| October 27, 2020 LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DARRELL BEVELL CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On what he is seeing from the Colts defense this season: “I mean, super strong defense that we’re facing this week. I think number one, they’re very well coached. I think that’s where it starts. You can see all the yards are hard earned on tape. As you watch, you don’t see guys running free. You don’t see busts in the coverage, those types of things. You see players in the gaps they’re supposed to be in. You see the coverage where the guys are supposed to be. You’re going to have to do a great job. You’re going to have to earn it this week.” On how committed he is to the current running backs rotation: “The correct answer for that is we’re always evaluating, right? We’re always taking a look at what we’re doing, how well the players are playing, how well we’re giving them the stuff that they do best. Even last week, I think (D’Andre) Swift ended up with the most just total number of plays, not necessarily the most carries, but the most total number of plays. It’s still in flux each and every week, trying to put guys in positions to be successful. Trying to put them in positions to help the offense with the things that they do well, things that people are seeing that are happening, yeah, just continuing to work on that each and every week.” On if there is any importance to RB Adrian Peterson starting the beginning of halves like he has: “I mean, not necessarily, no. I don’t think just getting the first play – obviously, there’s reasons for why they’re in on certain plays, even things that you’re trying to have as a perception, sometimes you use that to your advantage. Just continuing to look at those roles each and every week.” On what sticks out to him on film from against the Falcons when he sees the struggles of the offense in short-yardage-run situations: “Really, I think you’re referring to two specific ones, right? I mean, we had two short yardage plays. The first one was a fourth-and-one, I mean it says fourth-and-two on the play, but it was closer to a fourth-and-one for us and Dante Fowler Jr. made a phenomenal play. What happened on the edge didn’t really have an effect on him, so he made a great play and we’re just going to have to do better there with the coaches’ part really is what I think. There was stuff there for him to pay attention to, he didn’t pay attention to it and got a good hit on Adrian (Peterson). The second one we went with tempo and tried to get them. We just didn’t handle that correctly. We’ve got to make sure that we’re on the right guys that we’re supposed to be on. Fortunately, they still had 12 guys on the field, so that was something that we were trying for as well and we were able to at least make that part happen to get to first down.” On if it is fair to say that he wants to be able to run the ball in similar short yardage situations: “Absolutely, that’s where we’re built. We feel like you can demoralize your opponent when you’re able to run it in those situations, particularly those situations where everybody in the building knows you’re going to run it, or you have to run it. So, we try to be tough in those situations. Obviously, you have to execute, you have to do your jobs correctly. I have to put the guys in positions to be successful as well and we’re going to continue to work to do that.” On if he is concerned about predictability when running the football with RB Adrian Peterson in early down situations: “What we’re trying to do is obviously, again, I’m just going to keep reiterating kind of the same thing, but trying to put those guys in positions to be successful. Trying to do the things that we do well. Sometimes you make a good play. Sometimes the defense makes a good play as well. I don’t think it’s anything necessarily against Adrian, I think it can happen to like, really, any of the backs that are in there, but there are things that we can do better. I think if you talk to him, the first thing he’ll say is that there’s some runs that he could do better and we’re going to continue to work at that.” LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR CORY UNDLIN CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On how the defense has evolved since the bye week: “I mean going back – the more time you spend together – I didn’t read the whole thing, but I saw some comments by Danny Shelton, I think, about – you know, we talk about this – the more time you spend together, the more time you get used to each other. How many times has this been said as well as far as no OTAs, short training camp – and just like any family, any group of men that spend a lot of time together, there’s a chemistry and there’s a trust that goes into it. When you look to the guy to your right and the guy to your left, can you count on those guys? It has a lot to do with me and them towards me and me towards them. I think the longer we get together, the more time we spend together, it’s coming together. “Obviously after the bye week, going into the bye not having been playing great ball there, especially against the run. That’s not a secret. Then you look at the last two weeks, we haven’t come up with some radical new scheme. We’ve gotten better at what we do is what we’ve done. So staying focused on the things we can control. I think the question has been asked a few times, as you start moving pieces around, the luxury of having the front guys and the linebacker crew and then being able to take Jayron Kearse and the safeties and kind of move guys around. We’re kind of settling in I think right now. It’s not nowhere near complete, but we’re getting to the point where we can put those groups out there and feel really good about everybody doing their job. It’s been good the last two weeks obviously and that goes without saying. Got to keep going though. There’s plenty of stuff coming out of both of those games, specifically, obviously, the one we just played two days ago, that we can still clean up, that we need to clean up, so we’ll keep grinding it down and keep working.” On the breaking news of the Lions trading for DE Everson Griffen: “Breaking news to me. So appreciate the heads up on that. I’ll have to go back to the staff room and see what we got on the board there. So we’ll take a look at it. I’m not going to really comment on it – obviously, you just told me. I knew there were obviously some stuff going on – had no idea until you just told me. But we’ll be excited just like we do when any new player comes in here, welcome with open arms and see what we can do and put him in the best position to help all of us, not just for us on defense, but everybody.” LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BRAYDEN COOMBS CONFERENCE CALL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) On LB Jarrad Davis’ new role on special teams: “I’m glad you asked that question. ‘JD’ is a – and I don’t want to get carried away because really, he’s just doing his job. He’s being professional; he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. But I think we’ve all probably seen in this League a lot of guys become disgruntled at times, especially guys with high-draft pick pedigrees, early success in their career, whatever individual situation may be. I’m sure you can hop on the Google right now and find half a dozen guys around the League that are complaining, being selfish or otherwise disgruntled. So I do think – ‘JD’ has been really, really good just with how he’s handled a little bit of a transition in his role. To be honest with you, it really started back in the very beginning of the season. He was in my ear, ‘Coach, why don’t you let me rush? I can rush kicks. Let me help you out.’ He was playing every snap on defense at the time. It just wasn’t really the right time. But as defensive personnel groupings have kind of changed, evolved on a week-to-week basis, kind of started getting him more involved with us a little bit at a time. He’s just really, really embraced it. It’s been really fun to watch his attitude as a captain, as a veteran leader on this team. “We start our day every day with a player, and my very first meeting is Coach (Patricia) gives me an opportunity to have all the rookies every day. It’s a chance for them to get an extra look at the gameplan, scouting report and those things, but I think a lot of it is just individual development. I think it was just last week, had a couple clips of ‘JD’ just on the sideline at practice, not even involved, but just really being attentive, being high energy and cheering on his teammates. I think that’s really what it comes down to is (that) he’s an outstanding teammate. (He) puts the team first and anything we ask of him, he’s all in, and he does it with enthusiasm, does it with high energy – just wants to win. I don’t want to say that that’s rare, but it’s not always what you get in this League. A lot of times guys have individual interest or have other thoughts other than what’s best for the team in the forefront. Been really cool for me to see, been really cool for our young players to see, and then I think as it’s continued to grow, and he’s had the opportunity to actually not just be part of things from an energy standpoint, once you go out there and be productive, I mean, you guys see what he looks like when he’s coming down the field with a 50-yard running head-start on kickoff. So he goes down and really sets the tone for us, and to see the effect that has on our team, again from an energy standpoint, it’s really contagious. So that’s really been a lot of fun for me and for the rest of our group to get him more involved and looking forward to continuing to see where that goes for us as a group.” |
