Opening Statement: “As always, each week I try to pick out the positives of what we’ve done as a defense, and I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’m chippy or I’m happy after a loss because each loss, to me, it feels the same. But I will say this, I always want to go back and look at the film and take the emotions out and look at it. ‘What did we do as a defense that we can build on?’ You look at the first half, percentage-wise, it was probably our best defensive performance in that first half. Now, going into the second half, not our best defensive performance, but there’s a lot that we can build on when you look at that first half, especially the fight, the grit, the times we turnover. Those things are positives when you look at that, and the players really understand that, they know that. But on the flip side, they also know that we have to play for a whole game. We have to play four quarters like this game is made of. So, we’ve got to get better at that.” On what the defense needs to do to get more production in the red zone: “It’s funny you say that because that’s something that we’ve talked about today. Even though today is usually a third-down day, I try to mix in some red zone on a Thursday. It really comes down to two things in my book, the first one is discipline. I said, ‘Do your job, and more than anything, focus on the execution of your job.’ Those are the things that we have to get better at. The second one is just winning 1-on-1 battles. This is a 1-on-1 game to be honest with you. Each individual player has a 1-on-1 battle every doggone play. We try to focus on, ‘How many times can we win that 1-on-1 battle?’ Then you do that within a team concept and that’s what makes up a good offense or a good defense is winning those battles. That’s something that we’ve talked about, we’ve looked at it on tape, and I’m big on showing tape not to show people mistakes, but more or less to show how can we improve. That’s what we did today.” On if the defense has overachieved with the personnel in place: “Well, I really don’t look at it that way. I look at it more of, ‘How can we as coaches try to put the guys in positions to be successful?’ So, overachieve? Not really. I look at it as we basically underachieve because we are not exactly where we need to be. I look at that as a team, but I also look at it defensively, also. Each week, we try to go out with the mindset, ‘What can we do as a defense to win this game to put us in positions to win games or put the offense in position so they can score?’ Sometimes, I think we do a good job of that and at times we don’t, but that’s what we go out and practice every week.” On the defensive breakdowns in the second half of last Sunday’s game: “A lot of times when things are not going your way – and this is just human nature for any player, heck I did it when I was a player – when you try to do too much, and once you try to do too much, that’s when the breakdowns happen. ‘My guy’s here, but I’m trying to make that play over there.’ Guys, they want to win so bad that sometimes, that instinct takes over to where, ‘I have to do more.’ It sounds crazy, but you really don’t have to do more. ‘Just do what you’re supposed to do, and when you do that, everything will be fine.’ That’s what we continue to preach. The players see it and a lot of times they hit themselves in the head like, ‘I’ve just got to do my job.’ But that’s what we focus on and you hear that across the League. But for us specifically, that’s a major deal that we have to continue to work on.” On how to defend against the Rams offense and Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s misdirection with his eyes: “I think the first thing is film study and really understanding, ‘What do they do?’ And then you try to flip that, and the way you flip it is you try to manipulate the quarterback and don’t let him manipulate you. You saw a really good picture of that last year in New Orleans when he tried to do that to the safety Marcus Williams and Marcus Williams picked him off. So, there are ways to combat that, but we have to learn how to do that. A lot of good quarterbacks have that knock, and he’s one of them. He’s one of them, but there are ways that you can make that go against him by him trying to do all of that, instead of him just placing the ball where it needs to be and by us, basically, reacting to what we see on film and being, ‘Where are guys going to be at these certain spots?’ And go make those plays. He’s a good quarterback. He’s a really good quarterback, and he’s doing a good job for them and we have our work cut out for us. Not just him, but the skill positions that they have. They’re all over the place when you get this team, but it’s exciting also. It’s a good play caller. Playing against a talented team, what more can you want, really? You get a chance to go into that building to get a chance to win a game.” LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANTHONY LYNN QUOTE SHEET October 21, 2021 On the difficulty of facing Rams DL Aaron Donald and Rams CB Jalen Ramsey: “They definitely build that defense around those two. They look for the matchups with Ramsey on the receivers and with Aaron Donald, they just move him to so many different places. He is not a stationary target, so our protection system is going to have to be very sound this week and we cannot let him wreck the game because he can wreck the game.” On if they plan to double Rams DL Aaron Donald: “There are going to come some times when we’re all going to be 1-on-1 with him and we’ve got to get the job done, but you want to put four hands on him as much as possible.” On what makes Rams DL Aaron Donald so good: “He’s just dynamic. He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s quick, he’s explosive, he jumps around to make moves. He does some of the things that are very unsound for a defensive lineman, but he’ll make plays doing it. So, he catches you off guard, an element of surprise with some of his stuff, but he wants to be the best in the League. I got a chance to know him a little bit being in LA with him. He’s just an unbelievable human being and he wants to be the best in the League. Right now, I believe he is.” On Rams DL Aaron Donald’s unorthodox technique: “His technique can be very unorthodox because when he’s supposed to go right, sometimes he steps left and he’s still quick enough to get there in the backfield and make a play. In pass rush, you just don’t know where he’s going to be.” On if Rams DL Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in the League: “He’s been the best for a long time and he takes care of himself and he works hard. I’ve heard nothing but great things about him.” On if the Rams’ defensive stars at all three levels make it hard to run the offense: “It makes it difficult, but you still can run your offense. They do have stars at all three levels. (Leonard) Floyd is their second best rusher in my opinion, but he’s a guy that we’re going to have to account for and our tackles are going to have to do a good job on him because they will bring the back. They will bring (Kenny) Young just to create the five 1-on-1s and that can be an issue. But, we’ve got to get the ball out on time. We’ve got to go through our route depth and get our heads around, and we still can do some things to move the ball down the field.” On the positives he took from last Sunday: “Not a damn thing. Not a damn thing. Every game up until then, I could’ve come in and could’ve told you some positives, but after the Cincinnati game, it’s just the way I felt. I think our squad feels that way offensively. We’re looking forward to going out and blessed to have another opportunity to go out on Sunday and do it again.” On what they will work on this week to not repeat poor offensive performances: “You have some guys that didn’t practice as much last week and it showed up in the game. Guys that don’t practice as much, we won’t put as much on their plate, regardless of who they are. That’s one of the things we’re going to do, but we have yet to focus for four quarters. And you talk about this intense focus that it takes to successful in this League, and I do believe we are a gritty group, but last week we did take a step backwards and I think guys are eager to play this week against a good football team and just see where we stand.” |
