LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
December 30, 2022
Opening Statement: “(Lions C) Frank (Ragnow) will practice today. And then (Lions S DeShon) Elliott, it looks unlikely. Everybody else, we’re pretty good right now.”
On what Ford Field has been like this season and his expectations of the atmosphere heading into Sunday: “Yeah, I think it will be – really to your point, what it’s been which has been electric. It’s been a – it does feel like home field advantage. It’s loud, crowd’s into it, certainly gives us energy. But we also know we’ve got to fuel that fire. So, but it will be good, man, last one at home. And if anything, man, it just motivates you down the road to want to extend that and have more home games when you get into January because you know what it will be. But it’s good to be back, man, last one let’s give them a show.”
On if he senses the young players hitting a ‘rookie wall’: “No, not necessarily. I mean, it’s something that believe me we pay attention to and you talk about. I mean, we talk about it with them and I think the big thing is just consistency and staying in a routine, staying in our routine. And you’ve got to take care of your body, you do have to train, you’ve got to hydrate, you’ve got to recover. And you just – you constantly stay on them and eventually they kind of train themselves. But I would say more times than not it is a little more difficult on the young guys just because they don’t know. But I don’t really feel like that our young guys have necessarily hit a wall. But we do guard for it.”
On if he hit a ‘rookie wall’ his rookie season when he was a player: “Well, actually I ended my rookie year, the last four games I was on IR. So, I got hurt. So, I had gotten through 12 games, so that was really like a college season, so I didn’t know what that was. But I know that it is different once you go through it. There again, if you just stay to the routine, follow the vets that are in front of you that have been there and have done that. And you can’t let your guard down. You just – everyday you’ve got to put the best effort you can forward and honestly it is about taking care of your body. I mean, that’s the thing like you can’t – even as something as simple as last week, you go to Carolina, you know it’s going to be below freezing and we’re practicing in cold temperatures, you forget to hydrate. You don’t feel as, ‘I’m thirsty,’ and that puts a strain on your body, like you have to force fluids down just to take care of yourself.”
On what is unique about Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson and how he has not hit the ‘rookie wall’: “Well, look there again, I think he’s one of those guys – there’s a lot of similarities with him and for example a guy like (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint last year. Very mature, understood coming in how to take care of his body, training. Working through things and constantly working your craft, like that’s somewhat second nature to him, so he’s very mature in that manner. And so, I think he’s just – he’s a notch up because of that, he understands all those things and it’s important to him. So, that helps him. Now, you’re right, he has taken a load and I don’t care what player you are you’re not as fresh as you were game one of the season. But he still continues to bang away in there. I mean, he’s done a really good job for us, he’s been productive and that’s with everything, the run, the pass, and he still – he gives us all out effort. So, he just continues to trend the right way.”
On what he is looking to see from Lions S Kerby Joseph and Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu against the Bears on Sunday: “Yeah, well there again, we’re hoping we don’t – these things don’t spit out into our safeties like they have, but if they do because (Bears QB Justin) Fields is dangerous, you’ve got to get him down, man. That’s number one. Number two, Iffy man, aggressiveness, finish on the tackles, use your hands, he’s a big, long athlete and he’s got the tools. And it’s just – ‘Alright man, you’ve got your first start under your belt, now we need to see the aggressive side of you come out. ‘You’ve got to play more violent in there and you do have to finish on these plays.’ That’s what we’re looking for from him.”
On if he thinks it is important to finish this season strong to build momentum heading into next season: “Yeah, look I do think it’s important. And now, here’s the thing and they’ll tell you every year. It’s like – next year when we get ready to go, it’s a new team. We will have had another Draft, we will have signed some free agents, we will have – some guys will rise, some won’t quite be where they were and that’s the nature of building another roster and going through another camp. And now, you’re developing all that chemistry one more time. However, I do think there’s something important about finishing on a high note and finishing on a competitive level that with a group of guys that, particularly when you know you have a pretty good idea it’s going to be your core. And all the young guys that we have I think it’s big because there again, you’re just – you continue to build trust with the guys you really believe are going to be here for a while and that’s important.”
On how he plans on balancing the defensive snaps between Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu and Lions S C.J. Moore and if it is better to just stick with one player throughout the game: “Yeah, I think the plan would be to stay with Iffy more this week – to go that route and here’s why and a lot of that came back to – here’s some of the plus and minus with C.J. is, it would be great, but also man, he’s such a vital part of what we do on teams. He’s a four-core player and the more strain you put on him defensively it takes away from the core and that’s really where he is a – where he really excels. And so, I think it’s – that’s why we want to give Iffy more of a go and we feel like that gives us our best chance as a team to keep Moore there. Let Iffy get another week under his belt here and see where it goes.”
On if it is normal to see a big first to second career start jump from a player like Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu who had his first career start last week: “Well, I would anticipate we’d see him react quicker. I think we’re going to see a player that sees it faster and triggers faster, and he knows what we’re looking for just from what we talked about, the intensity, the aggressiveness. So, yeah, I anticipate we’ll see a better version of Iffy.”On if he is treating this game against the Bears like a playoff game: “I don’t know. I haven’t used those words with the team. I just know we’ve got to win this game, so however you cut it, this is important. I’ll tell you why it’s important, it’s important to win. That’s why it’s important. It’s important to establish our identity. That’s the most important thing to me right now.”
On if he has noticed the team starting to bounce back quicker after losses: “Yeah, I think when you have a group of guys that – they’re very prideful and they understand that’s not what we’re about. They understand that yeah that stings, and man we’ve got to clean this up. In the same time, they don’t get down, they don’t go into the tank, they don’t start feeling sorry for themselves, they don’t lose confidence because that’s where you get in trouble. It’s one thing, man, ‘That just happened, well we’ve got to clean it up.’ But if you lack the confidence or you can’t get out of your own way because you’re so disappointed in yourself or down in the dumps, then you can’t recover. And I do – it goes back I think we’ve got the right group of guys even the young guys because I do, I see a hungry team. Those guys bounce back on Wednesday, and I thought yesterday was pretty good and today I would anticipate another good practice. Look, it’s not perfect, but you can tell guys are locked in, there is urgency to it and they’re hungry. I mean, they – we all want to get that taste out of our mouth and that’s important.”
On how he has seen Lions CB Jeff Okudah bounce back after last Sunday’s loss to the Panthers: “Yeah, look I think Jeff, he would be one of those guys that I’m thinking about when – he’s come out like there’s been no – man, I’m down in the dumps, he looks like a guy who’s like, ‘Man, I want to clean this up and I want to get it right.’ And he has, man he’s come out and attacked the week which was – man, that’s encouraging to see, and we anticipated that. And so, he’s done that over the last two days, like he wants to – he knows, man, he’s ready to go.”
LIONS ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/RUNNING BACKS DUCE STALEY QUOTE SHEET
December 30, 2022
On if Lions RB Jamaal Williams’ confidence or playstyle has changed amidst the run game’s recent struggles: “Yeah, his confidence hasn’t changed. Jamaal is the same every day. Just continue to work through – making sure we hit the hole as backs, make sure we see the hole, and that has a lot to do with the scheme and how we put things together.”
On if Lions RB Jamaal Williams’ increased workload this year has affected his performance late in the season: “Yeah, no impact. Workload has nothing to do with it. We’ve just got to be more efficient. That’s running backs, O-line, that’s everybody, coaches, we’ve just got to be more efficient and make sure we put our guys in the right place.”
On what the running backs can do to improve the run game: “Yeah, we’ve got to continue to be special as running backs, and I say it every time we have a meeting. One person can’t tackle us, no matter if we’re stiff arming, using our weapon, no matter if we’re making them miss or running them over, we’ve got to make sure that we handle that part of it. Offensive line, they’re responsible for getting you four yards, five yards – you’ve got to get another three yards, that’s how we see it, and just continue to do the same thing every day.”
On what Lions RB Justin Jackson has shown as the third running back in the rotation: “Yeah, he’s been a Swiss army knife, man. He has. You can throw him in there on screens. You can throw him in there on protections. He knows the playbook, has good vision so he’s able to run the zone real well inside or out. He does it all.”
On if he can appreciate what the Panthers did in the run game against the Lions and if he can take anything away from their performance to improve the Lions’ run game: “I mean, they had a good day. They were able to take advantage of some things as you saw. They ran the ball well.”
On if Lions RB D’Andre Swift is healthy or if he is battling through injuries: “Yeah, I think he’s battling through some things along with the other 60 players. All of them are kind of battling through some things, and that’s where we are right now at this point in the season, and I remember telling the running backs, when you come in from training camp, you go way back to training camp, the first day you report is going to be the healthiest for you. After that, man, everything starts to hurt, even your eyelids.”
On how Lions RB D’Andre Swift has grown mentally to play through injury: “Just learning and growing. He’s still a young player, which you’ve got to remember, and being able to deal with a couple of things as he’s dealt with injuries, being able to fight through them, getting out there on the field, knowing you’re not 100 percent, knowing you may be 80, 70 percent and you still could be productive, you go through some things. And you’ve got to find a way, and special players do and he has.”
On if he takes pride in seeing Lions RB D’Andre Swift battling through the season: “Yeah, I don’t take anything. That’s inside of D’Andre, that’s Swift. That’s who he is. It’s my job just to continue to get it out of him, and I will. And he’s shown that. One thing about football is so many life lessons there are in football, and you continue to point them out, and one of the things we all know is tough times. We all have faced tough times, and sometimes that road is a little hilly, a little winding, you may have potholes, it may be a dirt road, but the most important thing is to stay on the road because smooth road is coming. So, that’s the focus in our room. Never get off the road, man, stay focused.” |
