| Opening Statement: “I’ll definitely start off thanking (Lions Principal Owner and Chair) Sheila (Ford Hamp) and the Ford family, and (President and CEO) Rod Wood for their unwavering support, belief and patience through, let’s call it a season with a lot of adversity. A trying season, so their support, belief and patience meant everything to (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and myself, and what our plan was. Want to thank our football support staff, football ops, our training staff, medical, player engagement, you know, through a COVID year, just from player safety, traveling, all of that, it takes a lot to get through a year like this that we did. Want to thank them and want to thank the business and support staff over at Ford Field. It takes a lot to get to gameday, and to put on a great gameday experience. It’s all hands on deck. So, appreciate everything that they do, and put on a great experience for our fans. And last but not least, but definitely our great fans for showing the patience, sticking with us through thick and thin, and our passion from our fanbase, I’ll put that up to anybody across the League. So, really, really appreciate them sticking with us as we lay the foundation. Look, I love how the season ended, but the reality is we won three games, and that’s not good enough and it never will be. Dan (Campbell) and I we’re aligned in a vision and a plan, and from the very get go the big part of this plan was player development. What we are totally aligned with is we’re going to let these guys play. You guys have heard me talk about it. We’re going to let these guys play. A lot of it was by circumstances. A lot of it, we didn’t have a choice at certain times, but I will say, when we got hit with adversity, whether it be injuries, or other stuff, hey look, I have a – let’s call it, an available free agent board with veterans that would be available to come in and help – you know what, we stuck with our plan, we let these young guys play and get valuable experience. At the end of the day, we did lay a good foundation. Now, you know, it’s hard to practice the patience at times to stick with the plan, but it’s a multi-year plan, it’s for sustained success and I believe we did lay the foundation. We went through some hard stuff, and I was kind of saying it all year, we are going through these hard things, but I will say at this point the foundation is laid. We still have some work that we have to do. We don’t overlook that. But we’re excited about this next phase of the process and the next phase of this journey in this upcoming offseason, and everything will be better than it was this time last year. Hey look, whether it be free agency will be better, we’ll have a little bit more resources at our disposal. The draft will be even better. I thought our draft was good, but it will be better. We have a little bit more capital, so we’re real excited about that, starting the next phase of this journey. We’ll be coaching the Senior Bowl. I believe that was announced today, so that will be a good place to start to get eyes on those guys, and just our overall process. We’re so far ahead in our overall process than where we were a year ago, whether it’s from free agency, draft prep, all that stuff – we’re in a much better position. Credit to staff, again, like I said about the young guys getting valuable snaps, I think all seven draftees played critical roles, played valuable roles. Six of the seven were starters at some point in this season, even down to a seventh-round pick in (running back) Jermar Jefferson, he was able to contribute. Undrafted free agents, you have guys that – the (cornerback) Jerrys (Jacobs), and the (cornerback) A.J.’s (Parker), and the (tight end) Brock Wrights, I mean, those guys started games for us. So, that’s valuable experience for those guys. It makes the future bright. We were active on the waiver wire throughout the season. We were able to have some guys that were able to come in and help us, had some good additions. And I think throughout the process we established who we are and what we’re about. I think we’re a gritty group. So, when you have those young guys that got that experience, and you have the players that are about grit, and they’re about pushing through, we truly live next man up, and you see that going into the next year. And then you add on Dan (Campbell) leading the charge, and Dan’s just been, he’s been phenomenal. I can’t say enough great things about him (and) the rest of the staff. So many great things I can say about Dan (Campbell), but I’ll just sum it up. He’s got an it factor, that you either have it or you don’t, and he has that. He’s been a joy to work with. It was very cool to see how hard these guys played when things got bleak late, late in the year, practices and games. And I think that was a true testament for what we’re about as an organization and our leadership. Again, I can’t say enough. It’s a gritty group and I’m excited about what’s coming up.” On if there were moments this season that tested his mental resiliency: “Well, I’d say from the very start, the adversities you bring up – you start with injuries and not having guys available. But, my dad always told me, ‘There is no point in complaining because no one is going to listen.’ Nobody is going to wait and see like, ‘Well, you’re going through something.’ Like no, (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and I, we’re cut from the same cloth in terms of when adversity hits, it was like – and we didn’t have to talk about it. We immediately were both encouraged the next week. Like, it would be a tough loss and on Sunday and Monday morning I’m seeing Dan and first thing is that – I’m driving into work saying, ‘I can’t wait. I can’t wait to get started for this week.’ And then, I see Dan and Dan’s like, ‘Man, we’re about to score 30 points this week.’ It was no like, ‘Oh,’ something else. It was like that’s just how we are. It was a testament for everybody in the building. But no, there was never a moment where I had to look at myself and step away. Now yeah, there were some hard moments, but we just kind of stayed optimistic and we have a job to do and we have a plan in place and we have a goal in mind that we want to get to. That always kind of kept us staying the course.” On what his next step and priority is heading into the offseason: “This is going to be the player acquisition phase. Like I said, we’re going to start, we’re going to coach the Senior Bowl. Like I was saying, we’ve already started. Like, we started – things that we started in February last year we were able to start at the beginning of the fall this year just kind of getting ready for the Draft and free agency and all of that stuff. So, we’ll start at the Senior Bowl, we’ll get eyes on these guys. The roster looks good. I know back when I was with the Rams, we were able to acquire a lot of guys that played in the Senior Bowl in that game and guys that had success. So, there is a lot of gold to be found there at that game. But, we’ll attack that and then we have a process and a phase and we have the plans in place and we’ll just take it phase by phase. But, it will start with this all-star game in the spring circuit.” On how their approach to the offseason will change this year with the increase of resources available to the team: “We’re going to still find guys that fit. Regardless of however much resources that we have, we’re still going to find guys that are aligned, that truly fit what we’re about. You bring up the guys that had chips on their shoulders and things to prove, well a lot of times experiences shape people often. Like I said, we’re a gritty group, so I’m not saying that we’re looking for one-year deal guys, but we’re still looking at guys that fit who we are. We’ll just probably be able to get a little bit more.” On if OLB Charles Harris and S Tracy Walker will be priorities headed into free agency: “Those guys did a great job for us and those guys had stuff to prove. Tracy had already been with us obviously, but a new scheme, a new regime, new coaching staff, and he responded well, he really did. And, I thought he played good football for us and he really bought into everything that we’re doing. I was really happy for him. And then, you mentioned Charles Harris, a guy who arguably – he had his best year in my opinion, a guy that was just in a better place. Just speaking with him, he just loved it here, so we’ll just see where it goes. But, those guys were fits, they fit what we’re about, and those guys played well for us. And so, again, I know we have a lot of time to spend from this point on, so I have plenty of time to get on with that part of it.” On QB Jared Goff’s performance the second half of the season and his comfort level with him as the starting quarterback: “Jared, I can’t say enough about his resiliency and I’ve been talking about it at length. You guys have heard me talk about it all of the time about just the mental toughness and the physical toughness and his resiliency. You talk about will, you talk about grit. That’s why he fit from the very get-go. And then, the success he had late, it all came from that because he had some rough patches. He had some adversity that he had to fight through. I give him all of the credit in the world that he stayed the course and some tweaks were made, some changes were made, let’s call it a reinforcement, some players emerged. But, he played really good football. It wasn’t a surprise that he played good football because I guess my history with him. I’ve seen him play some of his best football, so that wasn’t a surprise. But, I was more proud of – he showed that resiliency and mental toughness to push through and he played good football in the last half of the season.” On what it says about the draft process that both T Penei Sewell and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown performed at a high level this season despite being drafted three rounds apart: “Again, we talk about –we’re going to get guys that we love. So, you talk about first round, Penei, yes, he is what we thought he was going to be, and Penei is only going to get better. I mean, for what he was able to do being a left tackle in college and opting out and is coming in as a right tackle and then (Taylor) Decker goes out and he goes to left and Decker comes back and he goes back to right. He’s the youngest – I mean, him and Kyle Pitts were the youngest guys in the Draft. He’s only going to get better. But then, when you go down to the fourth round, he’s still – with St. Brown, he’s still in a mold of he was who we thought he was going to be. It’s the same thing. You can say, ‘Well, he’s a fourth-round pick. You’re not expecting.’ But, Amon-Ra – and I said it to you guys earlier after we drafted him – he reminded me of some of the guys that we had when I was back in LA and I believed that he showed that in his own way. He’s a culture fit for what we’re all about, but again, I think everything just kind of clicked for him kind of late. But we always knew he had the intangibles and work ethic and he’s just a pro’s pro in the way that he’s wired. That equated to a lot of his success on top of his physical ability.” On positives he has seen from DE Levi Onwuzurike and LB Derrick Barnes: “I’ll start with Levi. You guys know how excited I was to acquire him and how much we talked at length about him. Levi, again like I said about (Penei) Sewell, coming off of an opt-out, battled some health things earlier in the year. By the time – we were at the point now – (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) and I thought he was going to be almost a redshirt. So, how well he performed down the stretch was well, and it wasn’t always good. He’s got a lot of stuff that he’s got to work on and he’s aware of it. We were having a discussion about that the other day. He’s a very smart guy who’s very physically gifted and he’s self-aware about what he needs to work on headed into this offseason. It’s a big year. Then with Barnes, another fourth-rounder, a guy that we were high on that we loved. You’ve got to think Barnes – look, he was playing linebacker his first year last year at Purdue. He was learning how to play linebacker last year. So, then he makes the jump to the NFL and he’s still learning how to play linebacker. Now I will say, the growth that he’s made from the start of the season till just this past game has been tremendous with (Inside Linebackers Coach) Mark (DeLeone) doing a great job with him. (Special Assistant to President/CEO and Chairperson) Chris (Spielman) has been doing a great job with him. I’m encouraged by the growth that he’s shown. I’ll just say though, the play that he got the touchdown caught on him on the boot that slid out, probably about four or five weeks ago he would have not even probably recognized that coming, but he did. So, just little nuances like that where you saw the growth and development in his game. I think the future is bright for him as well.” On if they have already had their first set of meetings for the 2022 Draft: “Yeah, we kind of stay in the process throughout the fall.” On what kind of difference makers he expects to be available with the second overall draft pick: “I hope it’s a difference maker if it’s two. But we’re still going through that process now. Again, like I was saying, we’ll kind of talk about that later on down in the process and hopefully we get some more clarity starting as early as we do the Senior Bowl. But I do think it is a good Draft, though. It is a good Draft at pretty much all positions, really. I think that we’ll be in a good spot.” On if he believes there are difference makers available in this draft class for the second overall pick: “We’ll see when the smoke clears. I hope so. It’s fair, I know where you’re going at, but I think every Draft is different. It truly is. There are some drafts that are really, really top-heavy, some drafts are not. Some drafts are better or more heavy on day two. There are some that are more heavy on the backend. But I think all of that is being sorted out. Our personnel department’s doing a heck of a job. I think we’ve pretty much seen everybody. We have a pretty good bite at it. But obviously, what we’re about to embark on is going to provide a lot of clarity for those guys.” On if there is one position group they need to fill the most this offseason: “I don’t think it’s just one position, first of all. I would agree, yes, offensive line, you could say defensive line, you could argue that those are strengths of our team, but we do want to improve in all the other areas. I think our running backs did a really, really nice job. But we can always get better at the perimeter positions on both sides of the ball. But I think it’s not one position that you can kind of focus on.” On CB Jeff Okudah’s rehabilitation for next season: “Yeah, Jeff’s doing a nice job in his rehab. What I love about him is he wanted to stay engaged and be around as much as possible. I just hated it for him when he got the injury because he was in such a good place just mentally and physically. When he got hurt it was just devastating. It was another part of what we had to live with and next man up. But we expect Jeff to be back with us. I know he’s right on track. He’s in a good spot. But he’s a part of the next man up that we’ve had. Look, people say, ‘Next man up’ all the time. It’s often thrown around. It’s almost cliché sometimes where it’s like, ‘Next man up. Next man up.’ But sometimes, it’s hard to truly live that and have success as the next man up. We had to truly live that, but we did have success with that. We were able to have success with that because collaboration with coaching staff and our personnel department getting the right guys in to build and contribute, and then our coaching staff being able to get those guys ready that quick to actually contribute in the game. Credit to our coaching staff and personnel staff to be able to truly live ‘next man up.’” On Head Coach Dan Campbell taking over play-calling midseason and if there were challenges offensively between him and Offensive Coordinator Anthony Lynn: “I wouldn’t say there were challenges between them two. I would say I know that was a big decision that Dan had to make. I’ll never forget when he made it, he came to my office and said, ‘Look, Brad, I really think this is where we’ve got to go.’ I fully supported it one thousand percent. Again, I knew that was hard for him to do, but as a leader you have to make some tough decisions. What the cool thing was, was it was cool to see Dan grow as a play-caller as the season went on. He kind of made a big move, a tough decision, but he did what was best for the team at that time. After he did what was best for the team, now he’s good at it. Now he keeps growing and I thought that was really, really, really cool to see. But it wasn’t any dark times about it. Dan and I communicate and collaborate on everything. So, we had a good discussion about it fully supporting him. I was glad to see the success he had with it.” On if he believes Head Coach Dan Campbell should be calling plays: “It’s his football team, so – I told him, ‘You need to do what you want. You’re going to get a lot of (people saying) you should look at this guy, you should look at this guy.’ If he wants to call plays, he should call plays. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. I know that he’s going to make the best decision for the Detroit Lions at the end of the day. He always has. I know that he will. But me, personally, I thought he did a good job, but I’m sure he’ll make the best decision going forward.” On what ways he’s a better general manager than he was when he first took the job: “That’s a great question. I definitely learned a lot this season. One of the things is just the weekly roster construction with COVID-19. You wish you had a different crystal ball or you had a crystal ball, and I’m one that – I love predictive science and forecasting and all of that, but it’s much easier to forecast and do all that stuff when you have trends and base rates and you can identify all the biases and fallacies. But when you’ve got to make a decision on Tuesday about what might happen on Friday but you don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday because something might happen on Thursday – all of that was definitely something that kind of took me by surprise with how challenging it was. I definitely thought I got a good grip on it as the year went on and got better at that. That’s one area that I think I grew on.” On how much of the pre-draft process is completed already: “Well, I’ll keep those specifics in-house, but I will say we have a good, thorough, unique process and we utilize all facets with the manpower that we have plus the technology that we have available to us. I’ve always said from Day 1 that we’re going to use technology as the accelerators that they are. So, that’s what we’ve done at this point of the process. But we feel really good where we’re at right now heading into the all-star circuit.” On if the team has made any decisions about OLB Trey Flowers’ future: “In Trey, you’re talking about the ultimate glue guy. The ultimate leader. You just love – he’s what we’re all about in terms of grit and being just a football player. So, it was unfortunate when he had to deal with what he had to deal with. But again, those discussions are going to be for down the road.” On how he identifies and develops young talent: “It’s a combination of things. It’s a combination of what our process is for undrafted free agents, which I do believe we have a very unique, collaborative and thorough process on that front. So, that’s the first part, but after we acquire them, it’s what we were talking about earlier about Dan (Campbell) and I’s vision, our plan, on player development and how we view it and how we’re not scared to let young guys play – we’re just not. I think I’ve said it to you guys before – you just can’t be on the driving range all day. You’ve just got to go out there and play. So, that’s what we do. So, there’s kind of two parts of it; it’s the process before we acquire them, which we do acquire and then feel good about it. Then it’s the process of after we have acquired them, what’s the plan for success? And we have a good plan for that as well.” On if he will change the balance of signing veterans versus developing raw talent as the team matures: “It’s not going to change. I don’t see that changing. In my opinion, it’s proven. We’re big on evolution and evolving our process, always, but I’m saying all that – it’s only going to get better in terms of what our process was to acquiring those kind of guys. And hats off; I love what those guys did and it’s going to bode well for them with this upcoming year, but that’s not going to stop our process.” On if he plans to change his roster construction ideology with young players as the team becomes more competitive: “No, we’ll still stick to our plan and we won’t be scared to play those young guys.” On if there’s a different selling point to help attract free agents this offseason: “Well, I don’t know if it’s a selling point, it’s just we can only be who we are. Again, we’ll have a little bit more resources to use than we did last year, but at the same time, we’ll be smart with everything. From a selling, if I’m hearing you right, you mean what we’re about? Yeah, I thought I heard you correctly. Hopefully the word will spread about what we’re building here, and I think it’s evident with the culture that we have in place. I don’t think, again, I’m not sure if it’s a selling point, but hopefully that’s evident that everybody’s going to see that, and that word is going to go around about what we’re all about. I think it’s evident about how hard we play. We’re a gritty group that play really, really hard. But we have an outstanding culture here, so hopefully that bodes well for us in free agency.” On where he can improve as a general manager: “Well, outside of the crystal ball for COVID-19 rules throughout the season, besides that, look, I’m big on self-assessment. So, I always think I can get better in all areas. I’m not a – I know you mentioned I have a lot of experience in the Draft. Yes, I do. I believe even in free agency last year, not every single guy was a home run. Alex Anzalone did very, very well. Charles Harris did very well. Kalif Raymond did very, very well. But I think I can grow in all areas. Whether it’s free agency, the Draft, salary cap, I’m always going to look to evolve and improve myself. That’s what I preach to our staff about evolution and constantly evolving, but that’s what I’m all about, is just constantly improving myself, and that’s what I’ll do.” |
