| September 29, 2020 LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DARRELL BEVELL CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On if the team’s performance in the red zone is due to play calling or execution: “That’s a good question. It’s a major focus for us obviously. Last week we ended up two-of-six, but the last one, obviously we know what that is, so it’s really two-of-five. I think it’s a little bit of both. We’re trying different things. There (are) times where we try to run it in. There’s been times where we try to throw it in. We just have to be able to put it all together – whether it’s play calls, whether it’s execution of the specific plays, but we can definitely be better down there. That’s a focus. I believe the week before we were two-for-two in the red zone. So it has to become more consistent.” On the running back rotation: “I think we had a little shift there in terms of – we felt like we wanted to get Adrian (Peterson) going early, a little bit earlier in the game. But I’ll tell you what – all those guys, I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciate what they’re doing. We’re asking them to do different things. We’re changing their roles a little bit. As you just mentioned, Adrian took a little bit more of the running load, but Kerryon (Johnson), really to me, was player of the game. He was phenomenal in his protection pickups, in all the little detail nuances that we needed particularly on Jesse (James’) touchdown. He was a huge part of that play. His protection pickup – I mean there was one where they’re picking in the middle and he picks up basically both linebackers that were coming, has some physical plays there, really strong when we had the ball. The two times down there in that red area – the second time he ended up – we didn’t block the Mike linebacker, he ends up making that guy miss, makes a nice run for the first down. So it’s not anything that those guys are or aren’t doing. We’re just trying to accentuate their positives, put them in positions to be successful. You saw (D’Andre) Swift, his plays were a little bit down. We want to keep those up and get him more involved. In one play that he catches, he has a nice catch-and-run. He looks fast, looks explosive. So it’s just continuing to manage those guys and putting them in the best situations.” On how to manage RB Adrian Peterson’s workload: “I told you – this guy is a freak of nature now. I don’t know where that wall is or where he’s going to hit it. The guy is always asking for more. Like you said, he is in great shape; he takes care of his body. He does all those little things to set himself up for that success. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but he wants it. We want him to have it. We’ll keep continuing to go there. Spell him with Kerryon (Johnson), spell him with (D’Andre) Swift, and we’ll go from there.” LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR CORY UNDLIN CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On the problem of playing against Saints RB Alvin Kamara: “It puts a lot of pressure on everybody. The guy’s highly, highly productive, and (Drew Brees) is really good at – if he doesn’t like what he sees down the field, he can be quick, or he can be late and get the ball in the guy’s hands. Once it’s in his hands, it takes everybody to get the guy on the ground. So, you’ve got to pick your spots when you’re calling the game. A very, very good challenge for us this week coming up. Kind of like last week talking about No. 1 for them (Cardinals QB Kyler Murray), kind of the same situation. Guy’s very dangerous with the ball in his hands. We’ve got to do a good job of putting the players in position so we don’t get exposed there. Another great challenge as it is every week. We’ll keep working on that part.” On rookie CB Jeff Okudah’s performance in Arizona: “Obviously I can’t reference what plays you’re talking about. We’d have to pull those up (and) unfortunately I don’t have time for that, we’ve got to cover (Alvin) Kamara. I mean it will all be based on call, if the football was caught in front of him, if we we’re playing zone, if we’re playing man, or however that would go down. That would depend on the call, obviously. As far as how he’s playing, I think he’s trending in the right direction, just like everybody on this defense is right now. We’ve played three games, about to play the fourth here. And with every rep he gets – I think I’ve said this before, I’m a strong believer, especially for rookies – there’s no substitute for experience. The more you play, the more it slows down for you. When you’re a rookie, it’s your first time, a lot. Until you’ve played in another divisional game that you’ve already played somebody, it’s all new for those guys. For him running out there this week, obviously which is another new experience for him, he’d done it one time, now he’s got another game under his belt. There were some good things in there, obviously. Excited for the interception for the whole team. (It) definitely helped us there on that drive as they were moving. Great play by him, love to see him step in there and help the team. There’s obviously a bunch of things in there, too, that we’ve got to correct, just like there is with everybody. I like where he’s going. Is he there yet? Nope, not even close. I would tell him the same thing. A lot of work to still be done, but is he trending in the right direction? I would say, ‘Yes.’” On where he saw rookie CB Jeff Okudah improve in his second game: “Again, there was some improvement and then there were some things that we’ve still got to get better at. So, I would say just from his mental body language, having done it one time, he seemed in a different place. Less probably just wide-eyed than he was two weeks ago. Every time he goes out there, hopefully it slows down for him a little bit. I thought it did slow down for him this weekend. It was good to see.” LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BRAYDEN COOMBS CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On LS Don Muhlbach eclipsing the Top 50 on the NFL’s all-time career games played list: “First off, I have to thank you for sharing that stat with me. Busting (Muhlbach’s) balls about his age has quickly become one of my favorite pastimes. So the more ammo I have in that category, the better. He’s awesome. Working with him has been awesome. I would say that probably the two best traits that ‘Muhl’ has, aside from an awesome beard and elite athleticism, are probably, ‘A’ his selflessness, and ‘B’ his commitment. He’s all in. He’s like an extra coach really just with his investment and his time commitment to what we’re trying to do. He plays a position where nobody is ever going to really hear his name unless he ever screws something up. Although I will say, I am continued to be taken aback by the sort of legend of Don Muhlbach here in Detroit. He is certainly a local hero, and all that’s well deserved for him. “But he doesn’t ask for any attention, he doesn’t look for any of that. He’s a guy that just puts his head down and goes to work. I have to kick him out of my office, so that I can start looking at the return game and things like that because otherwise, he would sit and we would go back and watch every single punt rush going back 10 years because he wants to be as prepared as he possibly can be, and he is. So for me, to have him throughout the course of the week to bounce ideas off of, to talk about our processes, what could be better, and he’s a great go-between for me to feel out the rest of our guys. What’s everybody comfortable with? Especially as we were sort of putting all this together for the first time – just a really good sounding board. The more time that we have together, just that trust continues to build and you get more comfortable with each other’s style, the way that we do things ,the way that we operate on the sideline on gamedays, all that continues to be a work in progress. But just overall to have that resource for me, especially as a first-time coordinator – we’ve had a revolving door for the first couple weeks at P.P. (punt protector), which is another important spot, and then with a first-time punter. So having a rock steady guy right there in the middle to control everything is invaluable. He’s been a huge, huge part of our success so far.” On what confidence can do for a rookie punter: “I think the biggest thing for me right now with Jack (Fox) is (that) we’re three games in. So I don’t think there’s any really sense yet of talking about what we’ve accomplished. We’re sitting here at 1-2. Me and Jack are kind of on the same page in terms of the more success we have, we’re just going to keep raising the bar. We’re not really looking back right now and talking about anything that we’ve done. As he continues to go out and do better, then we’re just going to raise the goals higher and try to accomplish more. I will totally agree with you that for a punter, and in my own personal opinion, this is just my philosophy, that any athlete at any position in any sport, confidence is paramount. So I think the more he’s able to go out there and replicate in games the things that he already knows he can do, then sure, of course he’s going to become more and more confident. When you get more confident then I think that builds more of a foundation for yourself to where you do have a screwup here and there, and you know, ‘Hey, that’s just a one-time thing. I’m not broken. I’m going to go back there and do it just like I always do the next time.’ I absolutely want him confident. He knows that. He knows that I’m very, very confident in him. I just don’t want he, or us, ever to feel satisfied or like we’ve arrived. We’re just going to keep trying to reach higher and higher and see how far we can take it.” |
