LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL MANDATORY MINICAMP DAY 1
June 6, 2023
Opening Statement: “Nothing really new to speak on. Minicamp this week, which is really just like it has been. It’s OTAs. There is no change. We get them in the building a little longer, so we’ll be able to watch practice with them afterwards and that is really it, as far as the practice. It’s the same as OTAs, there is no difference. Other than that, on a lighter note, went to Grand Rapids this weekend for my daughter’s volleyball tournament, which was awesome. It was good stuff. A lot of fans out there. And they were great. A couple of questions I got asked that people want to know answers to were – one of them was, ‘Does (Lions C Frank) Ragnow really bring an axe into work every day?’ Yes. One was like, ‘(Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch – can Hutch really dance in real time?’ No. Somebody asked me about (Lions DL) Alim McNeill, ‘Does he really drink Mac-alob Lite.’ I said, ‘No.’ So, there were just a few of these things that came up. But listen on a serious note, it was good to get out there. A lot of good fans out there and it almost felt like it was, ‘Hey man, don’t forget about us.’ And we don’t, so it was good to get out there. I had a good time. Festival of the Arts was going on so, it was good. It was a good weekend.”
On how well his daughter’s volleyball team played this weekend: “They did really well. They got beat in the Gold Bracket, but they played really, really well, best they played all year.”
On if they have considered having training camp on the west side of the state: “Yeah, I actually thought about it. A lot of it comes down to the logistics of it. Where are we practicing? What is this turf like? What is the field? So, we have thought about it, but that’s about as far as it has gone.”
On if he feels a different vibe from the fans compared to his first season as head coach: “No – well here’s what I would say is it’s just – we don’t get out there. We don’t get out to that side. I mean we’re here in Detroit and so I think it was – to be able to get out there and interact with the fans and be around it, it was pretty cool. So I just think it was a very fresh energy out there is the best way to put it. Anyway, it was awesome. It was a good time.”
On the most common question he is asked from fans about Lions QB Jared Goff: “Honestly, I don’t feel like – most common question? Man, I don’t know. Probably like most guys, ‘Is he really a good guy?’ I get that a lot with all players, about our players and I would say, ‘Absolutely. They are that good of a guy. He is that good of a guy.’ Sometimes I think, when you are the quarterback for an NFL team it feels like you’re untouchable, celebrity, movie star, things of that nature and our guys really are not that way, so just in that regard, they are very open, and I think they embrace the fans and the support.”
On Lions QB Jared Goff’s mindset going into the new season: “Well I think, probably a lot of what you would think. I think he has settled in with us. He has gotten very comfortable with what we want to do. I think he is – everybody knows what he came from and that wasn’t the easiest thing. You get traded, you’re in another team, ‘What’s going on? I thought I was playing pretty good, maybe I’m not. Is that the perception I get here?’ So you are trying to find your way with the new staff, like we are, new offense, but he just, he hung in there and I think what you are seeing as a guy who just put his head down and went back to work and worked on what he could, tried to improve on what he could, and now his confidence is really, it has really grown, and along the way he has matured as a quarterback. I mean he is a better quarterback than he was there, in my opinion. Because he can do more things. He is mentally on it, I mean we have come lightyears ahead of where he was two years ago when we walked in and just start teaching him protections, and really dove into that. He has a real good grasp of what we’re doing, where the issues are, where the problems are, and that is something we really wanted him to get good at and he wanted to get good at, and he has worked at it, and he has improved, so that helps you.”
On how he knows that Lions QB Jared Goff is a better quarterback now compared to when he was with the Los Angeles Rams: “I just – we ask him to do a lot more, in my opinion, than what they were actually doing out there. They had a lot of pretty good pieces out there as well, as we know, damn good defense, all of those things. But I just feel like, I know from speaking with him and then watching him really over the last two years, I just feel like we ask him to – we put a lot of things on him where I am not so sure that was ultimately what they were doing.”
On how much the relationship between Lions QB Jared Goff and Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay inspired his approach towards a relationship with Goff: “I think that is with any player though, I think that comes with any player. You are going to want to have a strong relationship, certainly the quarterback, head coach, have to be tied to one another. You want to get off on the right foot. You want to make sure there is a trust there, there is a bond. It has to be earned. You can’t just say it. It is going to take time and I think, here we are in year three and I very much believe he trusts me. He trusts what we’re doing, and I trust him. And that’s a big part of it. The why’s, the why did this happen? Why was the decision made – that’s, I have nothing to do with that. But I know that it all worked out for us and I’m happy that it worked out for us.”
On how important it is to have a strong start to the season this year and what is being emphasized now to achieve that: “Yeah, you go back and forth and that’s something that I’m always thinking about is how do we do this? Is there a different approach? Were we too light? Were we too hard? Do we need to have more volume? Do we need to have more intensity? And so, everything right now, it doesn’t necessarily pertain to what you’re asking because we’re so far away from training camp. Now we’re still – it’s about the X’s and O’s right now, the situational work which we’re getting a ton of, but I think it’s – as far as the way we go about business, I think we’re on track. I think some of it is just that, tinkering with, do we need to do a little bit more maybe early situational work in practice? Like that’s how we start. Maybe we start practice, they come out of stretch and there we go. Those are little things that I’m thinking about is how do we get off to a fast start in a game and in a season?”
On if having a strong start is a better focus in training camp compared to offseason practices: “Yeah, I wouldn’t say right now because you start doing that and they get ramped up and all of a sudden, we’re too physical and that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing in spring. But yeah, I mean I think about it. I’m not turning a blind eye to it. And so, there’s a few ideas I have, but man, it’s a slippery slope. You go too far one way or another and you’re in trouble, but I keep my eyes on it.”
On if the defense has an extra chip on their shoulder and if he expects them to chirp throughout the season: “Well look, I think defensively – look those guys’ got a lot of pride about them. It starts with our D-coordinator, I mean (Lions Defensive Coordinator) Aaron Glenn is a prideful coach and he expects greatness out of that room and that’s everything that we’ve been talking about going into year three is we’ve got to get better and we want to be a top-tier defense, and so with that it’s the way you go about your business, but it’s also the pieces you have as well and so it just happens to be some of those pieces we added. They have a lot of confidence, and that’s not a bad thing as long as it’s directed in the right place, and they’re focused on their job but having a good time with it. I think that stuff can be contagious if there again, it’s not overboard and not taking away from their focus of their job. And ultimately what happens is it bleeds into you offense because they get frustrated and then – it’s why I kind of like it because it forces you to – you kind of find out the guys that they won’t shut them up, but they want to do it with their actions, the way they play, the way they perform, but you can also rile up an opponent to where he does something stupid that could cost your team and it’s good to get those in practices too so once you get in the game, you’ve been there and you don’t let someone get under your skin.”
On how wide open the competition is for the kicker position: “I mean it’s open. We’ve told all those guys it’s a competition. That’s why we have three guys right now. All three of those guys are very much live. We wanted to make – we’ve been trying to make an emphasis of competition at every position and kicker is no different and those guys know that. That was just a little bit the other day. It certainly looked good for (Lions K Parker) Romo being out there but we’re also, there again we’re not in real time, nobody’s got pads on, we don’t have fans, there’s not a crowd, there’s not a true opponent and it won’t be the last time that we do something like that. We do want to create that type of environment where there’s a little more stress involved if you can, but it will never be the same as being in a game in a critical moment, but we like all those guys. We like the competition in the room.”
On the players that will not participate in practice today: “Oh probably 15-20 guys, maybe 30. We’ll find out when we get out there. (Lions RB David) Montgomery will not. (Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez) Rodrigo won’t. (Lions QB Hendon) Hooker’s not going to be out there. Maybe out there for walkthrough, coming off ACL. You guys know that right? (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow) will be out there for walkthrough.”
On if he wishes he could suit up to play again: “For a play? Yeah, that’s about all you can handle. That’d be it.”
On how many joint practices they will have with the New York Giants ahead of the preseason game: “There will be two with them and then we’ll go our separate ways before the game and then play against each other. Same thing for Jacksonville.”
On if he saw the social media photo of Lions QB Jared Goff with bling on: “No I didn’t. No, I missed that. Didn’t see that.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF MANDATORY MINICAMP DAY 1 QUOTE SHEET
June 6, 2023
On if he agrees with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell saying he is a better quarterback right now than he was with the Los Angeles Rams: “Yeah, I think so. I think as you get older and get more mature in the League that happens, and I’d certainly say so. I think I said that a handful of times last year that I thought I was playing the best football of my career and plan on continuing to do that.”
On the biggest difference in year two with Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson: “I think we’re able to dial in a little bit more into the details and we’re able to tweak things a little bit more as opposed to learning a new offense and really learning the basic stuff. We’re able to get into the weeds of it a little bit and it’s been fun.”
On how having a bigger hand in directing the protection from the offensive line benefits him: “I like knowing what’s going on obviously on everything and being able to take control of that is super important. I think right now is a good practice for me without having (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow) in there and (Lions C) Ross (Pierschbacher) is doing a hell of a job, but there’s times when I have enough experience to get some things fixed and not totally rely on Frank. So, it’s been a good practice for me doing that and getting better in that regard.”
On how much he instructed the offensive line while on the Los Angeles Rams: “Lesser. It’s just as you grow through the League, just like anything else, you end up doing more of it.”
On how to continue building chemistry with Lions WR Jameson Williams: “Just keeping him involved. He’s done a great job up until this point getting himself ready and just continue to work. We didn’t get the reps last year at this time and being able to dive into some of this stuff with him has been so important for him and I. We can’t wait to get him back. It’s unfortunate what happened, but he’s had a good attitude about it and has approached the right way.”
On his relationship with Lions WR Jameson Williams and Williams liking tweets about Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: “It’s alright. He likes Lamar and that’s OK. I have a lot of receivers I like, but I love (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo and we’re going to have a lot of fun this year.”
On his perspective of the Lions’ upgraded secondary: “Yeah, it’s much stickier I feel like this year and whether that’s a product of new players or just having another year in the scheme, I can’t tell you. But it’s been much stickier and much harder for us to gain separation at this point in OTAs and I think they’ve done a hell of a job making it harder on us and growing as a unit over there too.”
On the feelings outside the building about this team and upcoming season: “Yeah, you can just feel it. You go to dinner, go downtown, you go anywhere, you see it, you feel it, people are excited. There’s kind of a buzz about the Lions and we have a lot to prove and a long way to go until we prove them right, but we’re on our way.”
On his connection with Lions TE Sam LaPorta: “He’s done a great job. He really has. Gets himself open. Able to separate, has great hands, is smart, is learning. Making rookie mistakes still but is getting a lot better and you don’t really see him make the same mistake twice, which is encouraging. But yeah, he’s done a hell of a job.”
On how long it takes to build chemistry with receivers and if it will take longer with Lions WR Jameson Williams missing six games: “Just like any other receiver. It’s just the same as any other guy you’re starting out with. Again, he’s done a great job and we constantly communicate. This is the same thing, conversation I had last year about (former Lions WR) DJ (Chark) and the year before the new guys I was playing with then. It’s the same thing. You work with them. You communicate. You tell them what you like, what you don’t like, what you’re seeing, and he tells me the same thing and we get on the same page.”
On what Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs brings to the offense: “A lot. He can catch it. He can run it. We’re excited about him. He’s done a hell of a job as well as a rookie, learning, picking things up, asking the right questions and can do some special things with the ball in his hands, so we’re excited to do that.”
On how they will use Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs’ versatility: “Yeah, we’ll see. It’s June, we’ll see. He’s doing a good job though. We’re excited for what he can possibly do this fall.”
On how he plans to level up this season: “Yeah, I think it is some of the stuff that you guys have mentioned, talked about and just continuing to have more and more control of things and more grasp of things. As great of a – same page that (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson) and I were on, how can we do that even better and be even more on the same page for 17 weeks instead of maybe 10 or 11 last year, and just get more consistent. Keep being on the same page as my receivers and continue to work on my fundamentals as well, and always getting better.”
On how important it is to start the first month of the season off strong after struggling in the first month of the past two seasons: “Yeah, I always say this all the time, all games count the same. So you know if it’s Week 16, or whatever it was, 17, when we beat the Packers in Green Bay and it was exciting and it was fun. It was the same as that Seattle game at home, or the Eagles game at home. Those games all count the same, so you have to approach it that way and make sure you take advantage of it.”
On if he feels more comfortable with revealing more of his personality in year three with this team: “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know if I will ever fully reveal it to you guys. But (Lions S Kerby Joseph) Kerb and (Lions S Tracy Walker) Trace kind of rushed my little photoshoot there and told me to put this – so I said, ‘Alright, let’s do it.’ So, it was fun. We did it yesterday. It was fun.”
On how important it is for him to have a good relationship with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell: “Yeah, it’s always important. Yeah, it’s always helpful. It always gives you confidence and Dan has been great with me since the moment I got here and has continued to build our relationship and get closer and he is developing, as himself, into a great head coach in this League and it has been fun to watch.”
On the best way that Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell supports him: “Constantly communicates. Tells me, ‘Good job,’ when I do a good job. Tells me, ‘Fix that,’ when I need to fix that and is just coaching me is doing a hell of a job communicating and we talk situations quite a bit of – I ask him questions of how he would handle X, Y and Z that we have had here at OTAs and just getting ideas and talking ball and I think when I get to hear what his view on stuff is, it helps me know how to approach that situation, if it were to come.”
On the state of the team now compared to when he arrived two years ago and how much pride he takes in leading this team to success: “Yeah, again, we haven’t done anything. We won nine games last year and missed the playoffs by a game and are zero-and-zero right now and have a hell of a lot to prove this year and I know it is exciting, I know our team is better, I know we have made key additions on defense, and even on offense in a lot of places, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and need to continue to get better if we want to reach that potential that we think we can do. We have the guys to do it, but by no means will we walk out there and just be the same team we were last year that we finished in Green Bay with a win. By no means, we need to put that work in and make sure we are ready to go.”
On how comfortable he feels with the team this season: “Very comfortable, yeah. Very comfortable, but I understand, and I think we all understand, that we are not going to just show up and win because we were good for the last 10 games last year. There is no reason for that. If anything, it is going to be harder. Teams are going to give us a better shot this year and we have to be prepared and have to approach it that way. If we try to walk out there like we won eight out of 10 last year just going to keep on rolling, it won’t happen. We need to show up and continue to be better.”
On why he followed free agent WR DeAndre Hopkins on social media: “I don’t follow him on Twitter.”
On free agent WR DeAndre Hopkins: “Hell of a player.”
On if he has had any contact with free agent WR DeAndre Hopkins on potentially coming to Detroit: “No, he’s a great player.”
On if he has had more talks with Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes about a contract extension: “No. Nope. Nope. Nothing.”
On if he wants to get a contract extension done before the beginning of the season: “I have no idea on when or how I want to get any of that done. That is not up to me.”
On his first impressions of Lions QB Hendon Hooker: “Yeah, he has been fun. He has been fun to have. He’s a great kid and is learning quickly and has been fun to have in the room, and yeah, he has been awesome.”
On if Lions QB Hendon Hooker is really a kid: “I guess, yeah, he is a bit older than I was, I guess, when I got in the League. But that makes it easier to have conversation, I guess. Yeah, he’s a little closer to my age, so it’s fun.”
On if he is going to see Taylor Swift in concert at Ford Field this weekend: “I am.” |
