LIONS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER BRAD HOLMES AND LIONS ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER RAY AGNEW QUOTE SHEET
September 1, 2023
Opening Statement:
Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes: “Thanks for everybody coming, thanks for everybody being here, good seeing everybody. I just want to give some thanks. First of all, I want to thank the players, all 90 of them and all of them that we’ve had just in and out, just the mental and physical demands that they endure. I just have the utmost respect and admiration for what they do and what they have to go through and all that they accomplish, so I thought that was huge. I want to thank (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell). I thought Dan did a phenomenal job just managing the entire camp, managing the team. For our identity and who we are as a team, it’s really hard to get the needed work that we have to get, all while balancing taking great care of our players, so I thought that he was incredible in those regards. Our coaching staff, the focus on the fundamentals and development of our players, I thought they did a phenomenal job. The time spent, the effort, the energy, I just thought that they were all incredible. Our personnel staff, they were great. Our pro personnel department led by (Director of Pro Scouting) Rob Lohman. Our pro scouts, our directors, really everyone. We had a very detailed, sound process that entails a lot of work, a lot of hours of basically scraping the entire League throughout the preseason and we did not claim anyone, but we were able to target some external players to add to our practice squad, which I felt was very strong and I thought that they all did a phenomenal job. We have a new training medical staff. That was a big overhaul for us this past spring. I thought they did an awesome job. I think all of our players really felt the positive impact. I thought our whole organization felt a positive impact. Player health is of number one priority, as always, so (Director of Player Health & Performance) Brett Fischer, (Head Athletic Trainer) Mike Sundeen, his entire staff, thought that they did great and it’s truly an all-hands-on-deck group effort. You’ve got equipment and video, football opps, our entire player wellness staff, our grounds crew, I always say they’re the best in the world. To host two joint practices and it’s looking like Augusta National every day out there, it’s pretty impressive. Nutrition, dining services, security, really it’s – so all in all, I just thought that everybody performed at an elite level. I want to thank our fans. The attendance, their support, their excitement that they brought, I thought it was amazing. Like I always say, our fans and our city are just like us. It’s who we are. They’re a very gritty group and just, I’ve got a lot of appreciation for them. Just from a roster standpoint, sitting back over the summer, before we got started in camp, I was thinking like, we’re going to have a lot of tough decisions and we did, but actually when it all came down to it, it wasn’t quite as many as I thought it was going to be, which was a credit to a lot of people and, most importantly, a credit to the players. I thought offensively, we were explosive last year. We added some pieces this past offseason to – and also the continuity that we had in hopes to be more explosive this year. And then defensively, we wanted to add – wanted to improve our personnel on defense, which we did, but also, we had other players that were either in a development stage, or in a medical-related stage that really came alive this camp. So ultimately, it really left us with tremendous depth on the defensive side of the ball and obviously, I’m sure you’ve all seen the numbers, it’s pretty heavy over there, but with that kind of depth on the defensive side of ball, I do believe that that’s how you put yourself in best position to sustain over the long haul during the course of the season. Special teams, that’s a big focus for us. It’s very critical for us. We kept six linebackers. I’d say five out of those six are legit special teams players, as well as players that can definitely contribute on defense. We had a kicker battle, ended up going with (Lions K) Riley (Patterson), so he’ll start us off. But it’s not to be forgotten about our practice squad, like I mentioned earlier, that we put together to add (Lions K) Michael Badgley to the practice squad and then you have a player like (Lions CB) Khalil Dorsey, who we signed last year late and he really came alive and made a lot of plays on special teams this camp, so to have him join and make the team, so just all three phases, just felt the improvement and we’re just ready to get rolling.”
On if the focus on the roster decisions was to have a starting roster that will produce wins earlier in the season than last season: (Holmes) “That’s a good question. It’s not so much the focus of how start – obviously yeah, we all want to start fast and you don’t want to be in a 1-6 hole again. But, we’re just taking it step-by-step, phase-by-phase, really. And that’s how we roll. We’re very aligned. We have great cohesion in our process, in terms of how we build the roster and construct it. I do think we have a good balance. We’re still a very young team, but we have a good balance of enough veteran leadership and guys that played, not only on our 53, but also our practice squad, so that sustainability component that I was speaking about to go through the long haul of the season, but obviously, we feel like we’ll be ready. You want to start fast, obviously, and I believe that we have the players in place to kind of put us in that position.”
On his level of confidence in his roster to be able to win the NFC North this season: (Holmes) “Very high. I do think that we’ve – let’s call it ‘took our medicine,’ in the past couple of years. Me and (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) talk about it all the time. We’ve coached the Senior Bowl. We’ve had to do ‘Hard Knocks.’ We’ve done all that. We’ve gone through a lot of darkness to get to this point, but that’s where the grit comes in place in terms of just not really wavering or put your head down or get discouraged and so, we just kind of just put the focus in building the best roster that we can and really just getting the best football players first. It’s not just – you’re not just collecting talented guys. It’s like – it starts with football players and what’s a football player? Smart, passionate, instinctive, relentless, tough, gritty. It starts there, but we have football players with talent. And we just kind of steadily collected that over time, but we were very strategic and selective in that process. A lot of talented football players that we did not draft, a lot of talented football players we did not sign in free agency, talented football players we did not put a claim in for. So, it kind of got us to this point, but we feel good.”
On the pride he takes in almost all of his draft picks from the last three years making this season’s roster: (Holmes) “Yeah, I mean I don’t – yeah, I guess you look back at it, you feel good about it, but we just focus on selecting the right players and selecting good football players that fit us. You do expect, when you get into rounds one, two, three, four, five, but really – I mean, when it gets into the late rounds, sixth, seventh rounders, those picks aren’t just throw-away picks or picks just throwing a dart. I mean that’s a concentrated, intentional pick on those guys, so when you select a guy like a (Lions OL Colby) Sorsdal in the fifth round from William & Mary, I mean yeah, he came in, he got better and better every camp. When you pick an (Lions WR) Antoine Green in the seventh round, he has a lot in his body. He’s got some development to do, but I think he showed that over camp. So, all the picks and then all of our undrafted players. That’s a big area of emphasis for us. It’s a very detailed, sound, thorough process that we put into that and so, to have – to find a (Lions CB) Steven Gilmore to come in and make the plays and really, it wasn’t a surprise to us, having a Gilmore make plays like that. He did that his whole time at Marshall, but to put it together in camp. So, it feels good, but you just want to get the best football players.”
On how confident he is in the backup quarterback position and Lions K Riley Patterson: (Holmes) “Yeah, I would say, well for the quarterback, I feel really good about our quarterback room now, at this point and with Riley, when we first had Riley, I thought Riley did a really good job and then obviously, he got claimed by Jacksonville and kicked for them and still did a good job, so he’s had his moments this training camp where you would’ve liked to be a little bit more consistent, but what I know about Riley is he’s got a very low heart rate when it comes to game time. His confidence is high, so I’m not too concerned because I know who he is as a person, so hope for the best. You kind of saw the kick in Carolina where it was probably a little bit outside of his range of kind of what he normally is, but within his range, I mean just look at the data on him in games and in critical situations, he’s been pretty good, so I feel good about it.”
On how he feels about the excitement surrounding the team: (Holmes) “Yeah, it does feel good and like what I’ve always said, I’m just happy for the fans and for the city of Detroit because they deserve that. They deserve excitement. They deserve hope, so that’s really good. For us, let’s call it the ‘hype train,’ if you want to call it, well it’s been called that. It was a little surprising to me this past offseason just because we didn’t make the playoffs. Loved how we ended the season, but I didn’t think it would be to this magnitude, but regardless of whatever – how much positive news is coming out, we’ll still keep the same mindset as that we’ll always be the hunters and we’re not succumbing to targets on our back, no. We’ll always be the hunting and aiming for the target, so it doesn’t really change on much and I think (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell)’s done an outstanding job with the team in terms of letting them know what the expectations are. We’re not scared of the expectations. The expectations are earned through, I think, what we’ve built and what we’ve done up to this point, in terms of how we finished the end of the season and through our player acquisition process. But now, we’ve got to just prove them right.”
On how active he was in trade discussions surrounding players during the roster cut down and claim periods: (Holmes) “I mean, it’s always my job to turn over every stone. It’s so many players that are discussed within the League that aren’t reported on, interest here or there. The (Cowboys QB) Trey Lance thing in particular, I had never reached out. I never inquired about the player or anything. So, in terms of – because I think the report was us and some other teams were like in that group of being interested, but I never actively pursued the player, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of those reports. But again, we’re always going to look to upgrade the roster at any point, but if it’s like something that’s like we’re active and we reached out, we did not do that.”
On the health status of Lions DL Levi Onwuzurike and Lions DL John Cominsky:Lions Assistant General Manager Ray Agnew: “I’m just here so I won’t get fined. But no, yeah, those two guys, in particular, that you talked about, Cominsky, Cominsky brings a very valuable aspect to our defense. The guy does all the dirty work. There’s a lot of stuff that you guys will never know that he’s doing that’s helping us win, helping us be productive as a defense, so he’s a great value to have on our team and he plays extremely hard. You can count on him. He’s dependable. He does everything right, so he’s very good. As far as Levi man, what a pleasant surprise. The guy looks healthy now, he’s playing explosive, pass rush is there. He’s looking the guy we drafted out of Washington, so.”
On Lions DL Josh Paschal’s health: (Agnew) “Paschal, yeah man, explosive. He’s doing everything we thought he could do. He’s setting the edge in the run game on base downs and then he’s bumping down inside on third down and rushing as a passer. We’re looking for big things out of him this year.”
On the confidence he has in the defense being able to be a difference maker this season: (Holmes) “Yeah, I have the utmost confidence that we can achieve that. With (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG and the personnel that we have, I do think that we have the recipe to achieve that. Again, we wanted to improve the personnel, which we did, especially on the backend, as was stated, but if you look at linebackers I mean yeah, that’s heavy to have six linebackers, but you have five guys that are starter-level players that either have the ability to start, or have started in this League and that defensive front, you mentioned those guys, Ray just talked about just the – (Lions DL Josh) Paschal having a full offseason. I mean he’s just screaming all camp. (Lions DL) Levi Onwuzurike, there was never a question about ability about Levi. It was just getting healthy and he’s been healthy and he’s been screaming all camp, so I do believe, obviously we’re deep at edge, we’re deep back there at safety, we’re deep at corner, so I do think we have the necessary pieces to achieve that.”
On how confident he is that the team will achieve the high expectations surrounding the team: (Holmes) “Yeah, I just think the ability that we were able to grow together, just the continuity that we’ve been able to maintain. Yes, we’ve drafted a lot of young players over time, but again, like I was saying earlier about just – every draft pick is very intentional. It’s not just, ‘Let’s find a talented guy.’ I’ve always – the talent piece is a very, let’s call it the ‘easy, coherent part of the process,’ that’s been in my mind, but just getting the right players and so doing that, they’re team-guys, they’re locker room-guys, they fit us. But then, when you first get here, we don’t even have a whole lot of money to spend in free agency, but being intentional about getting a (Lions WR) Kalif Raymond, being intentional about getting an (Lions LB) Alex Anzalone, being intentional about getting a (Lions DL) Charles Harris), those kind of guys that you can keep around and so that continuity, that growth, the offensive line, the continuity, so I think everybody growing together, I think makes us feel good that we can be that.”(Agnew) “As a player, you want expectations. You want people to think you’re going to be good. And the reason why we can be comfortable is because the guys we have on this team. These guys are still hungry. They’re still hungry, they’re still hungry to prove that they’re great in this League. They’re still hungry to prove that we belong in the conversation, so I don’t worry about that. We’ve got a hungry group of guys. They come to work every day. You don’t see anybody slacking, laying off like we’ve figured it out, so I have no issues with that.”
On why he believes the players’ hunger to succeed has not diminished: (Agnew) “I think Brad hit on it, the type of guys that we get. They love football, first of all. They love to play football and they want to be good and they want to be great and face it, we haven’t played in the playoffs yet. I mean everything sounds great, but we have not played in the playoffs yet. And so, there’s still a hunger to get there.”
On how Lions DB Brian Branch is better than he was expected to be than when he was drafted: (Holmes) “Yeah, you never know how quick it’s going to come on. I would say you’re talking about a kid that played at a high level for one of the more historic programs in college football under an elite head coach in (Alabama Head Coach) Nick Saban and just his – the complexity on defense and to play that STAR nickel position, that’s a lot of demands mentally and physically, but it’s not a surprise, really. And I don’t know if you want to call it a miss, but we had him as a first-round player. For us, we were just able to be in striking distance, just like I said about (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, it was nobody happier than I was when he ran a 4.58, or whatever he ran his 40, but he’s a football player. He fits who we are, so you don’t know exactly how quick it’s going to turn on, but we’re not surprised that he’s making the plays because he’s doing, really a lot of the same things that he did at Alabama. He’s an outstanding tackler. He has elite instincts and some people put him in a box at safety, but we kind of always had him identified as a nickel. He did a little safety in the summer, and he can do that, he can do a lot of things. I mean, the positions are endless where I think that guy could play on defense, really. But, then that also – I think Brian Branch falls in line of kind of what our theme was adding to the backend in general in terms of, we weren’t really looking for just the, ‘I need an outside-only corner. I need a nickel-only corner. I need a box safety.’ We don’t have depth charts in all that kind of stuff, it’s just – we added just gritty, versatile DBs that are smart and that’s what Branch is, that’s what (Lions CB Cam) Sutton is, that’s what (Lions CB Emmanuel) Moseley is, that’s what (Lions DB) C.J. Gardner-Johnson is. And so, he just fit in that mold, but we’re excited about him. He had a great camp. He’s still going to be a rookie. He’ll have his moments here and there, so we’re ready for that, but he’s got the confidence to manage those moments. He’s got what Ray and I talk about, just kind of the resting heart rate to kind of manage those big moments, even if he has a bad one, but pleased with what he’s done.”
On his expectations for Lions WR Jameson Williams this season: (Holmes) “Yeah, well, had good communication with Jameson and his agent before the deadline, so obviously can’t have any contact with him, but they have a good plan in place for him while he’s recovering from his injury and that six week suspension sounds daunting when you say that, but after three weeks, he’s going to be allowed to come back in the building and we can kind of re-acclimate him there, but the expectation is just for him to handle everything that the plan is set out to do within those three weeks. I have confidence that he will and I have so much respect for the future, which is the unknown, that I want to say he’s going to get this many catches or this many yards, but we hope that he has an impact for us when he’s able to join the team.”
On if the training staff can meet with Lions WR Jameson Williams off-site during his suspension: (Holmes): “No, we can’t have any contact with him. We just had a plan that was communicated before the deadline.”
On the conversations surrounding contract extensions for Lions QB Jared Goff and Lions G Jonah Jackson: (Holmes) “Yeah, absolutely, we’ve kept an open dialogue with their agents in camp and I think the transparency has been good, so we’ll see how it goes. Good dialogue.”
On his confidence in the team being able to compete at a high level: (Holmes) “Yeah, that’s a good question. I think that last year we proved that we can definitely compete with anyone. We had some big games last year versus what you would consider the top elite teams in the League and I believe that we got better this offseason and this training camp and like what you mentioned, the continuity, so we feel even more confident that we’ll be able to compete with the big dogs and I mean there’s not a better test than that first opener, I mean, they’re the champs and so, I’ve always said, what I love about the League and everything that you hear is, ‘Oh yeah, the Lions, they’re going to do this. They’re going to do that, great,’ but open a game it’s, ‘Let’s see it.’ And so, we’ll be ready to do that.”
On what he has seen in Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes and Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell’s relationship: (Agnew) “Oh, I mean, just the greatest thing about this situation here is those two on the same accord and when we first got here, those two gave us the vision, clearly, vision. The type of player we wanted, type of guys we wanted on our team and then we were able to all go out as personnel department and coaching, assistant coaches and do their vision and work their vision and get players, so that doesn’t happen everywhere. I’ve been places where it doesn’t happen that way and it’s tough to deal with but here, man, we’ve got great leadership. They’re on the same page. We’ve got a clear vision of what we want in a football player and what we want in our culture and if they don’t have it, they can go play for somebody else.”
LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 1, 2023
Opening Statement:
“Excited to start this journey with this group of men, the coaches and players, (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and myself. This is exciting times, man. We’re excited. We can’t wait to get going. It’s a long journey, and this is the most important game because it’s the one right in front of us. But our guys are excited, I could see it this morning. Today, we’ll get them loose, get them moving and then we’ll get after it tomorrow. Obviously, a big challenge with this team – (Chiefs Head) Coach (Andy) Reid, I’ve got a ton of respect for. He’s been one of the most consistent winning coaches in this League for a very long time, and really all that he has on that staff, not to mention the players that they have over there. They have a number of guys that present challenges for us. Certainly, it starts with their quarterback. I think this halfback’s pretty good, (Chiefs TE Travis) Kelce we know about. I think this offensive line has improved and then defensively, man, this is a fast defense they run and I think (Chiefs LB Nick Bolton) 32’s a bell cow over there at linebacker, so. But man, we’re excited. Can’t wait to get this one going.”
On how this team embodies grit as its identity: “Well, I think that we’re – look, we won’t sacrifice our identity for anything, and I think we’re a pretty resilient group. I think that’s where I believe it all starts because for us, and for anybody that’s been around this game – look, we’re going to hit some hard times and it’s the teams that can come out of that the other way and that can come out the other end unscathed. And I think that’s what this roster’s built for because every team goes through it and we’re going to have – I believe we’ll have our ups, but when we hit some rough spots, this team is built to handle it and will come out better.”
On if there is a different emphasis placed on having a strong start to the season compared to previous years: “No, I mean I think that some of that bleeds also into these joint practices we had with two different opponents. I feel like you’re able to solve issues that much faster. I’ve kind of eluded to that, I think that helps. I think we’ve done a lot more situational work which these early games I believe you’re heard me say this, but it’s the team that makes the least amount of mistakes not the most plays that wins and I think that will go a long way. And certainly, you’re conditioning which I feel like will – I don’t feel like anybody will be in better condition than we will going into game one. I think we’re as prepared as we can be so, no I think that we just hone in on the things that we do and I think those will serve us right and we’ll see where we go.”
On the biggest keys to meeting the high expectations set both in and out of the building: “Man, all we’ve got to do is focus on what’s going on in this building and what the film says. The film doesn’t lie, and as long as we as players and coaches, man, we trust that, the good, the bad, the ugly, the all of it, and take it for what it is, the reality of it, not the perception of anything else, we’ll be just fine. We’ll be just fine.”
On the starting point to slow down the Kansas City offense: “Yeah, look I think we need takeaways. We need takeaways. We’ve got to convert on third down on offense and we need takeaways on defense. I think that’s what we have to come away this game with and I think we’ll say that all year long.”
On his level of confidence in the secondary to capitalize on takeaways: “Yeah, I feel very confident. I do believe that we’ve got some playmakers back there on the backend and so I think we’re much better suited than we’ve been here to come up with some – man, you get some tipped balls, overthrows, get a hand on a ball that we’re going to come down with those, and not only there on the backend, but I think we’ll have the ability to squeeze the pocket on these guys and just really all year I believe we’ll be able to do that with our front. And so, that bodes well to getting some takeaways, those two things.”
On where the team has made the biggest gains this year: “Depth. Depth. We have more depth. Linebacker depth, D-line depth, I think those are the big ones that show up, and that goes a long way because that helps your special teams too.”
On how pleased he is with where the team is today considering his original vision when coming to Detroit alongside Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes: “Yeah, very pleased. You always – I think you start with the end in mind and then you have to go back to reality, but you have this vision of where you want to go, where you see it going and what it’s going to take to get there. You don’t always know the timeline, but you know you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you and so I think we’re both very pleased. And I think so much of it is, I just go back to this, yes, there’s an upgrade in talent, but man, we really believe we have football players. We’ve got good football players on this team and that’s the game that we’re playing. We’re not acquiring talent, we’re acquiring football players and I feel like that’s – we’ve got the most amount of those that we’ve had in three years, which gives me a lot of hope.”
On how soon he thinks Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley will be back and contribute: “Man, he’s really a – we just have to take it as it comes. He’ll get his first work with all of us out there today and then he’ll get a little bit tomorrow. It’s tough for me to say right now, but he’s progressed well. It’s a credit to him. He’s put a ton of work into it, he’s a grinder and what bodes well for him is he’s smart. He’s played the game and he’s pretty instinctive and so he can – I think he’s got a chance to catch up pretty fast. Does that mean this week? I don’t know, but we’ll just take it as it comes.”
On if Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson has exceeded his expectations with play-calling and how he has grown: “Yeah, he – man, I’ve been – I can’t say that I’m surprised by what he’s been able to do. Look, I always thought a lot of Ben. It’s been – I just, look, I’ve had a lot of faith in him, I’ve known him for a long time and there again, I think it helps when you – he and I have the same type vision offensively and that helps me with him. We see the game very much the same way, and to that, he’s done an unbelievable job and he’s really grown a ton over a year, but I can’t say that I’m surprised that he was able to take it where he did last year. I think a lot of him and I still think he’s got room to grow too. The test with being a coordinator, is certainly every week’s going to be different. We’re going to have some injuries, we’re going to have some people down and that falls into, ‘Alright, with what we’ve got now going into this game versus this opponent, what’s going to give us the best chance to move the ball?’ And like I tell him all the time, it’s not always going to be about the yardage or, ‘I need you to put up 30 this week. I need you,’ – there’s so many things that go into play. I mean our coordinators know every week I go in there and say, ‘Here’s how we’re going to win this game,’ because I see it with three phrases. Their job is they’ve got one track, one-track mind, ‘How do we move the football? How do we stop the football defensively?’ But there’s a way to win a game and so sometimes that means you have to play the game a little different offensively and use your defense or special teams, or vice versa use the other two units, so. I don’t want to say you put a governor on a unit sometimes, but I think you play to the strength of what you’re getting ready to play, versus them.”
On how Lions QB Jared Goff can find the balance of not making mistakes and taking risks: “Yeah, look I think for us, you’ve heard me say this, I tell Goff, man, he’s very much a piece of the puzzle here. He’s not – it’s not the end-all be-all. ‘We don’t need you to be a hall of fame quarterback out there. We just need you to run the offense, be efficient, make the throws that are there, be accurate when you pass,’ – because that’s what he does well. Get us into the right play, that’s all you’ve got to do. And so with that, ’Hey, cut it loose.’ We don’t really talk in terms of, ‘Be smart, be smart,’ because I think you do – man, you can create a little fear if you’re not careful. So, for us, it’s, ‘Hey, the play’s there, you know what to do, we’ve repped it out here, now cut it loose. Play football.’ I think where those little things come in, ‘Man, I break the pocket, I’m on the run, make sure you tuck the thing away, understand somebody’s coming.’ Look, there’s going to be things that happen. There’ll be interceptions this year, I mean that’s the nature of the game and sometimes those will come up and you’ve just got to put it behind you and go to the next one. So, we don’t want to coach out of fear.”
On if Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has a weak side that the Lions can force him into and capitalize on: “Make him go backwards and never turn around where he can throw back that way, just that way. That would be about the best way to sum it up. Yeah, look, this guy is – he’s tough. That’s the easy answer to all this. He is a highly competitive, highly instinctive aware player and it all – he is the engine in this offense, everything runs through him, he makes it go. And then around him, he’s got these pivotal pieces, (Chiefs TE Travis Kelce) 87 being one of them and man, when you’re all on the same page like they are and they have communication without saying a word, it’s tough. But there’s a way to I think limit what they do a little bit and it’s going to take every one of us over there defensively and it’s one thing, you’ve got to play your keys, do your job, but then when the play breaks down, God we’ve got to stay alive and you may have to stay alive for six, seven seconds and you better find out where 87 is when that play breaks down too, so. But no, he’s as good as they come. He’s as tough as they are to play. He’s a great player.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
September 1, 2023
On how important it is to avoid an offensive shootout compared to the last time he played the Chiefs: “Yeah, if it happens, you embrace it. I know, certainly on defense, they don’t want it to be a shootout, but offensively, if that’s the way the game goes, you’ve got to just kind of go with it and make the plays that are there and yeah, that one was a shootout for the ages and a fun one.”
On how his last contest against the Chiefs may have represented the future of offense in the League: “I don’t know. I don’t think I saw it as like a bigger meaning that just a Monday Night Football game. I think it was two really good offenses and there were some defensive scores in that game too. It just was kind of some fireworks, and we were able to score last. That was kind of the thing, it was like, who was going to have the ball last? It’s what it felt like, and we were able to score last and finish the game.”
On what he has heard about playing at Arrowhead Stadium: “Yeah, this is the only stadium I haven’t been to, so it’ll be fun. I’ve heard it’s loud. I know it’s loud and we’ll be ready for it.”
On which areas he views they have the potential to be better at this year: “That’s a great question. In a lot of areas, I think mostly, it’s just the details of things that we’ve been able to clean up over, even through OTAs and training camp. Being able to ask questions on things that we made mistakes on last year and make sure everyone is dialed in on the same page on how we want to do certain things, so the details of each play, which should lead to better execution, less penalties, that type of stuff of just getting lined up and being able to execute our offense at a higher level.”
On the benefits of having two joint practices with different teams: “Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought it was really good. It was two good teams, two playoff teams, two teams with completely different styles of defense and they were both very professional when they were here. It was a really good four days of work for us and was able to kind of be a barometer for where we were at and some things to learn from, definitely, and to come away with.”
On how he has seen the offensive playbook evolve this offseason: “Yeah, it’s always changing. It’s always evolving. (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson)’s always got ideas. Some of them he pulls from his time in Miami, some of them he gets from other coaches, some of them it’s from (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and his time in New Orleans. It all kind of comes from various different places, as well as I don’t think we’re above stealing from other teams, so it’s kind of how this League goes and I think he’s one of the most creative guys in the League. We’re lucky to have him and so yeah, we’re always evolving and trying to get better.”
On what challenges the Kansas City defense presents to the offense: “Yeah, you watch a lot of the stuff from last year and obviously it’s a little bit of a different team now, but I think overall, their coverage is pretty sticky. They do a good job staying close to the receiver. I think their linebackers are extremely athletic and I think up front, they’re pretty young and fast. I think they’ve got some guys that can do some good things, really at every level and it’s a challenge. That’s why they’re the Super Bowl champs last year. It’s because they’re good on every level, obviously their offense gets a lot of attention with those guys over there, but their defense is no slouch, and we’ll have our hands full.”
On what he likes about what Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery bring: “A lot of it. I like kind of – they both bring a lot and Gibby’s kind of the speed, quick guy and David is a bit more of the stronger and I don’t know, thicker running back. But they can both kind of have similar skillsets. They both run and catch. We plan to hand it off to both of them and throw it to both of them at some points this season and they’re both extremely explosive. They help us a lot.”
On the magnitude of explosive plays he predicts the running backs to have this season compared to last season: “Yeah, sure, I’m not sure what we were ranked at the explosives last year, but I would imagine it was pretty high. But yeah, I think speak of those two guys, we loved (Eagles RB D’Andre) Swift and (Saints RB) Jamaal (Williams) and just the same way, (Lions RB) David (Montgomery) and (Lions RB) Jahmyr (Gibbs) give us that chance to be explosive and to get the ball in their hands in a variety of ways and let them do the rest, so it’s a fun group to have and expect to be explosive with them, as well as everybody else.”
On what he thinks is Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson’s biggest strength: “I think communication and just overall, listening ability. A lot of guys are smart, and a lot of guys can draw up anything and can put the offense in an advantageous spot, which I think he does a lot, but he’s very available to listen, to not only me, but the coaches and all the players and what do we see? What do we like? What do we want? And I mean there’d be times in the middle of the game where a lineman will come over and ask for a certain run that maybe we haven’t practiced in a while, but we know it will work versus what we’re seeing. He’ll call it right away and it’ll work, and it doesn’t bother him to get suggestions and I think that’s something that makes him pretty special.”
On where he has seen Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson grow over the last year: “I don’t know. I think being able to dive into our details of our offense a bit more. I think last year we were kind of at a base level of it and really kind of, at times, flying by the seat of our pants, as far as early on in OTAs and training camp, installing stuff, seeing what works. And now we’re able to kind of know who we are and know what we want to do on offense and we kind of know what works for us and being able to dive into those details and make it even better and more explosive and more complementary and all that stuff has been fun to see him kind of dive into it even deeper.”
On the level of urgency the team feels to have a strong start to the season: “I think you’re always urgent every year. I think the last two years we haven’t started quick, so maybe there’s a little bit of an increased awareness of it. Yeah, sure, I think making sure that we don’t dig ourselves in a hole, but the same time, we’re trying to win every game. But yeah, we’re aware of it, but it’s one game at a time and the first one is the Chiefs and try to go out there and win that one.”
On if there is any concern about the vertical passing game this year without Panthers WR DJ Chark and Lions WR Jameson Williams: “No, I don’t think so. I think, obviously you mentioned DJ, he gave us something there and then Jameson has to sit out, but no. I think there’s ways to do it. You don’t have to have a four-two guy in order to do it. Teams do it all across the League without four-two guys, so being able to find those ways, the scheme, open it up and be able to utilize our different skillsets at receiver and even tight end and running back to create those mismatches and make those explosives.”
On how confident he is in the new personnel based on their performances in training camp: “Yeah, I think the new parts would be (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs, (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta, I guess (Lions RB David) Montgomery and (Lions WR) Marvin (Jones Jr.) are the veteran new parts and yeah, so just making sure I’ve gotten enough work with them, as we have through training camp and feeling good with them and (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell)’s done a good job putting us in practice situations that simulate game-speed and game-atmosphere and coming to the sidelines, sitting down, coming back on, so we’ve done a lot of that. So, we feel great. Yeah, we feel comfortable. We do have a lot of guys returning, though, which is nice and being able to come back with (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Lions WR) Kalif (Raymond), (Lions WR) Josh (Reynolds), (Lions TE) Brock Wright, obviously the front five. It’s a lot of fun.”
On how he senses the expectations for this year are different than previous years: “Yeah, you sense it, of course you hope it goes that way when you get and I think back to whatever it was, 2021 and expectations were not high, and you hope they go higher and now we’re here and they are higher. But internally, we are very focused on every day and getting better. Obviously, people expect a lot from us, but we expect a lot from ourselves too and we have a high standard and are going to uphold that whether you win, lose, draw, whatever it is, you’re going to come out and try to get better the next day and hold who we are and that’s what we’ve done and yeah of course we expect to win more than we have, but it’s a hard game. They’re paid to play too and it’s going to take all of us to get there but yeah, I think our standards and our expectations have certainly rose and that’s how you it goes. Hope it continues to rise.”
On how excited he is to be back for a new season and try to be better than last year: “Yeah, excited. Excited to get back and hopefully continue what we were doing. It doesn’t happen – there isn’t some magic pillow where we can take it and then we just keep rolling on the same hot streak we were on there at the end of the year. So, it’s going to take a lot of work and getting on the same page through this week and working hard, whatever today is, Friday, so Saturday, Sunday, all the way through till Thursday and making sure we’re on the same page, but I think it’s a League of runs. You get on winning streaks. You get on losing streaks and finding your way on a winning streak is the hard part and that’s something that we’re up for the challenge for.”
On how much fun he is having playing with the increased excitement surrounding the team: “A lot, not so much talking to you guys, but other than that, I’m having a lot of fun. Yeah, it’s fun. It’s fun being here in the city with all this excitement and with that being said, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win and I think we all know that, I know that. I’ve been on winning teams. I’ve been on losing teams. People will continue to be excited, if we continue to win. So, that’s kind of the fix to everything and winning fixes everything, as they say. So, if we can get on that winning streak, like I talked about. It starts with the first one, but find our way into a hot streak and keep winning and yeah, this city will continue to be excited, but it starts with this week with Kansas City and finding a way to win the first one.” |
