| LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY NINE QUOTE SHEET August 5, 2022 Opening Statement: “I’d start with this, so today we’re going to pull the NFI off of (Lions S) C.J. Moore. So, he’ll begin out there with walkthrough and some individual stuff, probably no team reps until – we’ll just kind of bring him along, but it will be good to have him back out there. The other thing, we did add a coach who’s going to help – defensive assistant Addison Lynch Joseph. He was with the Raiders last year, the Chargers previous of that, so he’ll help us out, help (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG and those guys out, and he got his up-downs in, so it was good.” On if he saw Lions Defensive Quality Control Coach Addison Lynch do up-downs with the team at practice: “I didn’t see it. I saw the beginning of it and then I started walking – I thought he did pretty good. I will say this about him, so the DBs were in there and they were – he had been announced in the DB room the night before and (Lions Defensive Backs/Pass Game Coordinator Aubrey Pleasant) AP had kind of announced him and so they’re all like, ‘40 of them things, man, 40,’ and he just walks in the door right, and so he’s like, ‘What are you guys talking about?’ And so, he finally figured it out and he’s like, ‘I’ll do them right here.’ He was going to do them on the carpet in the meeting room and (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG’s like, ‘Oh, hold on. We’ll do them out in the –.’ So, he was great, man. It’s good to have him, he’ll be an asset for us.” On the heightened intensity at practice yesterday: “Yesterday was the most intense and the longest practice we’ve had, most reps, all of it, to date for this practice. So, sometimes – and we have them wrapped up. We pulled way back the day before so that we could get high intensity workout yesterday and the coaches, I wanted them on them. I wanted to pull it out of them, and that’s kind of the line that you walk at times. Now, that being said, it’s not what we’re looking for. We’re not out there to fight, you don’t fight on Sundays, I know it can get fiery. But if it becomes an issue to where we’re having to spend two minutes to break up a brawl and this and that, it’s not worth it anymore. So, I know that tempers will get pretty hot at times, but we’ve just got to – if it becomes an issue I’ll handle all that. But I do like that they’re competing.” On the growth he has seen from Lions DL Austin Bryant: “Listen he’s always been all out, all the time and that’s what I appreciate about him. That was one of the first things I noticed about him, (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG and myself when I was watching film when I took this job, I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ He goes in the game and just goes all out, and I know this, if you’re talking about a defense, man, that’s got to be the starting point, just high effort. They lay it on the line, so he’s always been that way. But I really feel like these last two or three days here, he’s begun to grow here in this camp, man. You can feel him coming on. He’s been pretty disruptive, he’s using his length. So, I like where he’s at.” On how Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson has done so far installing the offense: “Yeah, I’m pleased with Ben. I’m very pleased with Ben. I like what he’s doing. I feel like he’s got a good handle of – certainly the things that we thought we were going to be able to do here with (Lions QB Jared) Goff and these receivers, upfront, implementing – but also knowing that, ‘Alright man, this may be a little much at this point.’ There’s a lot of things that we’re wanting to put in and he’s wanting to, but you got to just kind of gauge it. At some point it’s like, ‘Alright, that sponge is full now.’ So, just to know, ‘Hey, let’s pull back and let’s get back to the details, make sure these guys have a real good feel of what we’re doing in base, third-down, redzone.’ And so, he is, he’s doing good. Man, we go into those meeting rooms after the practice with the coaches and we’re watching it all together and everybody’s on the same page. This is what we’re looking for, this is what I’m thinking. And so, there’s no – there’s nobody that doesn’t know. There’s no grey area for anybody, and so that’s going to the players as well from the coaches. So, Ben’s doing a hell of a job.” On if he has decided who will call plays on offense this season: “No, I haven’t. I’ll make that decision before Philly. I do like where (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson)’s at. I think he’s doing a hell of a job, I really do. And I like where our offensive is at to this point. It’s like anything else, we’ve got a ways to go. But I’ll tell you what, I – look, you guys saw that situation at the end, man, give up a sack, that’s not good. But we had a timeout, you use it and look man, just because something bad happens, it’s not over. We hit the shot to (Lions WR DJ) Chark, that’s a hell of a throw by (Lions QB Jared) Goff, hell of a play, hell of a protection. So, from an offensive standpoint, listen, that’s why you’re doing it, it’s what we’re looking for.” On if Lions CB A.J. Parker has a strong hold on the starting nickel cornerback position or if it is an open competition: “No, I would say it’s still very much open. Now, I’ll say this when you come out of just last year, this is with A.J. being a rookie, really what is was – was man, A.J.’s durability. It’s not the – ‘Is he smart enough? Is he quick enough here? Is he going to tackle? Is he going – ’ That’s got nothing to do with it. He’s a crafty, smart – particularly for a rookie who’s just continuing to grow and getting – he’s getting better as he’s developing. But it was more the – it was more that side of him, man his durability. So, that was a point of emphasis, man, in the spring, in the offseason was, ‘Man, you’ve got to get a little bit bigger. You’ve got to get a little bit stronger, a little more powerful.’ And he did, he added some weight, and so he took that. Now, it’s just the matter of – man, take care of his body and continue to grow here. So, I like where he’s at. I think as he grows – we kind of know what he is too, and I mean that in a good way. He’s pretty steady, he’s reliable, I think there’s a lot of trust in A.J. right now. But we also want to see (Lions CB) Mike Hughes in that role and there again I would say, (Lions CB Chase) Lucas is – he’s improving and particularly, I like some of the things he’s doing on special teams, but he’s just – he’s got a ways to go but he’s working.” On how Lions DL Josh Paschal is coming along with his rehab process: “Yeah, I would just say, he’s – I would say for what – where we thought he would be at this point, he’s ahead of schedule. He’s doing well. He’s a grinder man. Like, we’re having to pull him back. I mean, he’s – you know.” On how he constructs situational practice plays with the coaching staff: “Yeah, so what we’ll do is, early in the week – before I left, the coordinators had – I had this scripted out before they even left for the summer break. And so, I had all the situations, everything, but then we hashed them the week before. So, like the day off, after we go over the roster, then that afternoon we go back over the practice, make sure we’re all on the same page with the schedule, where we’re at, where we’re shooting, all that good stuff. And then, when we hit those situations, I talk about them with everybody, the staff to make sure we’re all on the same page, what we’re thinking offensively, what we’re thinking defensively, and then I let them go. Just kind of – this is what I’m thinking as the head coach and now, it’s up to you to decide how we’re going to handle it. So, but yeah, we’re all on the same page with it.” On if situational drills add to the competitiveness between the offense and defense in practice: “Absolutely, that’s right. Look, you’re constantly – a ton of these are situations that have come up – they come up all the time with multiple teams. But there’s a number of these we’ve done, I’m just mimicking some of things that happened to us last year, the situations we were in as a defense or an offense, or somebody else’s offense. So, you just – they come up, there were things that happened last year or previously, and so let’s put ourselves in those positions, see how we handle them because that’s the only way to know how to adjust as coaches and players. So, it’s been good for us.” On the purpose of re-huddling during certain plays in practice: “Tempo. Breaking the huddle, that’s all. I’m just blowing the whistle because I don’t like how they broke the huddle. We’re trying to set a tone early, man, we’re not just going to walk out of the huddle. Just got to train those guys. It’s the same deal defensively, I hate when we – if we’re in there and we go and it sounds like there’s a clap and then we’re – I go back to this, I never forget playing the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl, man. When those guys broke, and we’re getting the huddle and we go to break, and you just hear them, and they are out. They were out and they are lined up and they’re like, ‘Alright, where are you going? We’re here.’ And it was – that was legit, that was a real deal now. So, just about – man, it’s urgency, it’s intensity, it’s your – what’s your intent?” On what he has seen from Lions T Obinna Eze: “Yeah, listen, Obie – ton of length, pretty good athlete. He’s just – he’s got to learn to be a pro as far as it pertains to practicing. This stuff gets hard man, it’s hard for – when you’re that big, that long, it’s not always easy to bend for two hours, two and a half hours. Those are the little things he’s got to work on, is staying in the fundamentals of it when he starts getting tired. But we like his ability and he’s a good dude. He’s pretty smart. But he’s just got to – man, he’s got to get in NFL football shape and grind through it. If he does that, he’s got a future here.” LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON TRAINING CAMP DAY NINE QUOTE SHEET August 5, 2022 Opening Statement: “I think it’s safe to say that after yesterday, if we had a Pick’em for pickup basketball (Lions QB) Jared (Goff)’s going to be last. I’ll tell you, I saw it flash before my eyes. I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ When he came back he said, ‘I had already committed to it, and when I started going – that’s a lot higher than I thought it was.’ It was good. It was good to see some excitement out there, and I’m happy with where the offense is at right now.” On how he would grade Lions QB Jared Goff’s goalpost dunk in yesterday’s practice on a scale from one to 10: “It was not the best. That’s a four for sure. But it was good, he got up there.” On how Lions QB Jared Goff has looked in practice getting into a groove: “Yeah, I would say that we’ve tried to make him uncomfortable. It’s something we talk about with all the offensive players is getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s been a challenge to rattle him. We’ve thrown some new concepts at him that we didn’t do in the springtime, and he’s handled it really well. I know (Lions Head) Coach (Dan Campbell) talked about just the offense as a whole being able to handle pressure and as the intensity goes up and the heat of the moment of the game goes up, that the heartrate goes down. I think he kind of is the example for that for the rest of the group because he has done a really nice job just staying steady, and he is focused. I’m really proud of where he’s at after a week and a half.” On what he has learned about what it takes to be an offensive play-caller this offseason: “Yeah, I don’t know if so far in the last week and a half that’s come up a ton, just because practice right now is scripted for the majority of it. You see those two-minute drills, those are more on the fly. That’s more what I talked about in the springtime. Those are the ones that are really the best test anyway because so many things can change so quickly. It’s a work in progress. I think I’m happy with where we ended yesterday with the ones at least able to take a tough situation like that with only 30 seconds left on the clock and be able to come out with a touchdown. We talk about it, we go over it as a unit every single day, just the thought process, the play call, why we’re doing this, when we need to do this. I think it’s not just the play-caller, I think it’s everybody understanding what we’re trying to get done.” On how much of the offense has been installed so far: “It’s hard to put a percentage on it, but I think we have a good foundation, which is really where we wanted to be here after – this is what, practice nine? I think we’re right on course. We keep track of the mentals, the missed assignments, every single day. Naturally as more volume goes in, those tend to climb up. We’re kind of at a point now where we feel like let’s stay the course, maybe we’ll flip some formations, just show the defense some different looks that way. Hopefully, we can get those mentals to drop. Once that happens, we’ll continue to push them a little bit. I think this time of year is not only just learning our scheme and what we’re going to be really good at, but we’re also evaluating. We’re evaluating the players and what they could potentially do for us and help us out, but we’re also evaluating some of the schemes, too, and maybe what we haven’t had a ton of experience with. That’s kind of the process we’re at right now.” On how they have been able to evaluate the offensive scheme under pressure with less pass rush in practice: “Yeah, I think that’s a good question. I think we want to – as you’re talking about evaluating those offensive linemen, I think we want to put them in those situations where they do have some one-on-one matchups over the course of practice. That’s part of it. There will be tools that we’ll have within a game, within a season, that we can use to help them out if they’re struggling at all. But right now, we want to see who can handle a three-technique one-on-one. Those guys are really coming to light. As we get more one-on-ones with our O-line versus our D-line, that will kind of play the course as well. We just haven’t had any one-on-one opportunities with the acclimation period being what it was. It hasn’t been an issue in terms of evaluating the stuff down the field, for me at least at this point at least.” |
