| October 20, 2020 LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DARRELL BEVELL CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On the development of TE T.J. Hockenson and where he would like him to further develop to help the offense: “I think T.J.’s been through a lot obviously in his young career with the injury that he had. So, I think his progression last year was going in a good trajectory and then obviously, the injury kind of shifts your focus and it really shifted to him having to overcome that, put a lot of time, energy into that injury and I think he’s done a nice job of doing that. He’s worked really tirelessly to improve his game. I think right now, I’m just looking for him to be just more consistent, just basically down in and down out. If you watch this last game, probably one of his best games in terms of his overall blocking. I thought he did a really nice job there and kind of took a step forward, but still I think there was some things in the pass game that we’re looking for him to continue to gain some separation and kind of come through with some big plays for us.” On if he sees TE T.J. Hockenson as primarily a red-zone threat opposed to a full-field threat: “I wouldn’t necessarily say that, no. I do think he’s one of our go-to guys. I think he’s one of the guys who we’re trying to create plays or create opportunities for. I think there was one probably just past the 50-(yard line) where we threw to him kind of going up their sideline there, opportunity to make a play. So, just continue to try to get him the ball really all over the field.” On how he prepares for the usage of running backs going into a game and then adjusts in-game: “Well, we go in with a plan and then as the game goes along, you have to have a feel for the game. So, Adrian (Peterson) goes in with the first bit of carries, but everybody has kind of a specific role or even specific plays. I’ll even call the personnel with a guy’s number on it and send that specific person in the game because that’s a play that we want that individual to get. So, that’s kind of how we’re handling it with the running backs. So, Adrian gets the start and then from there we kind of have numbers all over the game plan for specific plays and it could be guys going in and out. Also, it could be I guess, situational plays are probably the best way to describe it. You know, Kerryon (Johnson) is kind of our third down guy. He’s our third-down runner. He’s our third-down-protection back. There’s other situational parts of the game and then as you’re just watching it, you’re trying to get a feel for how it’s going and (D’Andre) Swift was really running the ball well. He got some nice blocks up front, was able to take advantage of them, particularly on the big, long run and then just kind of continue to ride it from there.” On how much his running backs usage altered at Jacksonville compared to what his pre-game plan was: “I would say that it went fairly as planned and maybe there (was) just a couple after – I mean, obviously after the long run, I think really any of the guys might have had that opportunity to hit that hole, but obviously (D’Andre Swift) did it well. There was a couple of really nice runs for him, particularly on our wide zones that he made some nice cuts, had some really good reads and I think from that point, maybe we gave him a couple extra carries because he was running it and seeing it so well.” On how T Matt Nelson has looked compared to last year and his role at Jacksonville: “Yeah, I just think it’s a cool story. You know, going back to my days in Seattle, we had J.R. Sweezy, who came in as a defensive tackle and then you know, a defensive lineman and then ended up starting for us, really earlier than we had planned on it and ended up being a really solid NFL lineman. So, to see Matt Nelson being able to make this change, I mean it’s been a progression for him. He has done a great job of accepting the position change and then working to get better at it. You know, it was something that was not comfortable to him and I think the coaches, you’ve got to give credit to Hank (Fraley, offensive line coach) and Billy (Yates, assistant offensive line coach) with the work that they’ve done, even Jeff (Davidson) last year, to get him to the point where he’s at, so that he can actually be a functioning offensive lineman. I think this past offseason here was really where he made his biggest jump. He did it physically. He changed his body, did a nice job there. But then the light switch starts to come on just in terms of some of the technique, some of the footwork and he’s made himself into a solid offensive tackle right now. We’ve been just kind of slowly feeding him. You know, we gave him some opportunities on the goal-line when we get into a bigger package and then he kind of got thrusted into that game. There are still things that obviously he’s going to be able to learn from, from really the live opportunities that he had there, but you got to really hand it to him and the work that he’s done. I thought he handled himself well. He settled down into the game and he did a really nice job for us and helped us out in that game in a big way.” LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR CORY UNDLIN CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On what stood out while watching Atlanta film: “What stood out most was when I got on the bus and they scored some points on Sunday. Hands full, as you guys know – quarterback, can’t say enough about him, the guy can throw it all over the field. I don’t know if you want to talk about all the wideouts and the addition of the running back, the O-line is a good, good group, athletic, tough, can run it, good pass protection. So, we’re right back at it – on to the next one. Been in there all day, obviously all night yesterday, got a good jump on it, so we’ll see how it shakes out here as we go forward.” On balancing the focus between covering Falcons WR Julio Jones and WR Calvin Ridley: “I’d have to rush two, and I know you guys would not like that if we rushed two and doubled all these guys. So we probably can’t do that. I mean, I don’t know if I have a coverage that can handle all these guys. But I would say it comes down to trying to be effective and make the quarterback, make Matt (Ryan) work here, pre-snap, post-snap, and do our best and mix it up on them and try to make it hard for him. We all know – it’s just going to be a tough cover for everybody on the field. We welcome that challenge. I look forward to watching these guys go out there. Obviously like it does every week, we’re going to have to go start on them Wednesday, tomorrow, with great meetings, great practice, great preparation. We’ll just take it one day at a time and put a plan together, and we’ll see what it looks like at the end of the week, and we’ll pick the things that we think will help us win. We have our hands full here for sure. I look forward to that and the players do, too. It’ll be a great challenge. We’ll go out there and give it everything we got, see what happens.” On DL John Penisini’s strengths and his potential: “I agree with that – he’s gotten consistently better every week. We’ve talked about him a few times here, just stacked. I think he’s completely bought-in in what we’re coaching up front. I think I said this last week about (Defensive Line Coach) Bo Davis and him coaching him, and the things that he’s – I think just like any position, once you really start playing more and you get more time on the field, not just practice, but really on Sundays when it’s moving faster than it probably is in practice. The more snaps you get – there’s no substitute for that experience. So I think he’s just stacked every single week. Every single rep that he’s out there, they’ve all just stacked on top. The guy is stout, he can play low, his pad level is good, he can lock out, he’s strong enough. He’s not the biggest guy that you see run out there for us, but we say this all the time in this profession, especially on defense, technique overrides talent. This guy plays with tremendous technique, not every single snap, but for the most part he’s done a really good job. I don’t see him doing nothing but excelling – or arrow up on him and getting better every week that he goes out there. So excited for him, excited for the defense. I think if you asked any of our players, he would be one guy that you could say they noticed from – especially being a rookie like you said – that has continued to make upward strides and has continued to get better as we’ve gone through the season, call it five weeks here.” LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BRAYDEN COOMBS CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On the benefits of RB/WR Jamal Agnew having WCF Minority Coaching Assistantship Leon Washington on staff: “I think having Leon here is great. I think probably one of the first meetings we had when I got here, I really tried to stress to those guys how fortunate they are, how valuable they are. Leon wasn’t just a returner in this league, he’s one of the best returners in this league to ever do it. I mean, up there in terms of all-time kickoff return touchdowns. Not many guys have ever done it at as high of a level as he did. So, that’s something that we certainly can’t take for granted. As much as I’m able to impress on the guys that they’ve got to soak up all of his experience and knowledge, the more of that they can take away from him, the better. Whether it’s techniques and how to play, or whether it’s understanding the overall schemes and big picture – just kind of understanding. There’s a ton of just valuable little nuggets they can get just from being around him and having an opportunity to have him back there with them during practice, on the sideline during games. All that stuff. There are just not very many teams in the League that have someone with that kind of real, NFL-game experience in the return game. We’re really fortunate to have him, and I hope that those guys are benefiting from his presence as much as they can be and as much as I am.” On how he approaches K Matt Prater after recent misses from 50 yards: “I think the thing that Matt and I are really fortunate about is that our relationship is very genuine and authentic. I think that was something that I made an effort to try to establish when I got here, but really kind of happened organically the more we got to be around each other. I would say in general, in coaching, that’s sort of a priority with me, with any player, is building real relationships. I think without that, you don’t really have much of a foundation to actually coach on. So, that kind of happened very easily and very naturally for Matt and I. We live probably less than a mile away, have kids close to the same age. We just have a very genuine and real relationship. Whether things are going good or things are going bad, no different than we hit the game-winner in Arizona or any other game this year, it’s just real. I just treat him the same as I would anybody else I have that kind of relationship with. Sometimes, he needs me to tell him, ‘Hey man, you’re all right. You’re going to go out there and bang the next one.’ “Sometimes he needs me to just kind of help him regain focus, and sometimes he just needs me to stay out of the way and let him process. He’s been doing this a long time, as you guys know, at a high level. I think that part of authenticity and having a genuine relationship like that is A., it makes things natural, but B., if you ever try to do something that’s not real, then that’s going to expose itself right away. I don’t really go into a psychological process of what buttons I can push or anything like that. I’m just really earnest with him and try to respond naturally (with) whatever I feel in that moment, and I think he’s the same way with me. It just makes it really easy. Obviously, we want him to go out and make every kick. He wants to go out and make every kick. But when he doesn’t, I’m not on the flight back thinking about, ‘Wow, what kind of YouTube video do I need to pull up to get him back on track?’ It’s just not like that. This is a real, genuine relationship and those things just kind of take care of themselves. Hopefully he feels the same way. I’m pretty sure that he does.” |
