LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOHN MORTON QUOTE SHEET
October 17, 2025
Opening Statement: “Glad you guys are doing good, going against (Buccaneers Head Coach) Todd Bowles. Kept me up late last night. No, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Todd does a great job, obviously I’ve worked with him before. It’s a blitz fest. We’ve got to be ready, and we will. But we’re looking forward to this game.”
On how much the variety Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard threw at the offense during training camp prepares the unit for the looks they will see this week: “Yeah, it does. It helps. We’ve got a veteran group, and they’ve seen a lot. (Lions QB) Jared (Goff)’s seen a lot. When you’ve got a veteran group and you’ve seen a lot of looks and we’re practicing against it, actually, we’ve been pretty good. Jared’s been awesome this year. RCE, recognizing things. And protection-wise, he’s more involved with all that. So, we feel really good where we’re at right now as far as the gameplan.”
On what he has seen from the offensive unit this week coming off a loss: “You’re exactly right, what you just said. We were the cause of a lot of things that happened in the Kansas City Game. We didn’t take advantage of some of those opportunities, where normally we do. But listen, these guys don’t blink. Everyday is the same to them, win or lose. Same attitude. That’s the way these guys have been brought up, and it’s just awesome to see that. Nobody’s head’s down or anything like that. The way (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) coaches this team, the way we prepare these guys. Just like you said, this veteran group. Let’s just go, let’s move on. We move on, we make the corrections, and we move on. That’s what we’ve done so far this year.”
On the plays he would want back from last week’s game: “Obviously the touchdown that was not a touchdown, and that starts there. You know, the fourth-and-2 call. That was a big miss right there. That could’ve – we were feeling pretty good right there, so that hurt right there. It wasn’t particularly just calls, it was, ‘Ah, we didn’t execute.’”
On how he would coach the penalized trick play touchdown differently next time: “Well, he’s got to be a yard back. That’s the rule. (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell)’s already talked about that, so I’m not talking about that.”
On how much Lions QB Jared Goff’s temperament makes his job as a coach easier: “A lot. I mean, he’s the CEO of this place. So, when you’ve got a veteran guy like that, we’re always talking, ‘Hey I want this, I want that. I’d like to have this.’ It’s awesome. When you have that dialogue with the quarterback, it just makes it so much easier for me and everybody. Everybody sees how much confidence he has to do things, and it’s paid off for us. So yeah, it’s big time.”
On if Lions WR Jameson Williams gets enough credit for how tough he is at his size: “Well I would think so. I mean, you put our tape on. All the wideouts. But he’s like a kamikaze, man, going in there. He’s like, ‘Bam, bam.’ He just bounces off guys. Receivers his size, they don’t go do that. He’s tough, man. I mean, we’re not going to draft guys that are not tough. I just love what he’s doing, it was good to see what he did last week, man. It was awesome.”
On how committed he is to getting Lions RB David Montgomery more involved throughout the game: “Listen, we always have a plan to try to get guys an equal amount of balls. I mean, we didn’t have enough plays last week. I mean, we only had like seven or eight series. That’s what happens in the game. As the game goes, it just so happens it had to be that way. It’s not like we’re going in, ‘You’re not getting this, you’re not getting that.’ Every game is different, I’ve told you guys. It might be D-Mo this time, it might be (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs the next time. It might be somebody else. That’s just the way it goes.”
On if the effort to get Lions RB David Montgomery more touches changes his gameplan for the week: “I can’t give you that answer. Like I said, every game changes. As the game goes, it changes, the ebb and flow of the game. We want this, we want that. It’s just the way it goes. Our guys are unselfish, that’s the beauty of it. There’s not a lot of pressure for that, to get that done.”
On how much more difficult it makes planning the offense when a defensive coach like Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles can switch things up: “Well you’ve got a lot of tape to watch. I always say if I could start all over being a coach, I’d probably be a defensive coach so I could just dial up anything I want at any time because that’s basically what he’s doing. Listen, we have to prepare for everything. Protection-wise, that’s the biggest thing. You give them all the looks that you can give, especially the things that they’re doing this year. You’ve already played them three times, you go back there, and you look at those games. You look at games of other teams that are similar to us, similar to the quarterback. But you look at everything. I mean listen, (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Hank (Fraley) does a great job of putting the protection plan together. I mean, he’s awesome. He’s the best I’ve ever seen. How he breaks it down is pretty cool. I think he’s done a great job. And the quarterback’s there, he’s on it. We’ll have our protection meetings, they’re all on it with the backs. It’s a cool thing. But man, when you watch it, it’s like 80-percent blitz. So, you’ve just got to go. Sometimes you’ve just got to throw hot. You’ve got to have quick answers. But the biggest thing is, we try to make sure he’s protected. Because when he’s protected, he’s deadly. Our guys know, hey, we’ve got to get the ball in their hands. If it’s third-and-long, we might have to throw something quick so we can get the ball and they get the first down, because we’re pretty good after the catch.”
On why Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is such a force against Tampa Bay: “He’s pretty good. He’s a pretty good player.”
On if there is something specific that Tampa Bay’s defense does that leads to Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown being the ideal target: “No. I mean listen, you put a third-down plan together, you’ve got to have a plan for, ‘Saint, OK, they might do this, they might do that. OK, (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta.’ Those two guys have been stepping up big time. Someone else is going to have to step up, and we’ll be ready for that. We’re always – the contingency plan, when they try to take Saint away, but now you’ve got LaPorta. Now (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo, now you’ve got (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf. You’ve got the back, (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs. All those guys, man. That’s a lot of weapons. So, that’s why he pressures, to see if he can get home. So, we can’t protect or we can’t get open.”
On how he has seen Lions QB Jared Goff succeed against the blitz: “Just the communication, the RCE. You guys have already seen it this year. If he sees something, we get to our blitz check, and he can see everything. Listen, he’s a veteran guy. And he studies, man. This guy works his butt off. He’s like a coach, and it’s really cool when you’ve got a guy – the trigger, he’s like that. He’s like a coach. It makes it so much easier. And he’s seen a lot of ball. That’s the reason he’s so good. He’s not only good at the blitz, he’s good at everything right now to me. I mean, who throws almost 80 percent almost every game? So, it’s a tribute to him.”
On what time he turned off Tampa Bay’s defensive film last night: “I don’t know, one or something. We were all in here, man. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to make sure you’re right, make sure you’re preparing for everything. But a guy like this, these guys that blitz a lot, you just want to make sure you’re right.”
On what Lions T Taylor Decker can help bring to the team if he plays this week: “Gives me a little boost so I don’t have to slide over there a lot. And the quarterback. I mean, just everybody. It’s good when you’ve got your starters. It’s a good feeling that you don’t have to go over there to that side and help out as much and get guys out, especially the backs and stuff. Or even just receivers or tight ends where sometimes they’re chipping, and they don’t get out as fast. So, when you’ve got your tackles, your starting tackles, it makes it a lot easier.”
On Lions OL Trystan Colon and what he looks for in a sixth offensive lineman: “Well, I think a guy that’s kind of done it. So, if a guy has done it, then it helps. The unknown is, ‘OK, we don’t know. Let’s try this guy.’ Like, (Lions T Dan Skipper) Skip has done it. So, it’s good that they’ve done it, they feel comfortable with it being out there. Especially if you go from a center or a guard, and now you’re out here because you’re basically like a tackle. So, I think that’s the comfort zone of that player. His ability to be able to do it, I think that’s where it goes where you decide who’s out there.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KELVIN SHEPPARD QUOTE SHEET
October 17, 2025
Opening Statement: “Alright, so we’ll recap KC real briefly and then – because I would like to move forward to Tampa Bay being on Monday night. But just looking back, obviously we took a tough loss on the road to Kansas City – good football team. They did a lot of good things in that game, but at the same time we failed to execute simple things within our defense, especially early on in that game. That’s probably one of the more disappointing things leaving that Kansas City game. We always go into games week-to-week, no matter the opponent, saying let’s make them beat us and let’s not go out and beat ourselves. Especially when you play a team of that caliber, you can’t give them anything and we did early in the game. And then midpoint of the game coming out of the second half there was a couple of things in the defense that shouldn’t have been missed that were missed. And then a lot of missed opportunities within that game from some of our better players. And in those types of games you need those players to make some of those plays that they weren’t able to make. But outside of that, just statistically, I thought we did a good job in the run game. We understood in that game that we were going to try to protect some of the guys on the outside and hold some more shell looks and do some different things coverage-wise. So, we put the hard hat on the front and those guys did that for the most part in the game – I think they were 3.9 per carry. And then I’d say the rest of the game it felt like we were one off. And what I mean by that is, you started to look at the red zone, I believe they were four-of-six. We say we want to be 50 percent or less, so we were one off there. You look at third down, they were 40 percent. We wanted to hold teams to under 35 percent, we were one off there. And a lot of those you look at – you make these excuses. A lot of narratives out there, penalties, things like that. What we do is control what we can and we had multiple opportunities and multiple of those situations to control those outcomes and make a different outcome and our guys didn’t do that. But all of this stuff has been addressed. And more importantly, the players have come back in the building very optimistic for this week, looking forward to another great team, another great challenge on the big stage. So, I’m looking forward to the way we respond this week.”
On what the focus and teaching points have been for Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson in producing strip sacks: “Yeah, it’s not by accident is what I’ll say. I mean obviously everybody sees the big plays with Hutch, but if you really dissect our tape it’s all over the tape now – guys violently punching at the ball. It was an emphasis, we talked about it back during OTAs, that carried through – the momentum carried through in training camp. I told you guys, you go back to some of these when I stood before you in training camp I told you, when (Lions Special Assistant to President/CEO and Chairperson Chris) Spielman stopped me at the tea machine, the coffee machine and said, ‘That’s the most aggressive, violent attacking of the football I’ve seen in a practice.’ So, this stuff isn’t happening by accident. It starts with the players taking ownership in it, understanding how it can change the outcome of the game, understanding what the nature of our offense and how explosive they are. You give our offense the ball on the plus-50, a lot of times that’s going to turn into seven points. So, it’s become an emphasis, but the players are making it happen. They’re going out and now it’s turning into a competitive thing where everybody wants to be that guy showing up on the takeaway tape every week. And Hutch had one – now we had an opportunity to make a big play there. If (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell) or (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske could’ve found a way to come up with that one, that would’ve been our second takeaway in that game.”
On if Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson has a special knack for forcing fumbles or if it is because he is such a great pass rusher: “It’s more importantly, not just that, it’s just we went in this offseason saying, ‘Looking at it, you know you get a sack by knocking the ball out of the quarterback’s hand as well, but that’s a more impactful play.’ So now, like I said, it’s not only Hutch. That’s what’s kind of in the spotlight, but Hutch will tell you, look at (Lions CB) Amik Robertson. He’s been doing it for two years, violently attacking the ball. Look at (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell). I mean they just sent out a memo and the tape of the way that Jack is doing it. And I mean it’s violent, it’s aggressive and it’s the way we play. We won’t make excuses, and I hope it continues to show up and I hope it upticks as we progress in the season.”
On what memo was sent out about Lions LB Jack Campbell: “Just the emphasis on punching at the ball. They want to make sure you’re punching the ball and not the player – whatever that means.”
On what he expects or would like to see out of Lions DL Alim McNeill in his first game back: “Well the expectation or the standard? Because the expectation means nothing to me, but the standard that I expect Alim to come back and play at is a high one, is one that he set for himself as a player. It’s not one that I’m putting on him or outsiders are putting on him. I expect Alim to come in and show what he’s shown the last two weeks on the practice field. Like I said, it’s like he didn’t miss a beat. Now, obviously you’re not taking hard-core doubles and true pounding and – you know that live in-game you may find yourself in kind of an eight-play sequence there that you can’t simulate on the field. So, it’s all that stuff – getting his legs back up under him. But I mean I expect this player to play at a high level and more importantly help our defense in a tremendous way.”
On if he wants to put Lions CB Rock Ya-Sin at safety this week given the safety depth situation and communication required that would be difficult for a new player to adjust to immediately: “No, absolutely not. Rock is playing at a good level, in my opinion, outside at corner and we don’t want to mess with that. And then that’ll be disrespectful to the other guys that have been working their tails off on this roster. The (Lions S) Thomas Harper’s, (Lions S) Loren Strickland, the (Lions S) Erick Hallett (II)’s of the world. All these guys that people have probably never heard of, I tell these guys, ‘It’s time to introduce yourself to not only the Detroit community but the NFL community.’ It’s a tremendous opportunity for these guys. It’s a tremendous opportunity. I mean this could be your one shot. Like you talk about it all the time, these overnight stories and overnight kind of celebrities – it’s not overnight. It’s just that was the night that they got introduced to the world. These guys have been working for this moment, they’ve been waiting on this moment. And again, I just try to remind these guys, ‘It’s not pressure but this could be your one moment that makes or breaks your NFL career, that changes the trajectory of your family. So go make the most of it. Have fun with it.’ And I mean I honestly can’t wait to watch.”
On how much he feels the defense at practice has helped Lions QB Jared Goff improve against the blitz: “Well I know it’s helped him because not only him but (Lions Offensive Coordinator John Morton) Johnny Mo tells him. He was like, ‘Coming out of training camp with you guys, they feel like they’re prepared for anything.’ And that’s a credit to not only myself but my staff. Like I said, this isn’t my defense, this is our defense. It’s a lot of hands in the jar on this thing and we present a lot of defense week-to-week and that takes a staff, not just one person. But JG’s awesome. When I tell you he’s been in my office more than ever – I said, ‘I guess when I was a linebacker coach I was a nobody because you never came in my office.’ Now he’s in my office every week. But to have a quarterback of his magnitude – one of the best in the NFL and he’s playing like it – just to have the relationship that I do with him, just continuing to build it strongly. He gives me nuggets, things that he sees because (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) makes sure we do competitive things still within the season – good-on-good. So he’ll come back and be like, ‘Shepp you shouldn’t.’ Or, ‘If the quarterback sees this, you need to be careful because they’ll get to this.’ Just having a quarterback like that, that much detail, that much care to come up with the defensive coordinator every week. Just to drop whether that’s two minutes or 20 minutes, he’s done that with me this whole season and it’s been beneficial. And I think we’re very compatible – we kind of bounce things off each other and I do the same for him. So, it’s a great relationship.”
On if he has seen Lions QB Jared Goff process and fix his play against defensive pressure on the next time through a sequence: “Absolutely. I mean he’ll do it in play. Not just learning from that play, but he’s a guy that processes very fast in-play. That’s something he’s – gradually that I’ve seen him – gradually grow in doing. And that guy’s operating at a high level, the highest in the League in my opinion. I’m very fortunate as a coordinator to have him on the other side of the ball as the quarterback.”
On how his relationship with Lions QB Jared Goff started: “Oh, I mean just throughout. I think real guys respect other real guys. Like at the end of the day you watch not what anybody says, but you watch how people work and you respect it in this game. This is a tough business that we’re in, that we’ve all signed up for and are very fortunate to be a part of. But you respect it because you do see people that do it another way, right, wrong or indifferent. And that’s pretty much as far as I’ll take that. Real guys respect real guys, we have mutual respect for each other and I think we want to see each other benefit and win because both of us will have mutual beneficiaries off of that.”
On how he has seen Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield’s play evolve over the last three seasons in Tampa Bay: “Baker makes that offense go, and it’s been that way no matter who the play-caller has been over the last couple seasons. Ultimate competitor. He’s everything that we’re a part of here. Like (Buccaneers Head Coach) Todd Bowles, they run a very similar ship over there down in Tampa. It’s the reason they’ve been winners there since Todd has been there, since (Buccaneers Senior Advisor to the General Manager) Bruce (Arians) was there because they run a real program, a real organization. And he’s the head of that snake and he does a tremendous job. I mean he’s won in four of these games where their record could be 1-4. You know what I mean? And because they have him at quarterback, they’re 5-1. So, I tip my hat off to them. He’s a tough guy. He’s a tough guy to deal with because when it seems like there’s nothing there, he finds a way to pull his team through. So, he makes that thing go. The coordinators are smart because they don’t try to change much, they understand what works for him and they carried over. There’s some nuances that changed motion-wise, schematically, but for the most part it’s Baker’s show.”
On if he has had a conversation with Lions DB Brian Branch about keeping the balance between playing with fire but going about it differently: “Yeah, we have conversations all the time. I’m missing my guy, haven’t seen him this week. I mean he’s pretty much spoken for on the situation, so I’ll speak to the person and my relationship with him. I believe it’s my job to be a mentor in that department to him because I have been in his shoes. At one point I was a kind of toeing the line kind of player that played with that type of edge. But I told him you just have to understand you have 60 minutes to be able to do whatever you want to do to another man and kind of leave it right there.’ Because outside of the field, I mean the most soft-spoken guy you’ll ever meet, the most respectable guy you’ll ever meet. But those 30 seconds in that spotlight could change how people view you and how people see you. So just always remember that in this profession, in life, one wrong decision could now peg you as a person that you’re nowhere near to being. So, I think he understands that more than anybody right now and he’ll learn and grow from that situation.”
On if he has seen the ‘Turning Point’ NFL Films video tweeted about Lions DB Brian Branch and the language they used in regard to his suspension: “No, I don’t think I’ve seen that. But I think I back anything our players say. We’re one family here, so I’ll let his teammates address anything that’s said social media-wise. And just know I stand with our players and our coaches.”
On who taught him lessons like he has with Lions DB Brian Branch when he was an emotional player: “Oh, I mean it’s a lengthy amount of people just throughout my career. When I got to college, everybody from the (former NFL WR) Dwayne Bowe’s, the (former NFL LB) Ali Highsmith’s. Throughout my playing career, running into guys like (former NFL WR) Reggie Wayne and (former NFL LB) Robert Mathis. Just those guys kind of seeing how one thing could kind of tick me off and kind of when I get there it’s hard to pull me back. But them opening my eyes and understanding that for 20 seconds you having that type of temperament can really change a bigger picture thing for you. So, just understanding that, learning and growing.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
October 17, 2025
On if he has seen kickers throughout the League adjusting with starting at the 20-yard line: “Actually no, not so much. I think some guys do better than others. I think the teams that can do it, and figured out a way to do it, are still doing it. Most of the other teams, not so much. I think a lot of the other teams are starting to figure out that placement on that kick is – if you can’t get the ball on the ground consistently and have it be like an irregular hop and something like that, I think people are finding out that the best thing you can do is place the ball.”
On if he has enjoyed being a part of a blank slate of football in regard to attacking in multiple different ways: “That’s a great question. Enjoy, yeah, some parts of me absolutely love it and the challenge, and there’s other parts to me that’s like, ‘Man.’ It’s frustrating, it’s hard, it puts a lot of stress on me, being honest with you. Because it looks easy to cover those kicks, but the difference in covering it well and covering it poorly is very thin. I’ll give you an example. Couple weeks ago, or maybe a week or two ago, I was watching a game. OK, so ‘Team A’ kicks off and they run down the field and they have two guys hammer the returner at the 25-yard line. Just hammer the guy. The guy breaks the tackle, bounces off it, spins around, rolls out, he goes to the far 30. The special teams coach on the return team, he’s all fired up. He’s like, ‘Man, we did great.’ The special teams coach on the kick cover team, he’s distraught. And the guy who really did a good job of coaching the play was the guy on the kick cover team. He had two free guys at the point of attack, hammering the guy at the 25-yard line, and he’s the one distraught. And the guy who did a poor job had two unblocked players hammering their returner at the 25-yard line, and he’s fired up because the ball is on the far 30 right now. It’s just totally backwards. So, I would say there’s a lot of that to the play. It’s like, ‘Man.’ It’s really a game of inches. I know some people are saying, ‘Well there’s not that many huge returns.’ There’s a lot of fascinating numbers right now, not that I’m a numbers guy. But there’s like just under 800 returns for the season right now. A year ago, the whole season, there’s like 900. So, we’re just 100 under, so after this week, we’ll have more returns than a year ago. There’s fewer touchdown returns on the kick return side, there’s also fewer negative plays tackled deep down the field from the kickoff return side. So, both teams have kind of slowly taken some of the extremes out of it, but still, there’s a lot of stress on the play. I think the big one is like, at any given point you can give up a few yards on it. Ball comes out to the 40, well, if that’s the end of the game and there’s 20 seconds left on the clock, it’s a huge difference in the game. Anyways, you’re trying to make sure you do the best you can. I think we continue to evolve and learn. I feel like our guys – the last couple of weeks, we’ve done a really good job on kick coverage. Not the last game, but I think the four games preceding that one kickoff return. We started with the ball outside the 31, I think the last three, the 34-yard line. Which like, real positive. Although we haven’t had those huge explosive plays, I think the last four weeks minus the last game have been pretty good. So, yeah, it’s interesting. It’s fun. I mean the bottom line is it is fun. Because I was sitting in there – I mean, I’ve stayed up a lot of nights. Woke up in the middle of the night a lot thinking about the play. Come in early a lot. But I think we’re starting to slowly get a handle on it.”
On the rarity of Lions P Jack Fox’s ability to pin an opponent without penalizing the team: “Yeah, I think we have 13 inside the 20s, which I think is second best in the League. So yeah, I’m with you. The net’s not as high, but obviously that’s different. He’s been doing a great job punting the ball situationally. Which the irony of that would be when I first got here, I said that was a thing. You guys asked me what could he improve on the most, and I said situational punting, and he’s really come a long way with that. It’s difficult to do, it takes the whole team. Obviously, it starts with the snap, getting a good snap helps him be able to put the ball where he wants to. (Lions LS) Hogan (Hatten)’s done a great job at helping him out, and then having gunners who can run down the field and get down there. (Lions WR Isaac) TeSlaa in the Cincinnati game makes a great play and keeps that ball from going in the end zone. Some of it, a lot of it has to do with where the ball is on the field, the offense moving the ball and putting us in that towards the middle of the field area. At least minus-40 or a forward of that, and that certainly helps a lot. Having a chance to put it down in there, it cuts down your net but gives you a chance to pin them deep. So yeah, I think there’s a lot to go into it, but certainly Fox has done a great job.”
On Kansas City missing a PAT in last week’s game and if the team’s rushing attack impacted that at all: “I don’t think we impacted that, but I would say that I thought our rush was very, very good in that game. I think the fourth rep of the game, we had (Lions EDGE Tyrus) Wheat – came kind of darn near scot-free on the thing. We didn’t block it, and the kicker did a good job getting lift on the ball in fairly good operation time. But, had our best shot of it. I thought that was kind of our best game from a field goal block standpoint. Rushing it is a little thing, nobody really sees until you block one. But I thought they played in that game. I think he just missed a kick, he hit a bit high on the ball, wrapped around the top of it and went off to his left, our right.”
On how Lions K Jake Bates has mastered his kickoff abilities in different settings: “Yeah, he’s really become much better at it, which was a thing I’ve challenged him with and talk to you guys about. So, I give him a lot of credit. He puts a lot of time and energy into it, it’s not easy. Especially when you get outside and you’re dealing with different conditions, the wind’s blowing left to right, and a little bit at you when one way, then it’s right to left then a little bit with you the other way. And the wind’s changing throughout the course of the game and you’re still trying to put the ball in the same spot. I do think that, he and I talk about it, this play, you want much more from that position, you want a sniper. A guy who can place the ball exactly where you want it. You don’t want a guy spraying it around down there or a drive-by shooter. You want somebody who can place it right where you want it. Some of it has to do with the way the return teams align, some of it has to do with what your coverage scheme is and your plan going into that play. So, it’s really important. I think another thing, people always say – (Lions Senior Manager of Football Communications) Solomon (Williams) said something about to me before the meeting here is kickoff return yards. Kickoff return yards to me don’t matter, it’s obviously drive start. And the further back you force the returner to start with the ball, since we’re into math. Do the math. If he starts at the goal line, we start at the 40 and we both go at the same speed, we’re going to meet at the 20. So, he has a 20-yard return, and we met at the 20-yard line. Alright, he starts at the 10 and we start at the 40 and we cut the distance in half, he has a 15-yard return, but they start at the 25. So, his return yards are way down, he didn’t do as well, but your drive start was five yards better. So ultimately, I think the thing that’s important at the end of that play is drive start, not return yards. And the guy who can affect that the most is really the kicker. So, even if they have a high number of return yards against us, if they start further back, that’s obviously better for our football team.”
On utilizing the second kickoff returner to get a running start to block for the primary returner: “Yeah. I mean, that’s a whole other element of the play in terms of the kick. It’s not only placement, but the way I would word it or phrase it would be if the kicker can affect the returners’ feet is really important. Because I think, as we do the picture in our head, if that returner’s rolling into the catch, well then he’s maybe getting a little head start on the coverage unit or waiting for the guy to get caught and they’re stationary. So, he’s got a running start, so now instead of us meeting at the 20, we meet at the 22 or the 23. So, you’re fighting for every inch. Well, if the kicker is going to affect that guy’s feet, and he’s going backwards catching the ball or he’s going sideways catching the ball and we’re coming downhill at them, maybe we get them two yards further back. So yeah, it’s like this fine line. You’re fighting for yards here and there in little ways.”
On why he put Lions WR Dominic Lovett at the kick returner position at the end of last week’s game: “Good question. It was a point in the game where we had seen a bunch of the others. We had seen (Lions RB) Craig (Reynolds) return the ball a bunch. We’ve kind of been wanting to see Lovett back there at some point, we haven’t had a lot of opportunities to do it. And at that point of the game, it’s like, ‘Hey, what the heck man. If we can break one, put somebody else different back there, see what he can do.’ And that helps us kind of going forward, too. It’s like, do we really want to go into a game and commit to putting him back there deep and playing with him there. So, it was a little bit more of trying to get an evaluation on a player and a certain situation of the game. And I thought he did a nice job. I mean honestly, I thought Craig did a nice job in the game. It wasn’t our best game from a return standpoint, but I don’t think it was just him. It was a combination of the blockers, and it was a combination of the group that we played against. I thought both them and us did a good job in coverage going into that game. It was tough for both sides to return the ball going into the game, or coming out of that game.”
