| Opening Statement: “Obviously, we’re on to Chicago. Tough opponent, really good players, really good veteran players on that team. A chance to go out there and continue to improve as a defense, defensively speaking. A chance for me to continue to improve on my play calling, a chance for us as a defense to come out and have really good practices just like we did last week and give us a chance to win a game. Last week’s game, really proud of the guys the way they came out and played. I was excited and ready to get back this week to start preparing for this week just because of the way they played. To go out there and hold a team—we talk about this each week—one-of-10 on third down, the number one rushing team, too. I think they’re like 116 yards. Probably the best, the third-best going back to 2020 and man, that’s not an easy feat against this team, against that team, especially with the quarterback that they have. I understand that we have some holes that we’ve got to continue to get better at and we will get better at those, but man, the way those guys played, the way they fought, the way they played physical, man, you talk about a coaching staff ready to get back and get to work, we were ready to get back and get to work. Man, I promise you this, there are positives coming out of each of these games that we play and that’s what gets us excited to coach these players.” On how much the Ravens game built confidence in himself and his players: “You know it’s crazy, after the game—because the only thing I was thinking about was, we had a chance to win and we end up losing the game to a really, really good team, or a team that I respect because of the grit. Man, going back to my playing days with Ray Lewis and how they built that organization, I just thought that was a really good effort by our guys. So, in saying that, I started getting calls from a number of people around the League just talking about, ‘Man, how do we defend these guys?’ And how good of a job we did. Man, I’m not into moral victories and I wasn’t even thinking on the level of, ‘Man, these coaches are giving me kudos, I guess, because of the way we defended them.’ But the only thing that I was thinking about was, ‘We had a chance to win and we didn’t win the game.’ I’m appreciative of all of the calls, but you’re right. That does give me, gives our players, gives our coaches, confidence that we can go in there and we can put a game plan in that’s going to help give us a chance to win.” On if he shared his game plan with the coaches who called him after the Ravens game: “No. This game’s too hard. But I was very appreciative of the phone calls.” On if he believes the pass rush can continue to have success against the Bears: “Man, I hope we can, and we have the players that can do that. The thing that we want to do is we want to be aggressive, but in this game, you have to pick and choose your times because of who you are playing against because this guy can burn you. You saw last week against Kansas City, man, that guy’s a winner, now. And you look at the last game, he put the team in a position to a win and he did it. Against us, he put them in a position to win and he did it. I want to be very calculated on every pressure, every call that I had to make sure that I gave our guys a chance to be successful.” On if he would have changed his defensive play call in retrospect on the Ravens’ fourth-and-19 conversion: “Honestly, I wouldn’t take that call back for the simple fact that you look at the odds of actually converting the fourth-and-19, especially when you go across the League and look at what a lot of teams play. And I know that any time you make a call, there’s always going to be criticism and I’m willing to take any criticism that there is. But the thing that I do trust is myself, I trust our staff and I trust our plan. The decision to make that call again, I would not take it back not one bit. He made a hell of a throw. We’ve got to continue to execute and we will do that as a team. Like I have – there’s nothing in me, in my soul, that says I will call something different.” LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ANTHONY LYNN QUOTE SHEET September 30, 2021 On if the Bears’ defensive front seven is one of the best they will have to face: “I’ll tell you what, it really is. We played San Fran Week 1. We talked about that front seven all week, but when you look at this front seven as a whole, this might be the best front we’ve seen all year, maybe the best front we’re going to see all year. They do a good job on the edge with (Bears LB Khalil) Mack and (Bears LB Robert) Quinn and then inside with (Bears DE) Mario (Edwards Jr.) coming back and (Bears DT Akiem) Hicks. They can get you from inside or outside.” On what he needs to do to get the offense rolling and maintain momentum: “It just seems like over the last couple of weeks, a turnover or an untimely penalty has come at the wrong time. Last week it was kind of frustrating with both of those false starts to extend those drives. That will kill you when you only have, like, 27 plays in a half. So, I think just doing better on third down, staying on the field, will give us a better chance of getting into a rhythm.” On if he feels the offense is starting to roll: “I know the record doesn’t reflect that, but I feel like this whole team is getting better every single week. I do feel like we’re closer.” On if the false start penalties on fourth down were a product of trying to get the Ravens defense to jump offsides: “Not really. It’s a concept we practice all week and was fine with it and for whatever reason we were just a little anxious in the game.” On the rumors of the University of Southern California boosters contacting him for their vacant head coach position: “I’m surprised that was the fourth question. I was waiting on that one. My sister graduated from USC. Half of my family is in California. A lot of guys I’ve played with went to USC. So, of course those guys have talked to me and that’s flattering, but to be honest with you, I’m surprised something like this even went public. No, I haven’t spoken with USC at all. My focus is one million percent right here with the Detroit Lions. I love what (Lions Head Coach) Coach (Dan) Campbell and (Executive Vice President/General Manager) Brad Holmes are doing, the Ford Family, I love the grit in our players, hell, I love this fanbase. We want to win for these people and we’re going to build a consistent winner here, but this is where my focus is right now and we have a hell of an opportunity this weekend to go get our first win at Soldier Field, a place I love to play at. I grew up admiring (former Bears RB) Walter Payton and I wore number 34 because of Walter Payton. I’m looking forward to going out there this weekend and hopefully getting our first victory.” On if the people he spoke with about the USC job were just friends and family: “Yes.” On if he would consider the USC head coach position opening after the season: “Right now I don’t have enough time to think about something like that.” On if he wants to be a head coach again: “Right now I just want to be a successful coordinator.” On if he considered coaching college football in the offseason: “It’s an honor and a privilege to work with young men and help them develop in life, but you can also do that in the National Football League as well.” |
