LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOHN MORTON QUOTE SHEET
October 30, 2025
Opening Statement: “Tough opponent this week, preparing for (Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian) Flores. He does a really good job. It’ll be a challenge this week, but our guys are going to be prepared, and we’ll be ready. Looking forward to it, getting back on the field after a little time off.”
On if he has thought about how to get Lions WR Jameson Williams more involved on offense: “I’m not going to let you know that, but yeah. Yeah, I looked at everything, as far as that. I’m going to do a better job with that. But there have been opportunities where it just didn’t happen. It’s not like we aren’t going to try to target him. So, that was the biggest thing. So, I looked at everything, and I failed him. That’s what I told him. I have to do a better job with that. But it’s a two-way street. We definitely looked at that.”
On how Lions WR Jameson Williams has responded to not getting as many offensive looks: “He’s great. Listen man, this guy, he’s awesome. He doesn’t say anything, he just goes and plays. Like I said, I wouldn’t fault you if you were pissed at me, because I’ve coached that position. I’ve played that position. And I know he works too hard. But we’ve got to make sure that we’re going out and doing the right thing, the right techniques and this and that. It’s not just him, it’s everybody.”
On when he and Lions WR Jameson Williams had a conversation about his targets and what his reaction was: “He was great, he was great. He doesn’t sweat it. I’m like, ‘Listen, man, I’m going to do a better job.’ That’s my job during the bye week, because I stayed here. And that was my job, and third down, to really study that. And just create how to get him open. Because there’s a lot of, especially on third down, they’re doubling (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint, they’re doubling him, there’s a lot of stuff that’s going on. So, I have to be creative. I have to go in the archives to try to get these guys open better.”
On how difficult it is to get going on third-and-long situations: “Listen, I looked at all the third downs. And put, ‘OK, why did it happen?’ It’s a collective. It’s a collective, the reason that we’re not having results on certain times. What it boils down to is just execution. I know everybody says that, but really that’s what it is. Because there might be a guy open, oh, we didn’t pick it up right, or somebody got beat, or we dropped the ball. It’s all these things, it’s all collectively. Or it was a bad call on my part. That was the biggest thing that I took from it. Because if you take some of that stuff away, even the last game there were a couple opportunities, man, we could’ve had some big plays, and it just didn’t happen. So, the scheme of things, that’s what I was like, ‘Man, what are we doing wrong here?’ It wasn’t that, it was just like, man, collectively, when we do things right, pretty damn good. Pretty damn good. That was the biggest thing I took from it. And I went back and watched every single one of the third downs last year that Detroit ran last year, and it’s the same type of concept. I mean in my mind, that’s kind of the stuff I’ve been doing. I want to run the same type of concepts, and I’ve got to dress it up with formations here and there and find ways to get guys off. But we have to do it collectively as a group. It’s not just one individual, it’s collectively where we’re breaking down. And sometimes we’re getting beat at critical times. It happened in the Kansas City game. We had a chance to hit (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo for a big old play on third down, and we got beat. So, that’s what’s going on on third down. And then sometimes, third-and-long and things, we’re in four down, I’m trying to get fourth-and-2, and sometimes the call is not trying to get the first down sometimes, and that happens sometimes when you look at it. That’s kind of what’s going on. I feel good where we’re at right now. We just put the third down package in, I feel really good. We have to be prepared for everything with (Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian) Flores. It’s all about protection up front. That’s the number one thing we’ve got, because it doesn’t matter about all the plays.”
On what Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores defenses do so well: “They cause havoc up front. A lot of moving parts up front, coverages, different types of coverages. Does a really good job in man-zone tells. But really, it starts up front. Trying to break down your protections to get guys through, even in the run game and everything like that. It’s kind of calmed down a little bit this year, I think based on some of their injuries that they’ve had. But listen, everybody plays us differently, so we have to expect the unexpected with him. That’s the biggest thing.”
On why Lions QB Jared Goff has had so much success against Minnesota’s defense in years past: “I think they have run the ball pretty well, I think that’s been the biggest thing. Trying to create some big plays that way. That’s the biggest thing that I took from it. And when you do that, when you try to create some big plays and run the ball, I mean it helps out everything.”
On how he can open up more deep ball opportunities for Lions QB Jared Goff: “Yeah, if the defense stopped playing shell all the time. I mean, that’s really the biggest thing. I mean, look at our personnel. I mean, teams are playing us differently because of who we have out there. So, don’t get me wrong, we have plays for shots, and it’s just not there sometimes. That’s just the way it goes. First and second down, we’re taking a shot. If it’s not there, we check it down. We’re not going to force anything. I think you create big plays when you have – third down, you can do that when you get more man-to-man and things like that, you can create some big plays. You know, we’re pretty good after the catch in the League, and that’s where we’ve been getting a lot of our big plays. But as the season goes on and people catch up to your tendencies, ‘Oh, this guy is getting this.’ Defenses are not dumb. We always have plays where we’re trying to take shots. If it’s not there, we’re going to be smart. There’s no question.”
On how big patience is for a quarterback: “I mean that’s what (Lions QB) Jared (Goff)’s done, he’s done a great job. He’s done a great job with that. That’s smart football. If it’s there, we take it. If it’s not, we check it down. You don’t force anything, you don’t just throw it up. That’s not what you do.”
On if Lions WR Jameson Williams understands how to contribute even if he is not getting looks on offense: “He understands. He totally understands.”
On his hometown connection with Lions CB Nick Whiteside and if he had conversations with him after his Week 7 performance: “No, I didn’t even see what he did because I’m too consumed in what I’m doing. I mean, I heard the crowd. I saw the replays. I think it’s awesome to have somebody from my high school that can do that. It’s kind of like my story a little bit. He’s had a lot of ups and downs and has fought his way. And listen, he had an opportunity, he did a good job. And hopefully that gives him confidence, and you never know what can happen. When you get confidence, guys change in different environments.”
On if there is anything Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs that impresses him the most: “Everything. He’s a freak, man. We’re getting a lot of explosive plays from him, just get him the ball. Or it’s a run, a quick screen, routes. He’s very impressive. And the more he does it, the better he’s going to get. I was with (Dolphins TE Darren) Waller in Vegas, he was a freak. He was six-foot-six, 255 pounds and runs a 4.3. I mean, come on. It’s crazy. I look at him every day. Him, it’s just about being consistent and everything and mastering your craft. Don’t get bored at what you do, be great at it. That’s what great players do all the time. He’s been pretty impressive, no doubt.”
On his assessment of where the team’s run game is through seven games: “I think we’ve been pretty efficient as of late. I know we’ve got some big plays. Listen, (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Hank (Fraley) does a great job, Coach (Lions Head Coach Dan) Campbell. Those guys do a great job with the run game of trying to scheme – again, people play us differently. It’s a loaded box. We’re running the ball in a loaded box where normally people say, ‘Let’s just throw it.’ But why do we do that? Because our wideouts block. Our wideouts block, and teams know that. But we don’t care, because they block. A lot of teams do care because a lot of receivers don’t block the way our guys do. Because that’s why we’re a great team, we’re unselfish. So, I’m not worried about that right now.”
On why teams play them differently: “When you’ve got weapons like we do, or you play a division opponent, right? They kind of know what you do. When we watched them on defense, we were watching other teams in our division because you know how to play each other. When you see that, when other teams see what we’re doing, they pick up on things. And then, ‘Oh, that’s a big tendency. Oh, we’re going to do this.’ So that’s why we stay on top of our self-scout and everything. Or coverage-wise, third down. Maybe we won’t see a lot of man-to-man. I don’t know.”
On if teams play them differently because of their personnel: “There’s no question. It’s all about the personnel, it is all about the personnel. I mean, we’ve got five weapons. If you’ve got one or two, you can just go over there and just shut that down. That’s why, when I was talking to the guys about third down, some guys are going to have to step up. Because (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint is getting double, and now (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo is getting doubled. So, we have to step up that way, but that’s what happens. That’s why I stay here, and that’s why we find ways to get guys these guys open the best way that we can.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KELVIN SHEPPARD QUOTE SHEET
October 30, 2025
Opening Statement: “Obviously there’s no game to recap, just coming off the bye week. Took a little time to decompress, go back home with the family, with the kids. And then outside of that, just took a kind of deep dive into us and who we’ve been through seven weeks. In doing that, it’s a lot of what we all know – I get up here each week, give you a synopsis of the prior week. But then there were some things that we kind of didn’t know. Schematically, obviously I’m not going to disclose that, but we found some things there where we lean heavier in some areas where going into the year we kind of didn’t want to and things like that. So, we’ve made changes to that already. And then statistically, I kind of looked at some areas that I believe we should be better and will be better at, starting with the red zone. When you allow teams down there, it’s huge that you limit points in those situations. Call them kind of the four-point plays as far as when teams are in that seven-point striking distance and you only give up a field goal. So, we’ve definitely got to uptick there. And then believe it or not, on third-and-long. And I know it probably has a lot to do with that Cincinnati play. But the third-and-11-plus, we’re in the lower, kind of bottom five of the League. And obviously third down is something having an experienced coach like (Lions Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs) Deshea Townsend – he looked at that and kind of pointed to a couple of things that we could do differently there as well to kind of make sure that we’re improving and kind of thriving when we get teams in that third-and-long situation. But outside of that, I like where we’re at as a defense right now going into the back half of the season. Obviously, we all want to be better and will be better. But I do want to credit the things that these guys have come out and done thus far through seven weeks.”
On how he stays focused on his current job while hearing his name spoken about for other positions and if he learned how to navigate it from when Jets Head Coach Aaron Glenn and Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson went through that process: “Yes, and not just learning from them but learning from my own life. When you have success and failure, that comes with certain changes. But always trying to – it’s kind of cliché but being where your feet are. I’m very blessed and fortunate to hold the position that I do here as a defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions – a winning, soon-to-be championship organization. And I don’t take that lightly. This position comes with a lot. And whether you’re in this position or you’re a QC or you’re a janitor, if you start to look out and stretch out looking for other things, you will lose the things that you do hold onto currently. And I’ve seen that. I’ve seen that happen to people. I’ve seen it happen to players chasing contracts, chasing plays on the field instead of letting things come to you. When you put your head down – I didn’t get to this position by trying to be the defensive coordinator in Detroit. I got to this position by understanding what my role was within this organization. I got to this position by understanding you’ve got to put your head down and go back to work whether you have success or failure. So, I’m going to remain to do that. And whatever may lay out there for me – God willing – that’s going to happen. But that’s going to happen through success in my current position, not through anything else. Not by politicking for anything, not by trying to set headlines a certain way. By putting my head down and giving this organization the best version of myself and that’s what I plan to continue to do.”
On if he has kept up with what is going on with LSU football and what he thinks the team needs in their next head coach: “Obviously I’ve kept up with them, that’s my alma mater. I keep up with them every year, every week. When you cut me open, I kind of tell people because there’s things running right now. You cut me open, I’m not going to lie to you and say I’m all Lion. No, I spent five years – well six if you include the year of coaching down there. That place molded me into the man that I am today and still becoming. You cut me open, I’m a ‘Liger’ – I think that’s what they call it. Half-lion, half-tiger. But that school expects championships, and they should. We hoisted the trophy when I was there, they hoisted one after I left there. The standard down there – just like we’ve created the standard here, through hard work, through what you put out there – is championships. It’s not just being around, it’s not being competitive and it’s not winning. We should win, that’s what we put ourselves in position to do over the course of time – it’s championships. And that school deserves that, that fanbase deserves that and I know the people down there in place will make sure that happens moving forward.”
On if he is interested in the LSU head coaching job: “I can’t be interested in something I have no idea about. So, I’m interested in beating the Minnesota Vikings. I’m tasked with another Tiger this week in (Vikings WR) Justin Jefferson, since we’re on a Tiger conversation. And that’s a tall one, he’s one of the LSU greats. So, that’s what I’m interested in. I’m interested in seeing us come off this bye week and stop cutting ourselves short of the potential I believe who we could be as a defense and as a team. It’s time to make this final push and it starts with us limiting points, putting our offense in certain situations to capitalize off of us giving the ball back to them. So, it’s a lot of things you could get into and speculate about, but the truth of the matter is nobody has contacted me about anything dealing with a job outside of anything I’m doing right now. And that’s the honest truth.”
On the challenge of planning for Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy without much film on him: “Well I’ve got the secret sauce. I’ve got his college teammate. (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch has been tapping me on the shoulder saying, ‘I remember he used to do this and do that.’ But no, seriously, an ultra-competitor. A player like that doesn’t get drafted where he’s drafted without a reason and I see the reason. You turn on that Week 1 game and they were getting stymied in the first half. And they came out in the second half and then the way he put that team on his back, he put that offense on his back and you saw how the guys galvanized around him. So that told me something about him. When you really go watch that game as a whole, the way his teammates go up to him on the sideline and things like that. So, there’s a belief in that player over there, regardless of the time on task. He comes from a championship organization in college. He’s a winner, he’s used to winning and he poses a lot of different threats. He’s a physical quarterback – I don’t think he gets enough credit for that. I believe he’s a tremendous running threat. That’s something that we have to be prepared for. And then he has the moxie, I see it. Again, I’ll go back to the Week 1 game where I watched it because you don’t watch where people are when they’re up high, you watch when they’re down low and got to crawl out of things. And I watched him crawl out of that hole Week 1, so he garnered my respect then.”
On if he feels like he needs to find more breathers for Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson since he has taken at least 90 percent of snaps in each game this season: “I want you to come down there and try to tell Hutch to leave the field and I want you to see how those interactions take place. No, but seriously, I mean we just gave him half the building, so he needs to play 95 percent. But, no, he’s a tremendous, tremendous athlete, superior athlete. And not by God-gifted talent, I’m talking about by hard work and dedication. And he’s conditioned his mind, his body to do that. And again, you try to pull Hutch off the field and there’s not going – and I want that. It’s not disrespectful. He’s never saying, ‘Why are y’all taking me out?’ It’s, ‘I want to be out there,’ because that may be the one play that changes the outcome of the game. But it is a time and place – it’s a long season. We plan on playing 20, 21 games this year – however that shakes out – so we do have to be kind of conscious of that. But at the same time, I mean if he can handle it, why take anything off of him if he’s handling it well?”
On how quickly he thinks a new player could acclimate to the team if they join by the trade deadline: “It depends on who the player is, the position of the player. Obviously some positions are more complex than others – you try to plug-and-play a middle linebacker, that’s impossible to do in this system where we’re at in the year and where we’re at schematically. But obviously – I mean those positions vary. You get a D-lineman, you could plug-and-play and tell them to get off the ball and go. But I don’t see a need or necessity to go and reach for anything or anyone. I think that’s very disrespectful to talk about that with the guys that we have, and I feel like the respect that they’ve garnered by the work they’ve put in through seven weeks. But I leave all that up to (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes). They do a tremendous job. That’s what I have a luxury of doing here. I get the luxury of just being a defensive coordinator. I don’t have to try to be the GM, I don’t have to try to be the head coach, I don’t have to try to be the linebacker coach because I’m surrounded by an ecosystem of elite guys in their kind of respective groups. So, I’m able to just go up to my office and focus on calling the game on Sunday, Monday, Thursday night – whatever day that may be that week. And I’m very thankful for that opportunity here.”
On how much pride he took in Lions S Erick Hallett II, Lions CB Nick Whiteside, Lions S Thomas Harper and Lions CB Amik Robertson stepping up in the Buccaneers game: “The ‘Legion of Whom.’ They introduced themselves to the NFL. I stood up here before y’all on that Thursday and told y’all it was an opportunity. It was an opportunity for those guys to introduce themselves to the NFL, to the world. And it’s nothing better to see than when I click on my Instagram and I see 100 articles talking about Nick Whiteside. That is unbelievable. A guy that was in the UFL, probably thought honestly – because when you’re in those cleats, ‘Man, this is the end of the road for me. Oh, I get a practice squad spot.’ And they’re grateful for those moments, but those guys never see themselves lining up mano y mano on (Buccaneers WR Emeka) Egbuka. They never see themselves lining up mano y mano on (Buccaneers WR) Mike Evans. That’s just real. And for him to not only get that opportunity but make the most of it. Erick Hallett, (Lions CB Arthur) Art Maulet, (Lions EDGE) Tyrus Wheat. I mean the names go on and on of the guys that went out and not only just played, not only held the line, but they’ve put some pressures on some of our starters now. Like these guys came in and we probably played the best defensive game that we’ve played this year with a bunch of you call it ‘no name,’ whatever. I know these guys’ names, and I know who they are as people and I’m just glad that everybody else does now.”
On how he foresees Lions DL Alim McNeill returning from injury impacting the way that teams have to confront the defensive front moving forward: “First of all, so good to have (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac back. I just saw him in the weight room yesterday working on his day off. We have such a luxury here to have all of these – I don’t even call them superstars because superstar is kind of the diva word gets attached to those players. I just call these guys high-end players in this League. Because I know everybody’s seen (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch’s contract, you wouldn’t know it today because of he has his pen out, notebook out, taking notes. These guys are workers and hard workers and that starts at the top. (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad Holmes, (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell), (Lions Principal Owner and Chair) Sheila (Ford Hamp), the type of people they bring in here and then the player aspect. Mac is exceptional. I know Hutch is glad to have him back, but more importantly, I’m glad to have him back. Because if you try to double, nudge Hutch and things like that, you’re leaving your guard one-on-one on one of – if not the best – three-techs in the NFL.”
On what it is like to watch Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes work and sign so many key players to the organization and deal the way that he does: “I think as a player just being in those locker rooms, it feels good to know that – again, we talk about searching and reaching and trying to go. It feels good to know if I’m drafted here and I do what I need to do, that I’m going to be taken care of here and I don’t ever need to look, reach or go wonder, ‘Where do I stand?’ I think the level transparency throughout this entire organization is special. And what we do, that’s not normal. A lot of things are hidden from coaches, a lot of things are hidden from players. But here, all you’ve got to do is take one trip upstairs. I mean you’ve got to be careful because you’re going to get told the truth, but you take one trip upstairs. And the trickle to coaches is it’s easy to coach in that type of environment where you don’t have to wonder, you don’t have to guess. He gives clarity to the coaches, he gives clarity to the players and that’s a very awesome thing. So, I’m very thankful to be a part of this organization.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
October 30, 2025
Opening Statement: “This is what I say to the players every morning, ‘Morning, how we doing? You guys fired up ready to go?’”
On the pros and cons of coming back from the bye week: “It’s a great question actually. I think pros, obviously guys had time off, get a little rest and recovery. Feel fresh, healthy. Little bit of a new energy maybe, possibly. I think things you’ve got to watch for, don’t take anything for granted. Assume you can just come back in and it’s going to be easy or it’s going to be just like it was when you left. You’ve got to get right back into it, you’ve got to earn every play. Going against the opponent you’re going against, you’re going to have to fight for every single thing – which is no different than any other week, but sometimes you forget those. You don’t want to learn that in the first play or the second play. So, just making sure you’re prepared to go in and play on the attack from play one.”
On which player comes closest to matching his energy: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ve got one guy with long hair and it’s always on fire. He’s bouncing off the walls usually, (Lions LB) Grant Stuard. That’d be my closest.”
On what he focused on during the bye week: “The one thing, I think I said this a year ago, but I think the one thing about bye and self-scout and all that stuff, I think in general with the resources we have nowadays, you’re really self-scouting yourself every single week. So, I don’t think it’s like, ‘OK, once we get to the bye we’ll really dive down deep and look and see what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.’ So, I think you’re kind of doing that as the season goes every single week, no matter what. I always say the most important team that we have to worry about is our own team. Our players, our guys, our punt team, our kickoff team. And if we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be in good shape. Now that being said, you do have more time obviously to catch your breath a little bit, maybe look around the League a little bit closer. I mean, we always, we kind of watch every play every single week from the whole League anyway. But you might have more time to sit and study, ‘What is that other team doing? I saw some things I kind of liked, or are there some ideas that they had that I really liked, or why were they doing it?’ And then it gives you a chance to get ahead on some of your next opponents a little bit and make sure you’re prepared for them. I don’t know, I think if you were saying like statistically what could we do a little bit better, I would say punting the ball when it’s really out in the field. We’ve been exceptional, the best we’ve been probably since I’ve been here with the ball around midfield. But when we’ve been backed up, we can gain more yards on our net punt, that would probably be one area that I’d say we can improve a little bit on. But there’s a million things we can get better at, I know that.”
On what jumped out about Minnesota when he reviewed them over the bye: “I think Minnesota, they do a nice job. They’ve got guys who play hard, I know that. They play with a lot of energy, they have a lot of active players. They’re playing (Vikings LB Ivan) Pace, number zero a little bit more on special teams this year, a little bit less on defense. But they’ve always had active guys. (Vikings S Joshua) Metellus, 44, now he’s playing more defense and less special teams. But, he’s always been an active player. Their two gunners, (Vikings S) Tavierre Thomas, 37, and (Vikings WR Tai Felton) 13, the young wideout, these guys can flat run. So, we’ve got to do a good job slowing them down. Their punter can throw the ball, they run some fakes. We tried to run one against them a year ago, didn’t work out. But yeah, I feel like this group’s always a competitive group. They always play with a lot of energy. Now, we’ve always kind of found a way to make some plays against them, too. So, we’ll work on the same thing. But it’ll be a challenge.”
On if he has an itch to run trick plays on special teams this year: “I wouldn’t say we haven’t called them, but they haven’t come up or we haven’t run them. Yeah, we’ll see. Usually when you least expect it is when it comes. Yeah, we definitely work on it and we’ve spent a lot of time on it. We always have something available, but it just hasn’t come up. Whether it be situation of the game, the look we wanted.”
On if he believes teams are overly conscious of the team’s use of trick plays: “Yeah, it’s definitely gotten harder. You definitely see a lot more people around the box, and some guys playing off with eyes inside, and just a lot of different things. But yeah, I would say it’s definitely gotten harder. But theoretically, it should help us punt the ball better too.”
On Lions RB Sione Vaki and how much it impacts the special teams unit to get a player like that back: “I think it’s critical. I think it’s like really probably on offense. People say, ‘Well, if you have one good receiver that’s great.’ But if you’re the offensive coordinator and you just have one receiver, that’s hard because he gets doubled, he gets all the attention, they’re putting everything on him. And the more talent you have across the board, the more it takes off of everybody else also. So, it’s not only like, ‘Oh yeah, we get this guy back and he can make a lot of plays.’ But then he also takes some of the stress off of (Lions LB) Grant Stuard or these other guys. Now it’s like they’ve got more guys they have to worry about, you only have so many resources, you can’t double everybody. So now somebody’s getting a one-on-one, who’s getting that one-on-one, and how do you match up against that guy. So, anytime you have – I mean, it’s always better to have a lot of really good players than just one great player. A lot of times the hardest thing is one great player, you just can’t do much with him. It’s hard for him to overcome everything that’s thrown his way. So, getting a guy like Vaki, Vaki’s a great player for us. He came in, it was unfortunate, we had him for like a game, and then he’s back out. And he made an impact in that game in the time he was in there. So, it’ll be good if we can get him back here.”
On the reason why Lions K Jake Bates likes to place the ball towards the goal line and to the right: “I would say there’s probably different strategies for everything. He probably hits his best ball there. A lot of what we do, I mean, you’ve got to build it around the players that you have. We don’t have as much speed as some teams have, we’ve got a lot of size. And so, we’ve got guys like (Lions EDGE Tyrus) Wheat, (Lions DL Pat) O’Connor, and some of these guys so we can put the ball down on top of those guys. You don’t really want to put those guys out in space. And then in terms of the kick to the right-hand side. I’ve always felt like anytime you talk about special teams, or certainly your coverage units, you’re talking about building it around your punter or your kicker. And so, you want those guys to do what they’re best at, and then that gives the rest of the group a chance to play around them. And there’s pluses and minuses to everything. You kick the ball over there to the right all the time, well the weakness is they know where it’s going to be. The strength is you know where it’s going to be. Your guys get a lot of time playing those plays and can get better at it. So anyway, I would say it’s just kind of who we have and what we do best and kind of built around the players that we have playing for us.”
On the difficulty of the ‘knuckle kickoff’ and if Lions K Jake Bates has it in his bag: “Yeah, I think you’ve seen less and less of it. There are a couple guys in the League who do it well, it’s kind of the same conversation we’ve had. There are a couple guys that I think can do it well and do it consistently, and it’s been very good for them obviously. But it has also hurt some guys that have tried to hit it that hit it right to the returner, the returner’s standing at the 10, 12-yard line, he’s coming downhill on the ball really fast a lot of times on those knuckle kicks. He’s buying a little more time for the coverage group to get around or off the blocker. And when that happens, those guys now are starting to decide, ‘Hey, we can run around.’ Well, you run around blockers, now all of a sudden the ball gets caught and it’s coming back downhill at you, you end up opening up gaps. So for us, it’s not something that Jake does great right now. So anyways, for us right now, it’s not as much of an option. I would say if it was something he did great, then obviously we would kind of play around that and start to structure our coverage unit around it. But yeah, it’s a good play if you can do it and do it really well, and you can make that bounce inconsistent. I think even those guys who are good at that, you’re starting to see some of the returners push up on them. And now you hit it to that guy who’s standing there short, it’s not a great play. So now even those guys are starting to now try to push the ball back over the top of their heads so they have to run back and catch it. I think ultimately, we talked about it last time or I mentioned it, but anyway you can affect the returner’s feet, whether that be a ball on the ground, whether that be him running sideways to catch it, whether that be he’s going backwards to catch it. But anyway, where you can affect his feet and slow that catch start down, I think is beneficial.”
On Lions K Jake Bates missing three field goals from 50 yards out this season and if there is something he can tweak towards his approach: “I think obviously we’ve asked him to kick some harder kicks. This goes back away for me to Philadelphia. I think I told you guys, but (Eagles K) Jake Elliot wasn’t having a great year statistically. But it was like yeah, we tried to kick a 58-yarder in Pittsburgh into the wind at the end of the half with two seconds left. Well yeah, that was a better option than throwing the Hail Mary. Doesn’t mean he’s going to make it. We thought he had a chance, he didn’t. And then at the end of the year they said he’s not doing very well. But if I told you he was 100 percent under, whatever, 50-something yards, you’d say, ‘Well, he’s doing pretty good.’ So, it’s like statistics, any way you want to slant the tables or the numbers you can to come up with a story that you want to tell. If you want to make it sound like he’s having a bad year, then look at all the – just go on makes and misses. You want to make it look like he’s having a good year, just go on whatever he’s missed from inside of he’s hitting 100 percent and he’s having a great year. So, a lot of it’s what you ask that guy to do or the head coach asks that guy to do in a game. And a lot of that’s just based off what you’re trying to do to win the game. That can influence these guys’ numbers. And there’s not enough kicks for it to even out and so for you to really see if he’s hitting the ball really well or not. Practice-wise, the numbers that I have, I mean, he’s been exceptional. So, I feel really good about what he’s doing, where he’s at. I have a lot of confidence in him. But yeah, he hasn’t made all of the long kicks that we would love for him to make. Can he hit that at a higher percentage? For sure. Will that be something to work on? Yeah, no doubt. I do think that to a head coach, the most important thing is when you’re sending your kicker out there, you want to know on a makeable kick, that he’s going to make it. That’s why to me, like 48 yards and inside. So, the ball gets to the 30-yard line, we say field goal, we feel like we’re getting three points out of it. I think that’s what a head coach wants, is he wants dependability and to know that, ‘Hey man, this guy’s going to go out there, he’s going to make the kick.’ Now, if we ask him to do it from 58, yeah, there’s a chance he’s not going to make it. But when I ask him to make those manageable kicks, he’s going to make those ones. And I think there’s more value in that than the guy who makes the 58-yarder but misses the 35. It’s like man, that’s frustrating to a head coach. Because he thinks, ‘Hey, we had points on that drive.’ He feels good about the 58, but he’s devastated when 35 doesn’t go through. So anyway, long story short.”
On what his son said about his six seven joke: “So my son, six seven, he loved it. I could drop it so many times, it’s crazy now. I’ve become incredibly efficient. Speaking of my son, it’s the craziest thing, I was telling these players this morning. He just turned 16 yesterday, so one six, not seven. He turned 16, and it’s great because I tell these players, these guys have got young kids and it’s hard to remember. But for us, the thing that happens is, you go from carpooling them or shuttling them around, you get them from place to place and you’re driving them here, you’re driving them there, you’re picking them up late at night, and you’re complaining about it. Cause you’re like gosh, man. Well then all of a sudden, he turns 16, he drives, and now my wife’s like, ‘Well I don’t get to drive him anymore.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you should’ve thought about that when you were complaining about it. So, it’s like these ironies in life, man. You can’t wait for them to crawl, and then they crawl, and you’ve got to protect everything. You can’t wait for them to walk, and then they walk and now it’s like, man, get them out of that and we’ve got to pick everything up. Can’t wait for them to drive, and now they can drive and you worry about them driving. The ironies of life. So, I always say, man, just enjoy the moment because you’ll look back. And I told the players, just enjoy being in this building, because there’s some days I’m sure where you come in here and you’re like, ‘Ah man, this is hard. This is hard work. They’re going to ask me to do this, that and the other thing.’ But don’t ever forget, man, you’re living it right now. These are the days. And I said that, ‘These are the days for you, but these are the days for me too.’ I’m older, but man, there’s nothing like this. Being here getting to do what we do every single day, and the challenges to really embrace every moment. Whether that’s the good or the bad and the ups and downs. That’s my lesson for you.”
