LIONS QB JEFF DRISKEL
JEFF DRISKEL: It’s been a normal week. Every week I go in, I prepare as if I’m going to play. I’ve been doing that since I got here to Detroit and that hasn’t changed. So, it was really a normal week.
Q. When did you find out that you would be starting?
JEFF DRISKEL: I mean, as a backup quarterback, there’s always opportunity or there’s always a chance you’re going to get in the game. That’s just been my mindset the whole time is, hey, you could be called on at any time, and be ready to go. And that’s just been my mindset since I got here, is when I am called upon to be ready to go.
Q. When did they tell you that you were going to play, that’s the question? Did you know Friday? Saturday? Sunday? JEFF DRISKEL: Yeah, I mean like I’ve been saying, they have been telling me, since I got here, be ready to go when you’re called upon. I found out this morning when I got to the stadium.
Q. The opening drive, I know you would have liked to have had a touchdown, but how important was it for you go down and put some points on the board the first time?
JEFF DRISKEL: It was huge. To get a nice opening drive, obviously you want to end drives like that with touchdowns. And that was disappointing that we couldn’t punch it in for a touchdown. But ending it with a field goal is good too. But, yeah, we got to capitalize on those opportunities when we get down there and score touchdowns, because that’s the difference in winning and losing in this league.
Q. What did you think of your performance kind of overall?
JEFF DRISKEL: I thought I competed. I thought I played hard. I’m probably the most critical on myself. Looking at that interception there in the red zone put our defense in a tough spot after they had been playing well, lights out, all day. But definitely made some plays. There’s a lot of opportunity to improve, when we look back at the tape, but overall made some plays, but not enough to get it done today.
Q. Were you leaning on Stafford at all during the game on the sideline at all?
JEFF DRISKEL: I think so. I think his presence is huge. He’s the unquestioned leader of this team and one of the toughest dudes I’ve ever been around, most competitive people I’ve ever been around. So yeah, having his presence there was huge, not just for me but for the whole team. So yeah, it was awesome to have him there and he had my back just like I have his back when he’s out there.
Q. Did you get any sense for just how tough it might have been for him to be on the sideline for that whole game and have to play that role?
JEFF DRISKEL: Yeah, I’m sure it was tough, everybody wants to be out there competing on the field and he’s done it for a long time at a high level, don’t know the exact number of starts that he’s had in a row, but it’s definitely up there. I think it’s since 2011 he hasn’t missed a start. It’s just a testament to him as a person, as a teammate and a competitor.
Q. Did you get a lot of reps in practice? Do you feel like you had a full grasp of everything when the game started?
JEFF DRISKEL: Yeah, I think the staff does a great job during the week of sprinkling reps for not just me but everybody to make sure that everyone’s ready to go, because there was a stat out there over 50 percent of the league that started as backups this year have played. So, everybody in that locker room is going to be called upon to play at some point and I knew that was going to be the case for me as well and just prepared all year long for when my time came. But, yeah, the reps during the week, definitely helped.
Q. What was it like leading that last possession with a chance to win the game running the offense and all that?
JEFF DRISKEL: I think the awesome thing about that group in there is we never flinch. When you look at those guys in the huddle, they’re looking back at you with the same mindset that, hey we’re going to go score and we’re going to go win this game. I think we had that mindset the whole day and unfortunately, we didn’t make enough plays. We got down there, we just fell a little short today.
Q. The final drive I saw you shaking your head after the dropped pass to kind of milk some time off and force you down to seven seconds. Is that one you wish you had back, that used those 12, 13 seconds there at the end?
JEFF DRISKEL: That I didn’t?
Q. The one you completed.
JEFF DRISKEL: Oh, inbounds. We had time I wanted to keep the drive going, whoever was on Kenny Golladay made a nice play of getting him down. Tried to put it out in front so he could stay on the move and get out of bounds, but, hey that’s how it plays out sometime. The coverage that we got their kind of dictated where the ball went, and I knew we had another play and we did a nice job of getting up and killing it to give ourselves time for a shot at the end zone.
Q. Did you look at the interference call with Golladay on third down, I think it was fourth down, the interference call against Kenny?
JEFF DRISKEL: I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it. You get called sometimes, you don’t get calls sometimes I didn’t see it, but it was definitely a tough one, did a good job, J.D. extending the play and making himself available for me, but, yeah, unfortunately that one got called back, we weren’t able to convert after that.
Q. How tough was the Bears defense and what kind of challenges did they present to you today?
JEFF DRISKEL: Yeah, that’s a really good group over there, starting obviously with their front they have really good players up front. I thought our offensive line did a nice job handling those guys for the most part and I thought we dialed up a plan to move around a little bit, get the ball out on time, so they couldn’t pin their ears back. It’s a really tough defense and we came up short today.
