September 22, 2020
LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DARRELL BEVELL CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM)
On how he would assess QB Matthew Stafford’s performance after the first two games: “I think he’s been solid, but I do believe that there’s some plays that we’d like to have back and we’re continuing to work on those things. He’s his own hardest critic, which is always good, particularly at that position, but we can play better.”
On if how the offense used RB D’Andre Swift at Green Bay is more similar to his plans than how Swift was used in Week 1 against the Bears: “Well, you’ve got to remember what’s been going on with D’Andre. He hadn’t had very much offensive time with us in training camp, and so, just kind of bringing him along, seeing the kind of things that he’s able to do and just adding things a little bit probably more slowly than we would’ve liked, but just getting him up to speed. You’ll continue to see him in there in different capacities, really.”
On how he thought RB Kerryon Johnson looked in Week 2 and his overall performance wearing a knee brace this season: “He’s been so solid for us and I think I talked about it even going back to last year. I thought it was really big for him to miss all those games and then still come back at the end of the year and play for us and have that want to, or that willingness to come back in and the situation that we had. So, he’s kind of come back. He still works on that knee every day. He’s got a lot of rehab and a lot of just basically maintenance that we have to do to take care of it. He wears the knee brace all the time and I mean, he’s never said a word. He comes to work. He works hard and we just really love the mentality that he’s having for us right now, that he’s bringing both just in fighting through the stuff that he’s got going on with his knee. And then like as you mentioned, the first couple of drives there with him getting in, really some tough yards that he was able to gain for us, he did a nice job.”
On if QB Matthew Stafford’s pick-six at Green Bay in Week 2 was supposed to be intended to WR Danny Amendola or if he should have been looking at a different target when the blitz came: “Well, the first thing is we’ve got to take care of protection. They did have pressure, but there’s other responsibilities going on. I don’t want to put it on any one guy. But we have to have 11 guys working together. If you don’t have that, then that can cause problems. We had a little bit of a problem with the protection and then he has to get rid of it sooner than he needed to. He put it out in the flat to Danny, there was also, I think you can see if you watch the clip, you can see Marvin’s side was in a good spot, and good air right there, but with what we had going on with protection, we weren’t able to get to that.”
On how the deep passing game can be opened up a little more with or without WR Kenny Golladay: “They (defenses) are definitely legislating against that. That’s our job to continue to look down the field, but if we don’t have it, bring the ball underneath and check it down, which I think we’ve been doing. But the first thing I think will always help us is run the ball, that way they’ve got to bring extra safeties down in the box and give us some better looks. There’s still with blanket coverage, there are opportunities to take shots down the field and we’ll continue to try to find ways to get those.”
On what he has seen from G Jonah Jackson: “Jonah’s done a nice job. He’s come in since day one, he kind of worked his way. It wasn’t really handed to him. He kind of worked his way into the spot. We thought we had something in Jonah, and I think you’re starting to see it. He’s a physical player, but he’s also super athletic, so he’s done a nice job of fitting in there. He’s got good leaders and guys to communicate with and guys that are veteran players that are next to him, so I think that helps him. I think really when I look back at it in training camp, I think one of the big bonuses for him was going up against Nick Williams every day. I mean, that guy is a big human. He’s got good speed. He’s got good moves. He’s got good power. So, I think that battle, if you went through the first day of training camp, to by the time we got to the end of training camp, I think Nick made him a better football player and kind of showed him what the NFL is all about. I think that started to help him there and as you said, he has held his own in the first couple weeks.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR CORY UNDLIN CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM)
On what’s most disappointing with the team’s run defense: “I don’t think that’s sat with anybody – myself, the players, anybody – very well. That’s a true statement. I think that’s an obvious statement. We’ve got to do a better job coaching it, and we’ve got to do a better job executing it. That’s it. We could go round and round and talk about what’s disappointing or what I saw – it doesn’t really matter at this point. It’s my job to get in the meeting room, point it out. It’s my job to get the players to believe in it and go out and execute it better. I’ve got to do a better job coaching, we’ve got to do a better job playing, and I would leave it at that. We’re going to move forward and we’re going to get it fixed. No panic right now in our room with any position group. We are all aware of the fact that we haven’t played great in the first two weeks and we’re 0-2. So, you can point to anything you want. We’re 0-2 right now. It starts with me, and our goal is to get it fixed this week and we’re going to do everything we can, starting tomorrow, to get that fixed.”
On the struggles the team has had protecting leads: “Obvious statement again. I mean, we’re 0-2, and we’ve got to find a way. I think Reggie Ragland yesterday had a great quote and just said, ‘Hey, man, everything right now is from the neck up.’ We’ve got really good players on this team. I’m specifically, obviously, talking about the defense. I said it the first week, I said it last week, I say it right now – I have nothing but total belief in these guys. We’ve got to come back to work and go through, regardless of our record right now, and find a way to get through that – Matt’s (Patricia) been talking about the ebbs and flows of the game. We’ve just got to focus on one play at a time. It doesn’t matter what the score is. We can be down 14, be up 14, it doesn’t matter. The focus and the energy needs to go into the next play no matter what the call is, no matter what the personnel is on the field, what they’ve got, and do our best to execute that. Again, it starts with me. So, we’re going to continue to strive on that this week and we’re going to have a great week of practice and we’re going to go out there and do everything that we can to help this team win.”
On the team’s struggles to generate a pass rush: “I would start with the fact that each quarterback presents a different challenge. Some guys, it’s really hard to get there, and the emphasis of that quarterback is not necessarily to try blitz him or hit him. You obviously want to put pressure on him, put the clock on him. Each guy is different. This guy this week is different. This guy this week is going to be a challenge as well. So, I’ve got to put a scheme together that’s going to allow all three phases of the defense – the front, the linebackers and the secondary – to be successful, and whatever that plan is, what it’s going to be then, we’ve got to do the best we can to execute it. But I mean I think every plan’s different, every quarterback’s different. You’re going to attack every guy differently, you’re going to put different coverages on different situations – first down, second down, third down. And sometimes, pressures might not get there on time. If it’s third-and-two, it doesn’t matter what you do. You can blitz the entire defense, and the ball’s going to come out. You guys know that. All the situations are different, and we’ve just got to tie them all together. Like I said last week, rush and coverage, it all works together. Good coverage, good pass rush, and vice-versa. We’ll keep focusing on that and see if we can get better there.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BRAYDEN COOMBS CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM)
On his offseason with P Jack Fox and when he realized Fox’s potential: “Sure. I’m glad that you mentioned net punting. As you guys know, that’s definitely the most important stat for a punter, for a punting team. Gross (average) is one thing, but if you’re banging 70-yard punts and giving up 25-yard returns, it’s the ultimate determining factor in determining how successful your punter is – how successful your punt team is – is the field position gain – which is obviously the net punting. So definitely something we talk about all the time in every phase here is (that) it takes 11 (players). Just like in the return game, if you have 10 guys who do their job and one guy who doesn’t, there’s a chance you won’t make a very good play. So punting is the same thing. Jack is kicking the crap out of the ball. He’s doing a great job in that phase, but we also have Dee (Virgin) and Tony (McRae) playing gunner, doing a great job. We have guys like Jahlani (Tavai) and ‘Cheese’ (Christian Jones) who are playing 50 reps a game on defense – and ‘Cheese’ goes down and drops a boom on the return on the last punt there – so it really is a team thing. Everybody’s doing a good job in that phase right now. Listen, we’re two weeks in, and we just have to stick with it every single week and make sure that there’s no let up. League rankings and stuff aren’t something we worry a whole lot about, but those are numbers that can all be ruined with one single play. We just really have to stick with it and keep going. But yeah, Jack really punted well the other day.”
On what P Jack Fox can improve on: “I think the first game, he’d like to have that last punt back, but this past week in the punt phase – that was a (dang) near perfect performance. Having said that, punting is really one-third of his job. Obviously he’s the holder, he does kickoffs for us as well, and in both of those phases he could’ve been better Sunday. He’d be the first one to tell you that. So that’s really where I guess (are) areas for improvement. Again, he’s punted for two games. I think we all need to just take a deep breath. I’m really happy with what he’s done, but two games does not a career make, right? So he has to continue to go out there and do it on a week-in and week-out basis. We’re pretty demanding (with) what we ask of our specialists here. We expect perfection. There are 10 other guys who are depending on him when it comes to kickoff and field goal as well. So I’m going to stay on him with that. I think all the guys in my room would tell you that we have high standards. We’re not really big on patting ourselves on the back, especially sitting here at 0-2 right now. There’s not a whole lot of reason in my opinion for us to be proud of ourselves or happy with ourselves right now. With Jack, and with everybody else that plays special teams for us, it’s really about how can we continue to get better. He knows that, and he feels the same way. He has high expectations for himself, just like I have for him.”
On how he is seeing K Matt Prater respond to his two missed field goals: “I don’t know if you guys have had a chance to talk to Matt or not since the game, but I would just tell you that he’s probably two or three times harder on himself as I am on him. He’s a perfectionist. He expects to make every single kick that he attempts, whether it’s 30 yards, 55 yards or 65 yards. That’s just his mindset. He goes out there and wants to make the kick. He wanted to kick the ball before we had the penalty, and it was going to be 62 (yards). I’m sure he would’ve been (upset) too if he missed from 62. That’s just the way he’s wired. He’s a competitor. He’s no different than any of the rest of these guys. He’s frustrated with himself; I don’t think he’s discouraged. I think he knows that his numbers are going to continue to be called. I don’t feel any differently about him than I did two weeks ago. So those are two tough kicks, especially this past week. The conditions weren’t great and everything else wasn’t perfect. But Matt will be the first one to tell you (that) he expects to make it, and he’s frustrated that he didn’t. I think he’s probably just antsy to get to Sunday and hopeful that he gets an opportunity to go hit the next one and go bang it through.”
