LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET September 30, 2022 Opening Statement: “Alright, it’s Friday. Get ready for Seattle. Ready to go.” On if there is an update on what Lions WR DJ Chark has been going through this week: “Yeah, his ankle’s a little bit sore. The one that he had repaired last year, so but he’s good. He’s good, he’ll be out there and do some walkthrough, and just let him jog around. But he should be good.” On if there is clarity on whether Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown will play on Sunday: “Yeah, I would say he’s out. Looks like he’s out.” On how he goes about replacing Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown who has been productive early in the season: “Yeah, we got – listen, man, that’s what it’s all about. Man, next man up and we’ve still got (Lions TE T.J. Hockenson) Hock, we’ve got (Lions WR DJ) Chark, we’ve got (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf, we’ve got (Lions WR Quintez) Cephus. I mean, we’ve got (Lions RB) Jamaal (Williams), so we’ve got – and we’ve got this O-line and a quarterback that can throw it. So, we feel good about it.” On how concerned he is about the defense given their low statistical rankings so far this season: “Yeah, I think that when you look at a majority of the touchdowns we’ve given up have been inside the five-yard line. There’s a ton of them, especially on the one-yard line. So, one thing is don’t let them get down there, and then if you do, let’s try to shut them down once we – listen, you get down to the one-yard line and you’ve got four downs to go, that’s hard on a defense. But outside of that we’ve done some good things and – but it’s like anything else, you’re disruptive, your third down’s pretty good. Now, did we get them in enough third downs? No, but then all of a sudden, ‘Ugh.’ We’re not on the same page and we give up an explosive. And so, man, we’ve just cut a couple of these things back and cut them down and make them go the long hard way. If they’re going to do something, they’ve got to earn it. The opponent’s got to earn it. But we can’t just give it away and we clean a couple of those up, and it’ll look a lot different.” On if he has made a decision on whether or not Lions RB D’Andre Swift will play on Sunday: “Yeah, he’s not looking good either. So, I’d say he’s probably out as well.” On if it looks like Lions S JuJu Hughes will be in the starting safety to replace Lions S Tracy Walker or if Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu and Lions S Kerby Joseph will have a chance to compete: “Yeah, well I would say we gave all three of those guys reps this week and today’s still part of the process. And so, I think we’re going to go with the guy who gives us the best chance and go from there, but I don’t necessarily see playing by committee right now. We’re just going to take this as it comes and after today, we’ll kind of make a decision on who we see and then move from there.” On if he watched the Bengals-Dolphins game last night and if he has a reaction on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s head injury: “I didn’t. Actually, (Lions Director of Football Communications) Eamonn (Reynolds) just filled me in on that, but – so, I don’t really know a lot about all of that.” On how cautious he is when it comes to players’ head injuries: “Yeah, we take that serious, I mean very serious and I sure do because that’s the one thing – that’s the one area that’s different. Shoulders, and hamstrings and ankles, and knees but the grey matter’s a little different, it’s a lot different. So, we take that serious and we lean on our professionals.” LIONS ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/RUNNING BACKS DUCE STALEY QUOTE SHEET September 30, 2022 On his level of empathy for Lions RB D’Andre Swift not being able to play Sunday despite doing everything he can: “Yeah, it’s tough, and mentally, you start to think, ‘Hey man, what’s going on? Is it just my luck?’ But one thing I will say about that kid, it’s us as coaches that pulled him out. He wanted to go. He wanted to keep going, and if we didn’t pull him out, he’ll still be going today. So, that tells me about the energy, the commitment, just the fire the kid has to continue to play. Now, stuff like this is going to happen, especially playing running back in the NFL. You’re going to have days where things are not going to look good, but you’ve got to bounce back like I told him, ‘Hey man, I want you to continue to study. I want you to bounce back mentally and physically and be ready to here in a couple of weeks.’” On if Lions RB D’Andre Swift should have sat out after Week 1 to rest and heal completely: “No.” On his confidence in the running back room stepping up against the Seahawks in wake of Lions RB D’Andre Swift’s absence: “I’m super confident, man. I’m excited for these guys just to be able to have the mentality of the next man up, which exists around this NFL because of the nature of the game and the injuries that occur. These guys are chopping at the bit. You’ve got (Lions RB Justin Jackson) JJ, (Lions RB) Craig (Reynolds) and of course (Lions RB) Jamaal (Williams) just ready to roll, so it’ll be a good group out there Sunday.” On what his message to Lions RB D’Andre Swift is in order to reiterate becoming healthy enough to play despite his desire to play: “It’s one day at a time. It’s one day at a time, and I love personally – I love when a kid is coming to me every day and saying, ‘Hey man, I can go. I can go. I’m ready. I can go, I’m ready.’ And that’s what type of kid Swift is. When you do get words out of him, that’s what he’s saying. You’re not going to get many, but – and that tells me his dedication, his love for the game, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that, so – and all coaches do.” On how he gets Lions RB D’Andre Swift to protect himself and teach him his limits: “You don’t. You don’t. It’s – more hurt and harm come from that than just saying, ‘Go.’ You never want to put them in their minds that they’ve got to slow down, or they’ve got to protect themselves on certain plays. You never want to do that, and I’m not.” On how he will be able to tell when Lions RB D’Andre Swift will be healthy enough to play: “I rely on a bunch of different information. I know (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) does too. At the end of the day, you can turn the film on, and you can look at the film and compare the film to previous games when he was healthy. You can tell.” On if they plan to rest Lions RB D’Andre Swift until the bye week: “I will say day-by-day. Once again, I’m not a doctor. I can’t tell you how long it’s going to take, but however long it takes for him to get back right, that’s what it is.” On if the plan for the run game changes with the wide receiver room personnel uncertain due to injury: “Doesn’t affect it at all. We’ve got a job to do as running backs, and our job is to go out there, protect, run the ball and protect the ball, protect the quarterback. So, once again, kind of going back to what he asked, I’m never going to tell my guys to slow down or be cautious. Never going to tell them that because then they start playing the game a different way that I don’t accept, and that’s not who I am, that’s not who we are.” |
