DETROIT LIONS POST-GAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL
OPENING STATEMENT: “Give credit to Atlanta and what they’re doing over there. They did enough to close that game out and it’s credit to them. I was proud of our guys we ran it to the end. All you can ask is that you put yourself in position to win a game and we had that ability right at the end of the game. We just didn’t close it out.”
On QB Tim Boyle’s performance:
“I thought Tim played well throughout the course of the day. If you take away the last play and then there was a thirddown fade throw to Josh Reynolds that would like to seen him hit and for the most part, everything else I thought he played pretty fast, efficient, clean. And certainly gave us a chance. He wasn’t a hindrance to us at all. So ultimately, if you’d look at him, you have to say, man, okay, he played a lot better than Cleveland, which he should. That was the next game. He had another chance. His confidence was up and I thought he functioned fast and efficiently.”
On what QB Tim Boyle needed to show in today’s game:
“I’ll be totally honest with you. I think what he needed to show is that he was going to improve from the first time that he was able to play a game and he clearly did that. That’s what he showed.”
On his decision to kick the field goal late in the 4th quarter:
“I knew I had three timeouts. And I had a feeling that he was going to be conservative, and we were going to be able to stop the run and get the ball back. So I felt very good about getting the ball back knowing that we would have plenty of time to go down and score.”
On LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin recovering a fumble late in the 4th quarter:
“I was excited because not only now you get the ball in plus territory, but now the clock stopped everything else and so you feel like you control the game now. We felt like we had total control of the game and we’re going to go down and score. But now at that point, you got to make sure that you’re burning everything off the clock that you can, they still had timeouts. It was set up. It was set up perfectly for us and once again Reeves freaking comes up with a big one LIKE he’s
done all year.”
On WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s performance and his improvement:
“He is improving and there’s been a lot that we put on his shoulders these last few weeks because he’s capable, that’s why. He is improving and he’s steady and he’s reliable. He’s in a great place. He’s one of those guys that as a play-caller, I trust all the time and I know the quarterbacks do too. But I would say for all those receivers I feel that way. I feel like they’ve really taken strides over the last three or four weeks and everything collectively. But yeah, St. Brown is continuing to grow.”
On what changed in Falcons’ offensive after a hot start from their defense:
“I felt like they were much more patient offensively. They were much more take what’s there. Find No. 8 over the ball, find the curls, and just kind of patiently methodically move it down the field. I feel like early in that game, they’re openers they tried to throw us off a little bit, try to do some things to get on the perimeter, try to and they didn’t have success and I think they just said let’s play the long game. So he called a very patient game I thought. Ultimately it was you the red zone. Red
zone hurt us. Offensively we move the ball. Defensively, you want to stop in the red zone. Offensively instead of field goals, you need touchdowns.”
On how much the false starts hurt the offensive in the red zone:
“They hurt, they hurt. Certainly, those are unacceptable. You can’t have it. Now, one of those drives I felt like I started that as a play-caller. I got the play in too late and we’re sitting there for a long time on the line of scrimmage. I felt like I started that mess and so I put some of that on me. I put one of those drives on me. I freaking hated it. I didn’t do that but still when you feel like you’re getting it in late and it becomes chaotic. Tim is getting in there and trying to get it to them and you got to check with it, so I hated that man. It would be one of those calls I wish I could have back. But ultimately, those things kill you and they did in the red zone.”
On if he knows the status of both TE Shane Zylstra and FB Jason Cabinda:
“Not at this time both have knee injuries. I don’t know for sure. I would say right now both of them probably don’t look very favorable for next week. We’ll see where they go. And look, if I’m being totally honest, losing Cabinda hurt us today. There’s a number of things we had up and just our base game plan run action all those things. He’s kind of one of those unsung heroes and he does so many things for us. His versatility sometimes goes unnoticed and man it hurt a little bit and then certainly when you lose your tight end and now you’re out of a lot of stuff. Those guys handled it well. The staff did a good job, I was trying to adjust and do a lot of things out of 11 personnel find things we could. Run the ball and throw it.”
On P Jack Fox’s throw out of punt formation:
“It was big. You love the fact when that happens, you’re able to score seven. You don’t feel like it’s a wasted drive. So that was big. That’s kind of bread and butter for us we work it. He works it and it’s always just something that he and our gunner work, just to have if needed. And he’s been studying a lot. He really has it’s one of those things we’re very confident in it because of his ability to throw it. And it was a good job by Hodge. Man was that was a good route.”
On balancing optimism and the reality of the roster during the season:
“I think you got to look at improvement. And I see us improving. Even today we’re improving. Look at our third downs offensively. That’s been a struggle and over the last two to three weeks now, our third downs are beginning to climb and we’re staying on the field. Defensively our red zones have been better, didn’t quite show up all the time today but yet you’d look for improvement out of every player in every group and I see it. We’re playing better football right now than we did when we started and that’s what you’re looking for. And ultimately the guys who will be here next year, they’re going to learn from this and this is a bitter taste in their mouth that I hope they never freaking forget.”
On if he feels he is improving as a play-caller:
“Definitely, I feel like every week I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable. And there’s a number of challenges that you go through as a head coach and a play-caller together that you get over. Even that little wrinkle today where you lose a couple of guys, you’re out of these personnel groups, to have to adjust and adapt and do it on the run. Man, you memory bank all this you learn and grow from it. I do, I feel like I’m getting get a lot more comfortable.”
On if he would like to keep the play-caller role:
“Look, I’m not even worried about that right now. But we’ll cover that whenever the time I just know I’m finishing the season as the OC.”
On RB Cordarrelle Patterson’s TD and the defensive scheme against the Falcons big formation:
“They got us, they got us. It was one of those where little communication man who they got in who we have in at that time. By the time you try to make a personnel change, are you better off in like people, are you better off trying to flip people in time for them? So we got caught. We got caught. That was one of them they got us on.”
QB TIM BOYLE
On how comfortable he felt about the game:
“I felt way more comfortable. I think the coaches did a really good job, my support, you know, kind of the quarterbacks in the room. They all did a really good job making sure I had a plan for every play. I felt really good going into this game. I really did with every look that they could give me, I had a plan for. Probably the most confident I’ve played. I know I’ve only played two games. But as a football player in my life, I just went into this game feeling really comfortable. For it to end like that just it’s heartbreaking really.”
On game-clinching interception:
“Great play called by coach [Dan] Campbell. It’s a man-zone read so if I have man, I’m working one side, if I have zone, I’m working the other. I was kind of unclear going into the, when we broke the huddle, kind of unclear if it was man or zone based off the looks that they gave previously. Looking back, it was man coverage. I worked the zone-covered side; that was my mistake. Ultimately that falls on me and my decision-making. In the moment, a lot of things are flying around. It’s critical and every situation especially that last play is so critical. The hole player, 54 [Foye Oluokun], did a really good job of tracking my eyes and I worked the right side. I still have man answers on that side, but I felt like Lif [Kalif Raymond] kind of popped a little bit and I was going to kind of back shoulder him a little bit but the hole player, 54, kind of read my eyes and picked me off. Unfortunate and heartbreaking but moving forward I have to turn it into a positive and learn from it. But it stings, it stings.”
On how well Falcons defense disguised coverage on the interception:
“I don’t necessarily think it was disguised. I think the game was just happening so quick that bodies were kind of just flying around and by the time I’m trying to get the ball snapped and kind of the clocks running down, you know, you kind of have to trust your gut on that one and in the moment, I trusted the fact that I thought it was zone. I wish I could go back; I can’t but I would have worked my other side to Josh [Reynolds] and to [Amon-Ra] St. Brown probably would have had a little bit
better opportunity of scoring. I mean, that was my first time being in a two-minute drive with an opportunity to win the game and it’s intense and people are tired and communication kind of, it’s just it’s being able to kind of settle down in those moments. Not that… I don’t think it was too big for me, but it’s just, you know, it’s football, it’s football, you know, it comes down to the last game and I made a critical error that I can’t make and ultimately that falls on me. But I’m proud of our guys. We fought so hard. We fought so hard, and you know with the injuries that we had people stepping up. We have we have some grit on this team. Like I said this one stings and It’s heartbreaking but ultimately, I’ll learn from it. But you know, I can’t keep falling on you know, falling back on the fact that when I make mistakes, I’m learning from them. As much as that’s true, I have to limit my mistakes and I have to kind of cut back on those. So ultimately, the head coach put the ball in my hand to go into play. I made the critical error. It stings, it stings but moving forward, I’ll turn it to a positive.”
On what teammates said to him after the interception:
“There’s not a whole lot you can hear or say in those moments that will make anything, the pain kind of go away. The fact that I have teammates and coaches come up to me and want to console me, means the world to me, you know that’s family, that’s football. It’s powerful. It’s emotional. But everyone was telling me to keep my head up. It’s tough because you’re the quarterback and you don’t get many opportunities in the NFL to go showcase what you have and in critical moments in third down, two-minute, you know, red zone. You have to be perfect, and you have to understand what’s going on and be able to slow down. Ultimately, I made that last throw, made the mistake and we lost the game and that’s, that is the beautiful thing about football but also the heartbreaking thing about football that you can fight for 59 and a half minutes and feel really good about it and ultimately, you know, you make that one mistake at the end of the game and it cost us the game but I have to learn from it.”
On the first drive in the red zone:
“I missed the throw. On that specific play, Shane [Zylstra] kind of sells like he’s going over the top and comes back in. I got a little trigger happy not necessarily bad timing. I think it was more of an accuracy issue. That’s probably the one throw other than the interception that I want back because if I dot him right on his facemask and give them the runner’s ball, who knows, you know, we might be in the end zone with seven instead of having to kick a field goal and getting three points. So that one’s going to stick with me for a little bit and making sure like I said, you know, it’s attention to detail, it’s
accuracy, it’s being on in those critical moments and when you’re down there it’s third down in the red zone, you have to be pinpoint accurate because everything kind of speeds up and the gaps get a little, you know, a little smaller but yeah, just an inaccurate throw to answer your question.”
On WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s recent success:
“There’s not enough to say about St. Brown. I was around his brother in Green Bay Equanimeous, and just to see kind of the carryover of personalities and the work ethic just I don’t know if you guys know anything about the background of that family, but I think the dad was Mr. Universe like they just have this innate ability to work hard. Their work ethic is incredible. But saint has come such a long way and where he came from was still a very good professional athlete. His ability to see coverage, his ability to win versus man. He’s smart, he gets it. He’s a big dude. He’s fast. I mean, there’s like I said, there’s not enough you can say about St. Brown and we are very, very lucky to have him on this team and for him to be a rookie and having the success he’s having, hopefully, it only gives him confidence moving forward. Yeah, he’s a fan favorite for the quarterbacks no doubt.”
On coach Campbell kicking a field goal late in the game:
“I mean, we did a good job of converting some critical [downs]. I don’t think it was maybe one or two critical fourth downs there. But ultimately, that’s out of my control. If he sends on the field goal unit, you know, I’m trotting off the field and trusting that his vision of the game. He saw us kicking a field goal, he saw us putting our defense back out there and getting a stop and we got the turnover, and you know, how he envisioned the game going by sending the field goal unit out there, it happened. It happened. He usually burns his timeouts, and we got the ball back and put us in a position to win
and like I said, ultimately, it falls on me making that throw at the end of the game. He called a hell of a game he really did. Looking back and I haven’t really had much time to process but he did a really good job calling and calling a great game and that’s football. The last play of the game kind of, it got us and a learning experience no doubt for me. I mean, the game is so fluid and decision making especially on the sideline from the coaching staff. It happens so quick. But yeah, I mean every play kind of feeds off the next but if we had a better third-down conversion or some more yardage, maybe it’s a different call. But you know, we don’t get paid to make those decisions. We trust our head ball coach and he did a really good job.”
S TRACY WALKER
On the difference the Falcons were doing between the 1st quarter and the last quarter:
“Definitely. They did what they do best. They came out here and had a good game plan for us. We had a great game plan as well. We were able to come up with a couple of stops and that allowed us to be successful.”
On the difficulty of communication so far with the team:
“The communication aspect is still good. Everybody is dialed in, locked in with what the assignment was and as far as our tasks, things were getting done. I feel as far as the communication is fine. It makes it a little difficult that you have guys playing positions that they’re not really used to, but we stand by next man mentality, so if one goes down the next man goes up. That’s kind of what’s been our thesis this whole year from Jeff (Okudah) all the way down to Amani (Oruwariye).
We’ve been having a lot of injuries, but we cannot use that as an excuse. We have to continue to bounce and continue to go.”
On thoughts after the game:
“Of course, we’re going to be disappointed with a loss. We’re never going to be happy with a loss but there’s a lot of good out there that we can take from it. Of course, if it’s bad we’re going to have to clean up, but at the end of the day there’s a lot of good out there so we can’t sit here and always worry about the negatives. At the end of the day, they’re a good team too and they’re going to make plays. We just have to continue to fight and that’s what we’re doing. That’s our whole objective. We are never out of a game, and we will continue to build.”
LB JALEN REEVES-MAYBIN
On the stretch with communication with the team:
“It’s a challenge to everyone. Everyone’s been allowed to step up and kind of see what everyone is made up of. It’s the NFL, you have to deal with injuries, the whole world is dealing with COVID right now, so it is what it is. You have to come out and try to win games. That’s what we’re trying to do every Sunday.”
On where he sees improvement with the team:
“We have a younger team, so we have guys stepping up each and every week. Guys that haven’t played much are stepping up and its definitely great to watch. Seeing my teammates put in the work, guys like Pitt (Anthony Pittman) who’s been here for three years is just grinding away and seeing him play is just great. I love when I go out there and see the guys being put on the line.”
On how he’s seen Coach Dan Campbell grow:
“I think he’s putting a lot more confidence in us. That’s what I would say. I think he believes in us and the decision to take the field goal and put the defense back out there shows that he’s growing with us and we’re growing with him.”
On his confidence being five years in:
“I think my biggest thing is growing. I think I still have a long way to grow. Since I’ve been here, I’ve just tried to come out and get better each and every day. It doesn’t matter where I’m at one week or next week, I’m just trying to grow and come out and perform for my teammates
