| Opening Statement: “Obviously, I’m not happy with the outcome of the game just like any game that you lose, but I want to make sure that I look at the positives like I always do. A couple of things stand out. The first thing is we have held this team to the lowest rushing amount they’ve had all year and I think our guys did a really good job of that. I think they averaged 2.5 yards per carry, somewhere around there. We had some critical short-yardage stops in this game and that’s hard to do to any team, but for our guys to go out there and have those critical stops and then we got the fourth-down stop, which is the same thing as a short-yardage stop, to give our offense a chance and that’s what our job is on defense. It’s to take the ball away and give our offense a chance to score and our guys did that. There are some things that we’ve got to work on. There are things we’re continuing to work on, but – like, each game, it’s hard to put in words just how you feel about how these guys go out there and they fight and they play each week. There is no give up. There is no give up and you appreciate that with these guys.” On if he game plans differently for younger quarterbacks than veteran quarterbacks: “No doubt. Any time you play against a quarterback of (Matthew) Stafford’s – of who he is, you know he’s seen a lot. There are some things that you can try to do, but you know you’re not going to trick him. Totally different than a younger quarterback because those guys – it takes time for those guys to understand exactly how this League operates and the different defenses, different nuances that defenses try to do to you. So, each week we try to see exactly who we’re going to play and try to attack those guys depending on who they are and we did. We did everything we could to this quarterback. We sent the house at him. We disguised looks. Some things worked well for us, worked really well for us, and some things didn’t. I mean, that’s just how this NFL is.” On game planning for Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: “I think the first thing that I’ll look at with this player is just over his career he’s won a lot of games, so there is a winner in that player and I think that’s the number one thing you try to judge a quarterback on is wins and losses. You’ve always got to make sure you’re on your toes with this player. Even if it’s a close game, he’s one of those guys that has the potential to pull it off. We have to make sure that we’re all good in that area and understand who he is and what he’s done over his career. The second thing is his ability to run with the ball. You just said it, he has over 350 yards rushing, so we have to be able to contain that and make sure that he doesn’t get out of the pocket. So, our rush lanes have to be really, really good in that situation. We’ve already talked about that with our D-line. They understand that and we watched tape on that and we’ve seen how he’s been able to exploit different teams by being able to do that. And then the next thing is just the skill players that he has. Those guys are making plays for them. I’ll tell you what, this (DeVonta Smith) 6 from Alabama, he’s a really good player. The one player that has surprised me also is (Quez Watkins) 16. He’s catching all of these deep balls, so they have an element of speed on that team, 18 (Jalen) Reagor, he’s done a nice job for them also. To me, he seems like he’s a lot faster than he showed last year. Skill players are there, they have a quarterback that can move around in the pocket and be able to distribute, so we’ve got to be careful of that.” On how LB Alex Anzalone has turned around his season to produce some good performances: “I don’t know if you can say turn around. I just think during the course of a season, you’re going to have ups and downs. The thing is he’s a smart player, he’s an aggressive player. He’s a player that really understands football. I think as the season progresses, each player gets comfortable and you see that with all of our players. They start understanding exactly what we’re asking of the scheme. Even though Alex has some knowledge of what I want, it’s still a learning experience for him because instead of playing a three-backer defense like we had in New Orleans, it’s a two-backer defense where it’s somewhat different. But football is football that as a player, he understands and goes to the football. It’s not surprising that he’s continuing to improve each week and I expect him to continue to improve through the season.” LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANTHONY LYNN QUOTE SHEET October 28, 2021 On if it is a challenge to keep receivers mentally in the game if they are not being targeted: “No. It shouldn’t be. I mean, everyone has a job to do and we know some routes are decoy routes, but they also alert. You never know where this ball is going to go throughout a game. Our receivers, they’ve done a good job for the most part of staying alive, staying ready. I don’t think we have that problem keeping everyone else involved. It’s just trying to push the ball down the field a little bit is what I like to do a little bit more. That’s something that we’re – that’s an emphasis that we’re working on and we’ll see what happens.” On creating more downfield opportunities for QB Jared Goff: “If you’re not getting those opportunities, you have to figure out other ways to generate explosives. Up until the Cincinnati game, we were one of the top-10 teams in the League in explosive plays. There are other ways you can generate explosives other than throwing it down the field, but there is something that can back people up a little bit and give us a little more space underneath if we can get that done.” On if he can tell if defenses play them differently because of their low air yards per pass attempt: “I can tell when some people play us a little differently, absolutely and that’s up to me. That’s when you have to take those calculated shots. We’ve done that at times and we haven’t been successful. We haven’t held up in protection for whatever reason, but I have to do a better job of knowing when to take those calculated shots though.” On if defenses preparing for short-yardage throws is similar to keeping the defense honest in the run game: “Yeah, you play that game. You run to pass, you pass to run. You play that game.” On Eagles CB Darius Slay: “He’s playing good ball, man. He’s playing at a high-level. You can see why he’s a two-time Pro Bowler and all of that. He is everything that you want in a corner.” On if he anticipates defenses putting their top cornerback on TE T.J. Hockenson or RB D’Andre Swift: “Oh, yeah. I’ve seen that before. I mean, why not? Those are the guys that you’re trying to target. You put your best players on our best. I would imagine we could see that some more.” On if cornerback size matters when covering TE T.J. Hockenson: “Absolutely. I don’t think you’re going to put a small guy – those corners have good size.” On what he knew about WR Kalif Raymond before he signed with the Lions: “I didn’t know a lot about him. I knew he was a returner, backup receiver-type. But when we got him in training camp, he’s impressed us from the first day he got here. We were like, ‘Why are the Titans letting him out of there?’ But, he’s done nothing but just make the most out of his opportunities.” On what surprised him about WR Kalif Raymond’s skillset: “Just his route savvy and his ability to get open and he doesn’t let his size come into play at all because he separates so well.” On the importance of having WR Kalif Raymond to show younger receivers how to work in the NFL: “It’s great, and they’re out there if you notice every day with the quarterbacks. This is one of the hardest working groups I’ve been around. These kids, they’re going to do nothing but just continue to get better and we just want to do it sooner than later.” |
