’m probably not surprised just because I’ve coached quite a few years and had guys in different stages of their careers and understand just the emotional part of finishing up a game. So, for me, I’m just trying to stay consistent and make sure everybody understands, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow, just letting everybody kind of – it’s a long season. It’s a long grind. Everybody was working as hard as we worked and trying to do everything we can, that all of that needs to settle. Then I think you have different conversations.”
On RB Kerryon Johnson’s return from injury and his pairing with RB Bo Scarbrough today: “Yeah, and I think Ty (Johnson), too. He ran the ball well today, too. I think for us, the run game is going to be a big part of what we do. It’s going to be an important part of what we try to get done as an offense and I’m proud of Kerryon for coming back. I think it show his competitive nature. I think it shows the type of guy he is, the type of football player he wants to be. Certainly, with Bo, and Ty (Johnson), and J.D. (McKissic), and even Wes Hills – I think those guys every single day came in and worked hard to try to get better and compete. For me, I was just happy to see those guys go out and run as hard as they could today. From that aspect of it, I thought the O-line tried to really do a good job with the blocking, too, in the run game. That was good to see.”
On DT Damon Harrison Sr.’s performance this season and how it affected the interior defensive line’s performance during the year: “We’ll obviously take our time, go back through, and look at all of it from that aspect of it. I certainly think that just in general, we’ve had a bunch of different bodies, maybe in the front, in the linebacker corps, in just moving guys, and guys in-and-out. I think that’s always difficult. I think it is hard in those situations to get the continuity that you’re looking for, especially in the run defense and things like that. It’s part of the game, injuries happen. Just again, give those guys credit for fighting through, and obviously Damon the same thing, fighting through every week to go out and do everything he could to help us. I appreciate that a lot.”
On players playing out of position and if that is a depth issue: “Yeah, I don’t know if it speaks to a depth issue or maybe just the flexibility of some of the players that we have. I think when you have 46 (players) active, you know you have to be ready for certain situations. I think in any position group, if you lose two guys, you’re in a lot of trouble. I’ve certainly played before with wide receivers that have played DB for me in big games. Just understanding that injuries are going to be a part of it, but the more you can do, and the more value you can add to the team in different positions or different situations, then the better the team we’re going to be from that standpoint. Certainly, I think there were reasons for some of it. We had a lot of guys banged up, we had a lot of injuries from that standpoint, so guys had to step up in
different areas, and give them credit for doing that. But again, I think that shows the versatility, and the flexibility of understanding that in the NFL when that stuff happens, somebody has to step up into a role, and go out and try to perform at a high level. I thought those guys were trying to do that today.”
On LB Anthony Pittman’s NFL debut and his work throughout the season to get to this point: “I was excited for him to be out there. I think he is a guy that since we got him, going back to the spring, has really just gotten a lot better. Really through the spring, and then into training camp, you could really see him improve and see that potential moving forward that he might be able help us. Give him credit for just grinding every single day to stay consistent with it. He’s a great kid, he works really hard. He’s the same guy every day in the building. That consistency is what allows us to kind of build upon his ability every single day. You know, he had a great opportunity today, and certainly he went out and did everything he could to help us. He played special teams, he played defense and really, honestly, without missing a beat, which is really hard because we had a lot of different packages today. We were in a situation where we needed him to go out there, and he’s another one of those guys that’s flexible to be able to play a couple of different positions, and he did that. I was really happy for him, and he’s such a great kid and he’s working as hard as he can to try to help this team and be a part of the foundation of this team.”
On S Tavon Wilson’s fourth quarter unnecessary roughness penalty: “I’m going to take a look at it. Certainly, I saw one thing live, but the officials are the ones that see it and they have to call it. We have to protect – player safety is important. That’s the first and foremost with all that. I’ll take a look at it, and certainly there are coaching points usually in those situations that you can come up with through the film and help those guys.”
On the second straight season of running a trick play in the last game of the year: “Yeah, or against Green Bay. Honestly, a lot of those plays that we have – we work on them through the course of the season. Sometimes they come up in the games that we can call them and sometimes they don’t. Certainly, we had one dialed up that we had been working on for a while, and we’re just kind of waiting for the right situation. Obviously, we couldn’t really wait past today. So, thought we’d take a shot.”
On if they had multiple trick plays ready today: “Yeah we had a couple.”
On running the trick play in training camp: “Yup, just every week trying to work on it.”
On DT Damon Harrison Sr.’s injuries throughout the season and how it affects the team: “I think obviously he probably spoke to his own personal situation, but I would say just repeat what I said before. I give him a lot of credit. He came out every single week and tried to do everything he could to help us and battling through all that stuff and show up on Sundays and try to be the anchor in the middle of our defense. So just appreciated his efforts to do that every single week and how hard he worked to do that. It’s a violent game, especially in the middle. He’s in there every single week trying to slug it out, so appreciated that a lot.”
On the passing of WR Marvin Jones Jr.’s youngest son, Marlo: “I’d probably keep all that private. Marvin is a very special person. His family – it’s a wonderful family. He and Jazmyn (Jones) are great people, and my heart is just so saddened for them and with them right now. I was very happy to see him today.”
LIONS QB DAVID BLOUGH QUOTE SHEET
On the trick play where he caught a touchdown pass: “Yeah, they were back in man coverage. So, you know, it was just kind of a fun play we had in, we’ve had in a couple different times this year, and just got it off the card and awesome timing for the call. Danny (Amendola) sold it great. That’s how you hope it comes out.”
On when he got the play call: “Really, when it came to the huddle, when I saw who was out guarding the tight end.”
On if he knew that he should keep the touchdown ball for as keepsake: “You know what, you know, I feel bad because I could have given it to Danny (Amendola). I think it was the second of his career, but I was just, I don’t know, I was kind of excited, obviously.”
On if he could have kept the ball for himself: “Well, I don’t really remember it all that great, let’s be honest.”
On what was going through his mind when the ball was going through the air on the trick play: “Don’t drop it, for sure. You don’t think about that, you play football. You’ve been catching passes in the yard as a kid, we ran it a bunch of times in practice, and you just catch it. I kind of knew I was open, had a couple catches in college. But this was pretty special.”
On WR Marvin Jones Jr.’s family tragedy providing motivation for the Lions today: “Everybody was definitely inspired, wanted to play for our family that was hurting, to tell you the truth. We just came out and we were playing hard and guys were executing well, and it’s a bummer that we couldn’t finish it. But the guys were definitely playing inspired, obviously. We’ve been thinking about Marvin and his family a ton.”
On his late interception: “Yeah, it got me. It was a good play, a good call by the defense. They had me dialed up and just got me caught on the wrong side of the field, and then I made a bad play worse by trying to force it in there. It was just a bad, bonehead play on my part. It can’t happen, especially in a critical part of the game and it really hurt us there at the end.”
On if he feels that he has shown enough over the last month: “That’s not up to me to decide. I think Coach (Matt Patricia) know and Bob (Quinn, Executive Vice President and General Manager) know that I’ve given everything I’ve got. That’s just who I am. I do everything I can for them giving me the opportunity. I’m thankful for them for the opportunity. I’m thankful for Matthew (Stafford), I’m thankful for Jeff (Driskel) – I wouldn’t be able to take the field without my coaches and those guys. They’ll make those decisions – I just try to go out and play ball and do the best I can every week.”
On what he has saw in RB Kerryon Johnson: “What a tough guy, right? No reason for him to risk it, I guess? But he put his heart on the line for the team, put his body on the line and had some great runs. His toughness and football IQ – he puts us in a position to win games. You’re confident in him when he’s back there. It’s great as a young guy – it feels that he’s much older than he is when he’s standing next to you, helping you out. Kerryon is a warrior – that’s for sure.”
On the challenges of having inexperienced wide receivers out on the filed mixed with his own
inexperience: “Yeah that’s definitely part of it. Experience carries a lot of weight. Obviously ‘Marv’ (Marvin Jones Jr.) and Kenny (Golladay) are a great tandem and led the League in touchdowns and things like that all throughout the year. They’re great players. Coach Patricia preaches – it is that next guy up. No matter whoever it was – (Jamal) Agnew, (Chris) Lacy, Travis (Fulgham) – we just had to step up and make plays and I know those guys gave everything they had today. You just learn from it like I’ve been able to do very the last five weeks. You use it to get better.”
LIONS C/G GRAHAM GLASGOW QUOTE SHEET
On if he wants to stay with the Lions and what he sees with free agency looming: “You know, it’s been a long year and I would like to feel like I’m wanted sort of. It’s just been a long year and ideally – we king of need to talk about it.”
On if he has felt like he is wanted by the Lions organization this season : “I’m not going to go into too much of that right now. At this point of time that was last season, that was kind of a joke –but I’m not going to answer that.”
On how to walk away from this season with their record: “I felt like the game was in some ways like a microcosm of our season. We started out really well and I felt like we were –and this wasn’t true for the whole season, but we were running the ball really well and I felt like we ran the ball all game, but just when it came to the second half and finishing the game, we didn’t pull it out and that’s a good team, so give them the credit. They’re going to the playoffs and they’re having a Bye. I wouldn’t let that sway me in any direction. That’s not something that I’m thinking about.”
LIONS DB TRACY WALKER QUOTE SHEET
On how he categorizes today’s game compared to the past few weeks: “Honestly, we just went out there with the same mindset. Just go out there and compete and give it our all and leave it out there on the line. We just ended up coming up short again.”
On his motivation for the game: “Honestly, to just go out there and play for one another like we do each and every week. You know, the score just seemed a little bit closer and we still came up short. We go out there with the mentality every week. We want to go out there and compete and hopefully come up with the win. “
On the next steps now that the season is over: “The next step is to rebuild. We got next year and just actually, just basically, make sure we can’t have another season like this. We’re just going to move forward and look forward to next year and just try to get better.”
LIONS CB DARIUS SLAY QUOTE SHEET
On his motivation today: “Yeah, just trying to fight man. I wanted to bring a win for the team, for Marvin (Jones Jr.), his family, myself. Just trying to fight, I should’ve stayed down. That last drive was special, but I should’ve stayed down. I don’t know what the results would have been, but I should’ve stayed down.”
On Lions DB Tracy Walker trying to get him to go out of the game: “Yeah, I mean, I’m a competitor. This is the last one of the year and I’ve got all offseason to recover. That’s how I was looking at it. So I just wanted to go out there and compete. One of the greatest quarterbacks, I’m going against one of the greatest quarterbacks and receivers. I just wanted to go play ball and I knew that the guys needed me, but they knew that I was hurting really bad.”
On playing for Lions WR Marvin Jones Jr. today: “Yeah, I’m always motivated, but Marvin, that’s my brother, man. They’ve got to heal for a long time. We’re going to compete against each other, we’re going to make each other a lot better than what we came in as, and for that to happen, that tragedy to happen, I put all this weight on my shoulders. I pray for him. I just want to go out there and compete on a high level for him. That’s very, very big. I’m still here for his family and hoping that he is getting through it. I know that he’s a great father and he will keep doing what he’s doing.”
LIONS S TAVON WILSON QUOTE SHEET
On how he feels walking away from this season: “Obviously, when you don’t make the playoffs, I don’t care if you have nine straight losses, seven to eight, whatever, it’s a disappointment. Obviously, we got a long way to go and we going to start from scratch next year, like everybody else and we gone see what happens.”
On what the team needs to do to close the gap: “I don’t know, that’s a (question) for Coach (Matt Patricia). You would have to ask Coach and Bob (Quinn) and those guys some of those questions.”
On losing a majority of games where the team had a lead: “Obviously as a defender you take that to heart. You know, when you had a lead a lot of time in games this year and you want to come on and win those games. For whatever reason we haven’t and we got to keep improving and try to win those games.”
On if this a season he wants to forget about: “I’m a competitor. This season is going to fuel me for next year and everything I do going forward, so no, I’m not going to forget it. I’m going to remember every moment of it.”
