LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
Opening statement: “That was—I was proud of our guys. We went out and finished on a high note. I thought they—in some regards,
I did think we played some of our best football. There’s still a lot that we always want to be able to correct and it will never be
perfect. But we said we wanted to go take the hard road one more time and our guys did that. They really did. They came out and
competed and earned that win. I was proud of them.”
On reports that the Lions have mutually agreed to part ways with Offensive Coordinator Anthony Lynn: “I’ll be honest with you, I
don’t even want to get into that because I haven’t even talked to Anthony and so that’s—I don’t even want to talk about that. That
will come up tomorrow.”
On competing to the end of the game today like he has preached all season: “I think what fires you up the most is the fact that we
complemented each other. I think that is the most important thing as a team that you can do. It really doesn’t matter that it was the
score that it was, 37-30. It was the fact that man, when our team needed it, our defense got a stop, got a turnover. And offensively,
when our defense needed some help, we found a way to score some points. And so I think that’s what a good team is. It could be
the same thing—it’s 12-10. But that’s what I thought was very evident and what made me really proud about this game. We did
that. It was a great team effort.”
On the preparation and execution of the two trick plays today: “We worked them, we repped them. We made sure that we had a
good grasp and a good handle on them to where we felt good and I felt good about calling them. And I tell you what, they did, they
executed well. They did it exactly the way that you want it done. And as a matter of fact, they were better than practice. I mean,
some of them you’re like, ‘Well the corner’s just standing there looking at it.’ So it worked out good, but they did. They were on it
and they were ready for it. I told our guys all week, I said, ‘We’re going to be aggressive and we’re calling this stuff.’ And I felt good
about calling it. Those guys did the rest.”
On the first trick play off of a carry by Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: “Well that was—all that was off of Saint (Amon-Ra St. Brown)
carrying the football like we have. We’ve had a couple of those big plays where he’s—we’ve given it to him, had a couple of pullers,
he’s usually normally following big V (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) and Penei (Sewell). So it was really off of that and we gave them the
same formation, the same set, personnel, everything to where if you assume they’re doing their homework and if they are, there’s
really two things you’re going to get out of it, and so we used that to our advantage and it worked out great. The guys executed
well.”
On how the drive to compete is instilled in this team: “You have to get that. And these guys are pros, they’re going to work. But
what you don’t want is—you want to know that they’re continuing to—When you’re where we’re at and when you get late in the
season and you don’t have the wins, that’s not easy. It’s not easy for guys to continue to just put their best foot forward and
continue to come to work and continue to grind, but our guys did that. And there again—but I think they know what we were trying
to build. They understood that for us, it was what we said day one. We’re looking for a gritty team, guys that are resilient, guys that
are willing to lay it on the line. You’re not going to feel 100 percent. Those guys that are 80, 90 percent that can still produce and are
giving it their all. That’s important to us and that showed. And so I do feel—I do feel like man, all the way through this season those
guys never lost hope and I think that’s important. There is hope.”
On QB Jared Goff’s performance improving over the second half of the season: “He’s played really well, he really has. I think that’s
what has been really good to see. Look, there’s a number of reasons why we weren’t moving the football and things weren’t
happening and it’s really all encompassing. And he took a lot of flak for it, I’ll be honest with you. That wasn’t totally on him, it
wasn’t. But what I respect about him is the fact that he hung in there and he was resilient, but yet accountable to his own
performance. But collectively, we knew that we all had to get better. He never wavered. He was there every day, he was ready to go,
he was upbeat. He wanted to be better and in turn has made us all better. He’s playing good. He’s really played pretty good down
the stretch. It’s been good to see.”
On if he is looking forward to not having to lean on trick plays and fourth-down conversions for the offense to move the ball: “I
think that—you have to take that as it comes. Honestly, look, this is one of those where we did, we had everything going and we
wanted to have enough ammo. We wanted our guys to like—it gives you a little jolt. You know you have to reverse in, or you have a
reverse pass in, or it’s freaking Tom Kennedy throwing it. I mean, his quarterback average is like unbelievable right now. Which—by
the way—you’ll enjoy this one. That one, the one you were talking about, the first time we did it I’m not even going to tell you who
was throwing. But it was like, ‘Alright, here we go!’ and we repped it. We got verification that the guy could throw and we went out
there and it was a duck. It was just like a [sound effect]. It went about 10 yards. And so it was like, ‘OK, no.’ I said, ‘Who’s next?’ And
Tom Kennedy jumped right in there. And we gave it to him, and it was, ‘OK, he can throw.’ So he did a great job. Worked out good.”
On Lions G Jonah Jackson playing at center today and Lions T Taylor Decker’s injury update: “I think (Taylor) Decker will be OK. I
don’t think it’s a major injury. I think he’ll be OK. But, as far as – look, we were – we did, we needed a little help at center today.
There were just a couple of things in there that weren’t going our way, and so we bumped Jonah in and brought Kraemer in and it
did, it helped us a little bit. It got us going. It gave our run game a little life and we needed that. It was right at the point where we
certainly needed it. We kept trying to figure out a way to run the ball a little bit and couldn’t quite get it going until that transpired.”
On Lions G Jonah Jackson’s performance this season: “Listen, he’s been there and he’s been a steady force for us and he’s physical,
he’s tough and he’s a good athlete and he’s a good pass protector, he’s a good run blocker. I mean, I think he’s one of these guys
that he’s going to be a staple. I look for him to be a good player, a staple in this league for a long time, hopefully for us for a long
time at guard. But also we know he can play center if we had to have him there, which is encouraging to see.”
On the defense forcing turnovers late in the fourth quarter: “Listen, that was big. It was big and it was good to see. I’d like to be
able to close that game out before that. Those will be lessons learned, but yet for our defense to have to go out there again and
come up with a stop, there again, those are things that give you confidence moving forward. Those were some of the things that
earlier in the year we got bit on and we’ve gotten better as the season has gone on, and then, kind of come down to the wire there
and our guys make a play when we needed it. It was great to see.”
On Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown breaking the Lions’ rookie receiving record: “That’s cool for Saint because I’m assuming is that
Calvin (Johnson)’s record or is that –? Roy Williams. Listen, it speaks for itself. This kid is – I mean, he’s better than gold. When you’re
the athlete he is, explosive, but then you’re tough and you’re competitive, it’s just the way you’re made up and he’s smart. And
those guys are hard to find that are all-encompassing like that, so, I’m glad we’ve got him, and he proved again. The consistency is
there, that’s for dang sure.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On Lions WR Tom Kennedy’s touchdown pass: “Yeah, that was really cool. We kind of repped it all week. Had some auditions for
the receivers of who was going to throw it and he won in the middle of the week. We talked about kind of emptying the chamber
and that was one of them. We had two of them today, trick plays that both scored. It was pretty much exactly how you draw it up.”
On if his good performances over the last half of the season is a springboard into the offseason: “It felt good. It felt like we were
able to get into a rhythm. I felt like I was able to get into a rhythm. A lot of the stuff that we were doing in the pass game was great
when (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) took over and has made some other changes and we just had a little heightened urgency in
some areas. It really helped and it really helped me. In the same way, I looked internally and looked for ways I could get better and
was able to come back and play pretty well at the end there. A lot of work to do obviously. Still only three wins, but the way we
finished the season absolutely is a good springboard for us into the offseason.”
On what clicked for the offense that led to an increase in production over the last half of the season: “I think it was kind of what I
just talked about. Just like the way we did things, the way we practiced, a little bit of more urgency in some things in the pass game. I
thought (Tight Ends Coach) Ben Johnson and some of the stuff that he was able to put in place and some of the stuff that he was
able to coach up was really good. And then, (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) obviously calling the plays and having his influence on it as
well was helpful.”
On if the aggressiveness in calling trick plays will be able to translate into future seasons: “If they are scoring touchdowns, I
guarantee you we will keep calling them. If they aren’t, then yeah you can pull back a little bit, but it’s fun. (Head Coach) Dan
(Campbell) is that type of guy. He’s very aggressive, we all know that. If we were playing with a lead, I would imagine we wouldn’t
have called either of those plays, but the way the game was going, they were in a perfect situation, and last game of the season and
let it all go.”
On what he has learned about Detroit and the fans this season: “They’re passionate, very passionate. I think you saw it today.
Whatever our record is versus the best team in the NFC and they were there. They were there, they were jumping, they were loud.
You heard a little, ‘Go Pack go,’ going and they got louder than that to shut it out. It’s stuff like that that means a lot to us and we
can hear it, we feel it and we feed off it and hopefully give them something to look forward to next year.”
On the difference in cultures between California and Michigan: “It’s a much slower pace I’d say. A much more – I don’t know if
friendly is the right word, but there’s a little bit more personable – I’m able to have conversations with strangers a little more often,
that type of stuff. It’s enjoyable.”
On having optimism going into the offseason: “I think it’s just the way that the end of the season went. Our first half of the season
was not great. The second half of the season was better and the last four or five games in particular were really pretty good. And, we
feel that energy and that’s kind of the way we wanted to finish it. I think today is exactly how you draw it up. We’re able to score a
lot of points, won the game, good team. I know they didn’t have all of their dudes out there, but still a good team, win the game. But
yeah, it is important and I think like you said, some of the guys had to step in that weren’t expecting to play, especially up front. Will
Holden, Matt Nelson played this week. Jonah (Jackson) had to move to center. Tommy Kraemer came in. That’s kind of unheard of
and for them to come in and play as well as they did I thought was tremendous.”
On if he believes the team’s energy is sustainable: “Absolutely, yeah.”
On if he wants Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell to continue to call plays next season: “That’s fully his decision. We’ll see where it
goes. We’ll see. But I don’t have an answer for that.”
On how he has grown this season: “It’s hard to (say) right now, I might have a better answer for you tomorrow, but yeah, it’s been
obviously a rocky year. Hard, not fun in certain instances. It’s a tale of two seasons kind of, the first half and the second half.
Granted, the second half record still isn’t tremendous, but the way we played was better. The way we approached each day in
practice was a lot better. The way that—just the way that our mentality was, was so much better and so much improved. I think for
me personally, just navigating that and being the guy that has do—that’s my job is to bear the brunt of it sometimes. You don’t shy
away from it, you own it and you get better and you improve. Proud of the way I handled, it but proud of the way all of our guys
handled it, really. It was hard times there when you don’t have a win for so long and you’re battling, you’re battling, you’re battling.
Being able to finish the season the way we did is a testament to not giving up in those situations and they can (dig) further deep and
like Dan (Campbell) likes to say, taking the hard road one more time. That’s something that we did today and over the last handful of
weeks.”
On Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell saying Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is gold: “His name translates to Sun God, I believe.”
On Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s season: “Watching him grow into that role was so cool. Sometimes, that’s how it happens and it
happens later in the season. And if T.J. (Hockenson) is healthy and if (Quintez) Cephus is healthy and if Tyrell (Williams) is healthy the
whole year, he probably doesn’t get these opportunities. That’s how this league goes and he got those opportunities and clearly
made the most of it. He’s a special player, a special dude. Look forward to playing with him for sure.”
On how many snaps he had taken with Lions G Jonah Jackson under center: “Zero. In practice, in training camp, maybe 10. And
then about five on the sideline and then we went.”
On the difficulty of receiving snaps from a new player for the first time: “It’s different. He’s got a good snap, though. So it wasn’t
that difficult. And he’s done it in the past, I think he had some reps last year doing it. We had faith in him. He did a good job and it
was good.”
On how much pain he played through with his knee injury today: “It was OK. It was just a little sore. Nothing serious, nothing
nobody else is not dealing with right now. I wanted to be out there, wanted to play today. Wanted to make it work and was happy I
was able to. It was minimal soreness.”
On skipping down the sideline during a touchdown celebration: “I kind of wanted to say something to their sideline and I changed
my mind. Joe Barry is a good friend of mine from the Rams time, he’s their defensive coordinator. Matt LaFleur I was with, I saw
them over there. And then I was like, ’No, I don’t need to do that.’ But I figured I’d go say hi to (Amon-Ra) St. Brown and give him
some love.”
On what he was going to say to the Packers sideline: “Nothing, nothing. Nothing good.”
LIONS G JONAH JACKSON POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On the offensive line group’s flexibility: “It means a lot. It’s a credit to Hank (Fraley) and the rest of the guys to be ready on the fly.
If another guy goes down, you need to be ready. So versatility is something we take pride in.”
On how he feels after his second season: “Yes, indeed. Especially in terms of a different five we have next year. Hopefully they all
come back, full go, ready, healthy. So it’s exciting.”
On Lions Offensive Line Coach Hank Fraley: “Besides like being able to handle the injuries, he makes the workplace easy. He makes
things really easy, he makes it enjoyable. He’s coaching us in the way that I’ve been coached throughout my entire career so the
acclimation to him in through the years, it’s definitely huge.”
LIONS WR TOM KENNEDY POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On if he had any previous pass attempts: “When I was younger. We ran like a 38 pitch pass. We ran like wishbone 38 pitch pass in
our nine-year-old championship game. Scored a touchdown on that, my guy. Threw one in high school, Nassau County championship
game. It was like a bubble backwards. Caught it, threw it. I think the sun was in the receiver’s eyes because it went through his hands
at the goal line. And then I threw like a Philly special in college for a touchdown. That was like inside the five though. Nothing this
long. So it was cool.”
On which of his teammates unsuccessfully attempted the pass first: “Saved the day, you know? Door kind of opened up for me.
(David) Blough was pushing for me. He said, ‘Yeah, T.K. can throw it! Throw him in there! Throw him in there!’ So it kind of worked
out, glad it worked out. Great play. Happy it got called, happy it worked out the way it did. It was awesome.”
On which wide receiver he stepped in for to execute the pass: “I think you could kind of figure it out. If Saint (Amon-Ra St. Brown) is
getting the hand-off and pitching it to me, Kalif (Raymond) is running the route, KhaDarel Hodge is a lefty so we couldn’t run it with
him. So you could kind of—won’t name any names, but I’ll break it down for you.”
LIONS S C.J. MOORE POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On how much ending the year with a divisional win was a point of emphasis this week: “It meant a lot for us, for this staff. We
wanted to do it for the fans. We wanted to end on a great note and have the fans look for something for next year and continue to
build a good foundation for next year. So, it meant a lot. There was a lot of emphasis on beating these guys, and we got it done.”
On what it means for the team to have the opportunity to prove themselves at the end of the season: “We’ve known it. From the
outside looking in it may not look that way, but we’ve known it in this building. Week in and week out we’re grinding for that, just to
show and prove to everybody that we can do it and we’re chipping at it. We’re getting there and we’re going to get there. It meant a
lot. It meant a lot to do that.”
On what the coolest part of the changing culture has been this year: “Yeah, it’s been a lot of change since I’ve been here. It’s been
great this year. Obviously, we hadn’t won all the games, but we’re fighting. We’re close. We’re getting better. We can see it and we
know it. We know we’re on the rise, and we’re just going to continue to go that way.”
LIONS WR KALIF RAYMOND POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On being wide open and scoring on the trick play: “I mean, we’ve been setting it up for a couple weeks now. Just ‘Ra’ (Amon-Ra St.
Brown) And that’s when Ra’s been breaking it. So, you guys heard them screaming on the sideline like ‘Watch 14 man, he’s coming
across again, he’s coming across again.” And then TK’s (Tom Kennedy’s) like a world-class athlete. Actually, (KhaDarel) Hodge tried it
in the room, too. He’s a jack of all trades.”
On if he was expecting the trick play to be such an accurate pass: “Yeah, actually so we did it in practice, manm and like I said, TK’s
(Tom Kennedy) a heck of an athlete. So, he did the same thing, he brought just this dart. And I was like ‘OK, we’re going to be OK.”
On how fun it has been for the wide receiver room: “It’s been awesome, man. They put us in a position, especially like this last
month where we’re allowed to go out there and use all the talents. So, it’s just a kudos to the coaching staff man, what they’re able
to do with us, man. They’re allowing us to go out there and play and all we got to do is trust in the system.”
LIONS WR AMON-RA ST. BROWN POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On the success he had in the second half of the season: “It’s a credit to my teammates, credit to the coaches, to the people around
me. Without them I couldn’t have done what I’ve done this year. I think hard work, patience, opportunity, when those all come
together, it’s awesome to see.”
On the confidence he has gotten from his performance in the last six games: “Yeah, it gives me a lot of confidence. But I think just
as a team, as a whole, getting that win, the way we finished it. I mean, like you said, it’s going to be a springboard for us in the
offseason, coming into OTAs, whatever we’re coming into. We got a lot of draft picks, a lot of young guys that are going to have to
step up. We got a lot of experience this year. A lot of young guys played, which I think is going to help us a lot next year and the
years moving forward. I can’t wait to see what we do in these upcoming years and I’m excited.”
On being able to play against his brother in front of his parents: “Yeah, I mean I think for my parents it’s a dream come true for
them. You know the amount of work that they’ve put in into us. You know, they took us across the country, different schools, visiting
different colleges, spending a lot of money on us. And to finally see their kids out on the same field at the same time I think it’s just a
dream come true for them like I said. They’re so happy for us, they’re excited, and they’re just so proud of us.”
LIONS RB D’ANDRE SWIFT POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On if the performance of the team over the last half of the season can springboard into the offseason: “Great. We’re spring
boarding into the right place. You can kind of tell with how good (inaudible) two, four weeks ago. We’ve just been getting better
week in and week out. So, come offseason, we can come back and we’re ready to go.”
On scoring the game-winning touchdown: “It was cool. It was definitely amazing to finish out that way. The O-line and receivers
made it easy blocking. (Kalif Raymond) Lif had a great block outside and it made my job easy. It’s a great way to go out, great way to
end the season.”
On the biggest difference in the calling of the offense when Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties: “I felt
like towards the end we just started clicking on all cylinders. We started complementing each other well, defensively and offensively.
We started playing off one another. When you do stuff like that, it’s complementary football and start to win games.”
On if he has a favorite memory of Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell this season: “No, because he’s the same way every day. His
energy, you can tell he wants to win and that’s the culture he’s trying to build here and has done a great job getting guys on board.
It’s great to play for a guy like that.”
On what it does for the team with the consistency of Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell’s attitude each day: “He’ll keep us going as
players. Knowing that your coach is interested in winning and wants to win. So, keeps interest in players and keeps us going.”
LIONS S TRACY WALKER POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On how important it was to be able to play complementary football: “That goes to that foundation that we’ve been trying to
establish all year. You know, we’ve been having all types of ups and downs, but today we were able to go out there and play as one.
We played as a team today and we were able to be successful today. And so you know, that’s just kind of what we were looking
forward to and we’re going to continue to build on that.”
On what it means to finish the season out with an all-around stellar performance: “Well, it definitely gives us that confidence to go
into next year understanding where we stand at right now and where we can continue to build on. And right now, man, it’s just kind
of up from here, you know what I mean? Like I said, the main thing for us is we were trying to establish a foundation this year and
we finished out the season the right way that we wanted to. So, looking forward to next year where we’re going to continue to
build.”
On his interception in the fourth quarter: “I was just reading the quarterback. My DBs (defensive backs) underneath made a good
play in two-man and I was able to tip and overthrow. That’s all we’re talking about, you know. So I was able to make a great play just
like on JRM’s (Jalen Reeves-Maybin’s) pass deflection with C.J. (Moore). We got a lot of guys on this team that are role players and
they step up when they need to and that’s what happened today. We had a lot of guys that stepped up and made plays when they
needed to. And like I said, we were able to be victorious for it.
