QUARTERBACK MAC JONES
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024
(On if the week’s preparation will be easier knowing that he will be starting on Sunday)
“Yeah, I think every week it’s a new week and you can just take a deep breath and attack
each day. So today we’re focused on practice, walkthroughs, meetings and definitely watch
the tape and learn from it. That’s the NFL. You’ve got to be ready to play the next week
because it’s really a one-week league. So, you’ve just got to change the narrative and be
ready.”
(On how much he learned from last week) “Yeah, I thought we played with good tempo in
and out of the huddle. Obviously, there are a lot of things to work on throughout the game
but it boils down to finishing better by me. I thought I left three plays out there and if you
change those three plays then maybe the outcome’s a little different. So that’s how I’m
looking at it and that’s the truth. I’m going to learn from it and move on. I’ve been here
before, which is tough, but you also have one choice and that’s to get up and keep going. So
that’s what I’m going to do. Lead the team and show confidence not only in them but also in
myself because we work really hard, and the coaches put us in great position to be ready
each week and that’s our goal as an offense and as a team to just get everyone playing
together.”
(On what identity the Lions defense has) “Yeah, obviously [Lions Defensive Coordinator]
Aaron Glenn does a great job. I mean, they’re sound all around. They do everything well
together and they play very physical. It’s a physical group. The fan base is awesome and
playing at Ford Field will be great and I feel like that whole city embodies football and tough
football. That’s obviously the mantra of the head coach [Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell]
and he’s done a great job there. I think a couple years ago just turned it around and really
just been impressed watching them throughout the years, how they play offense, defense
and special teams. So, it’s a big challenge when you’ve got great players and great coaching
and you put those together, but we’ve just got to focus on us and really just play each play
one play at a time for six seconds and that’s what it comes down to.”
(On how important it will be to get WR Brian Thomas Jr. involved in the offense) “Yeah, I
think you just can’t chase it. You’ve just got to distribute the ball whether it’s a handoff or
throw or quarterback run, whatever that may be. I mean you’ve got to distribute the ball,
and my job is to get it to the open guy and do that on a consistent basis. I feel like BT’s an
awesome player. He’s done a great job in his rookie season. I’ve been a rookie. It’s tough.
There’s a lot of information coming at you, but he’s done a great job, and I definitely want to
get him the ball and just stick to my keys as well and get him going and get the whole team
going. I think really as the game goes along, if you’re moving the ball well everyone’s getting
it. It’s just sometimes tough in the last couple of weeks just not having as many plays and
trying to get into that rhythm, so we’re definitely trying to find that.”
(On if it’s been difficult to manage emotions this season) “Yeah, like I talked about and the
first thing I said was just each week is you kind of have a new week and it’s crazy. It’s almost
like it’s an entire year in one week because you’re focusing on that week alone. Regardless
of if you won or if you lost, the process should stay the same. You make adjustments based
on what you need to improve. At the end of the day, we’re going to come and work. This
team works really hard, and I’ve been impressed with everybody, coaches and players
since the day I’ve gotten here. How well everyone’s worked on the field, off the field and in
the weight room. So, continue to do that and don’t chase it too much, the emotion of it. Just
kind of stick to it objectively and kind of go from there.”
(On if the message of resilience weighs on him now that he has the opportunity to start)
“Yeah, I think it just gets back to playing fundamental football and that’s obviously an
emotional thing and people will fail and get back up and keep trying, so that’s what I’m
going to do and what our team’s done all year is come to work on Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday and go all the way through the week to put yourself in position to win the game.
Every week is different. Every week it’s a new opponent. They bring new challenges. As a
quarterback, you just have to kind of stick to the fundamentals of playing quarterback and
like I talked about, it’s leading the team tempo out of the huddle and really just taking care
of the football. I think when you do that you have a chance to win in the NFL and when you
don’t, clearly, you don’t.”
(On how the team remains resilient throughout the season) “Yeah, I think we definitely saw
that last week. I feel like we definitely fought, and I left a few plays out there at the end.
That’s what it comes down to, but I feel like the defense, special teams and offense, that’s
what we do. We fight and I think it comes from Coach Pederson [Head Coach Doug
Pederson] and the message that he displays each week and he’s a great public speaker, but
he also means what he says. We’re all buying into what he’s saying and it’s to keep working
and put your head down and trust each other and the people in this building. That’s the
exciting part is we can continue to do that regardless. The result is the result and we’re
trying to win every game. We’re putting our best foot forward but we’re going to follow our
leader and that’s the players and the coaches.”
(On using this opportunity to show other teams he can be a starting quarterback) “Sure, I
mean, everybody’s trying to play well each game and my goal is to focus on this week. I’ve
historically done a really good job of that, and I need to get back to, like I said, playing
fundamental quarterback. That’s just the simple things, going through my reads, taking
what the defense gives and leading the team down the field during practice and all that as
well. I’m trying to focus on the now and the present and that’s the best way to do it. You
don’t want to get generalized and look for the future or look back. I understand that this
league is about opportunity, and we have a great one this week.”
HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2024
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s availability this week) “Trevor will be out. We just decided this
week. He’s getting close, but to make sure, again, you guys know how I am with injuries, we
don’t want to put a player out there who’s not 100 percent, so we’re going to rest him for
one more week.”
(On the bye week giving Lawrence two weeks of recovery time) “It does. We’ve got some
time.”
(On if Lawrence is able to play after the bye week) “Still a question mark, but I’m optimistic,
yeah.”
(On the confidence-level in QB Mac Jones after making one start) “It’s high. He’s excited to
have another opportunity. Obviously, another chance for him to rebound from last week,
but I think as a team, same way. Rally around him and support him and get ready to play a
really good football team.”
(On if it’s easier knowing Jones will get all of the first snaps in practice) “Yeah.”
(On what Jones’ strengths are) “One, he’s a veteran quarterback, so he’s played. He’s
started in this league. He knows how to handle that. I think, two, leadership-wise with the
guys, you see him communicate with the players on and off the field, with us as coaches as
well. I think the third thing is how well he does communicate with us when it comes to the
game plan—what he likes, what he doesn’t like—and just his overall work ethic, how he
prepares for these games, I think really gives him the best opportunity playing in these
games.”
(On OL Ezra Cleveland and DT Maason Smith’s injury statuses) “Yeah, both guys actually
should get back into practice today under a limited basis, so looking forward to that.”
(On the benefit for the Lions of building a team and staff around an identity) “Yeah, I mean
I’m obviously not in that building, but I think it’s what every team strives to do. Everyone has
a plan, and you stick to that plan. Sometimes it doesn’t always come to fruition, but you
have a plan needless, and they’ve done it well obviously. They’ve made some good trades
over the years. Goff [Lions QB Jared Goff] was a big acquisition, and they’ve done well.”
(On clearing the speculations of Lawrence needing surgery) “Not with me. Again, I think
that’s a question for our medical team, obviously. It’s not my place to say. I have no idea
where it’s coming from.”
(On what problems Lions’ offense presents) “Obviously, it’s a big-play offense, right? It’s
opportunities to push the ball down the field, play-action pass. That’s something that Goff
has been good at, even when he was in L.A. I think that’s something that—the movement
game. But again, it all kind of stems off their run. I think it starts there. One of the things
that—you look at the tape last week, Houston did a pretty good job of stopping the run a
little bit. They were able to disrupt Jared and get him off his spot. I think those are all key
things that you’ve got to be able to do, and tip passes, things like that, that cause some
turnovers. But this offense is opportunistic. It’s another team that is not shy about pushing
the ball down the field when they can.”
(On how much he attributes QB Mac Jones’ mistakes to not having been in full-game action
for almost a year) “Obviously, it’s in the regular season. So, it’s hard to—I hate to say that.
You hate to say the word ‘rust’ and all that stuff. But look, he’s been in big games before. He
knows how to handle them. I would expect that he’s going to rebound this week, learn from
it, obviously, as we all are, and move forward.”
(On what DT Masson Smith needs to do to see the field more) “Just keep being Maason.
Keep showing. Just keep working in practice during the week. Obviously, now that he’s
getting healthy again, I mean, he’ll be in the mix each week. Just showing the consistency of
his job and how he handles that in practice.”
(On the Lions’ defensive identity without DE Aidan Hutchinson) “It’s the same group. I think
it’s a really good unit. They’re good up-front. It’s a fast flow defense. Obviously, they can be
disruptive up-front. I think their two tackles inside are good players, big physical guys, and
their linebackers can run. Really, it’s just, again, a unit that’s playing well together. That’s
what you see on tape. When they do that, that’s where they can play fast and really keep
offenses down. I mean, do teams score and do teams gain yards against them, sure. But
they’ve also been able to stymie some guys and get after quarterbacks and create some
takeaways.”
(On if the tight ends getting more targets than the wide receivers was part of the game plan
vs. Minnesota) “Sometimes it just works out that way. You’d like it to be the other way, but it
just worked out that way. There’s going to be games where the receivers are definitely going
to get more activity. It just depends on how the game goes. Plus, the other thing too is
you’re looking for opportunities to spark your offense and get the ball out and different
things like that. Tight End seemed to be the place to go at times.”
(On his expectations for the running game this week) “Yeah, I think every quarterback in the
league would say the same thing. The ability to run the football just helps everything else
out. It just slows the rush down. It creates passing lanes off of play-action, movement,
quarterback’s out of the pocket. It just helps everything. So having a run game to help Mac
that way, I think is big and it’s something that we’ve got to, this week, be better at.”
(On if it’s hard to manage the team’s emotions when preparing for a dominant team like the
Lions) “No, it’s really not. It’s a great group of guys. This is Week 11. Guys haven’t really had
a break, obviously. They keep grinding. Are we defeated, disappointed, discouraged? I
mean, there’s moments of that, obviously, because of the way the season’s going. But by
no means are they quitting or lack of energy or wanting to improve. Get better as a team, I
still see that every single day. It’s a credit to those guys.”
(On getting WR Brian Thomas Jr. involved in the game)“No, I don’t think it’s too much. I think
you can put him in stacks, bunches. You can move them around the formation a little bit,
do some things that way. The only downside to it is the offense has to be stationary at the
snap so defense can still move and get lined up as well. So do the best we can to move him
around the formation, and then on Brian to obviously know that he’s going to be doubled at
times. He’s just going to have to work to get himself free.”
(On what he makes of the Lions’ rebuild) “I mean, I go back to probably the early [former
Dallas Cowboys head coach] Jimmy Johnson days with the Cowboys, right? I mean, he took
over a franchise that was 1-15 or 0-15, 0-16, something like that and within four years
they’re competing for championships. Obviously, they’ve done things well there. They’ve
drafted well, free agents have all been a big part of it. The more success you have, yeah,
he’s going to lose coaches. He’s going to bring new coaches in. Faces are going to change.
The one thing that I think when you look at Dan [Lions head coach Dan Campbell] and
really teams that have had success, it’s consistency. It’s just doing the same things every
single day. Message is the same. The guys work the same and the players buy in. And then
when you win—because I’ve been on that side of it—when you win, everything’s great,
right? Everything is not easy, but it feels easy, and that’s probably where they are right now.”
(On finding a way to win when the defense is giving up yardage) “Yeah, I don’t think it’s a
sustainable recipe. I mean, you look at the last, I think, three games. They’re averaging
close to 80 snaps a game. It’s a lot on the defense. But again, credit them. You hold a high-
powered offense to four field goals, right? You’re toe-to-toe with a chance to win against
the Eagles. You come back against a good Green Bay team and tie that thing at the end of
the game. So, I don’t think over the course of a season, is that sustainable? Probably not.
But the way they’re playing, yes, it is. I mean, they’re playing good football. Honestly, a lot of
defenses are that way. They’re going to kind of ‘bend, but don’t break’ mentality. It’s kind of
the way the league is. I think the parity of the league and the way teams are today. So, can
we live with the way the defense has been playing? Yeah, but then we’ve got to do our part
offensively, now to score and to move the ball.”
(On if the secondary rotation is what will be played going forward or if it’s package-specific)
“No, I think it’s something you’ll see more and more of. You’ve seen it with Darby [CB
Ronald Darby] and Montaric [CB Montaric Brown]. You see it with the D-line. I think as you
see it with the linebackers, right? I mean, you see these guys rotating. I think you have to do
it this time of year. Bodies and minds are tired, and it’s a way of trying to keep guys as fresh
as possible. So, I think it’s something you’ll see more and more each week.”
