LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL AND LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET 10/27

Opening Statement: “Coming off of the west coast, you guys know that we stayed out there Sunday night, got up Monday morning and came back. So, I just kind of altered the schedule knowing it was a little bit different. We’re going to do a walkthrough today and I just thought it would help them with recovery and everything, get them refocused. It will be all about teaching today and then we’ll ramp it up tomorrow.”
On Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp: “I think Fipp is a superstar. I’ve known Fipp for a while. We coached briefly – actually, he was the assistant special teams coach when I was in Miami. He was under (former Dolphins Special Teams Coordinator) Darren Rizzi, who I think is excellent. He’s at New Orleans now. But I remember even thinking then like, ‘Man, this guy, just full of energy.’ He was smart, and so he was always – and then we stayed in touch, but I just remember I was like, ‘This guy is going to be an outstanding coach.’ He gets his shot in Philly and I think he’s – just from afar, he was always one of the best special teams coaches. So, to be able to get him, the timing was right and you see what he does and I agree with you. I think it’s probably been our most consistent unit out of the three phases. We’ve got a pretty good core group of guys, but he’s been great. I just think he’s an outstanding teacher and he’s high energy and I think you have to be both to be a good special teams coach.”
On T Taylor Decker’s hand injury: “I would tell you nothing’s changed. We’ll just see where it goes. We’re treating it kind of day-to-day if you will. For me, I don’t have a feeling really one way or another to be honest with you. We’ll see how it goes.”
On the advantages of being able to bring a player on Injured/Reserve back to practice before they return to the active roster or not: “Well, the advantage you gain is that you get to take a look at a guy before you can start their clock sometimes. So, you actually gain a body and you get to see those guys. The good thing right now is that we’re not crunched against the roster. We’re not pressed right now to have to make some move. Now, it’s coming. We’ve got some guys that are going to begin to start coming back between (Da’Shawn) Hand and (Taylor) Decker and (Tim) Boyle. There are going to be some decisions that (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I have to make that aren’t going to be easy as this goes down the road, but there again, we’re taking it day-to-day.”
On what a win would mean to the team: “Everything. That’s why we’re all doing this. Ultimately, it’s why you love it because it’s the – the same thing that makes this game so tough and hard is the same thing that just makes it unbelievably exciting and blissful, if you will, to get a win because they are so hard to come by and you have to earn them. You really do. It would mean everything, look, particularly going into a bye, too. Any time it would be good, but I think just to – man, you end on a right note and we get those guys, get their bodies back a little bit and then you come back in, you almost feel like you’re starting over somewhat. Now, you’re continuing the progress you had, but now it’s a, ‘We’ve turned the corner here and now we’re ready to go. We got our first win under our belt.’”
On how he plans to make up the physicality in practices this week after having a walkthrough today: “We really harped on the mental side of what we’re going to get today. ‘Let’s make sure that we’re on.’ And I think we’ve got a plan that these guys can digest and they’ll be able to play fast. It’s all about teaching and learning today, and tomorrow we will go full speed, but we’ll probably go pads early in practice. I don’t know if we’ll go the full time, but I think – that was the other thing was Cincinnati we didn’t do pads at all, and so I think at least we get a period of it. It just sets the tone for practice and knowing what we’re getting ready to face.”
On CB Mark Gilbert: “We like Gilbert. That was a good pick up, (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and those guys finding him. We do like him. We think he’s an outside guy and it’s really been more of him just getting acclimated with our terminology and watching his movement skills, what we think he does well. Look, there’s a chance he could be up this week. Now, I don’t know how much he would play if he is, but there is a chance. We’re going through everything. A lot of it will depend on A.J. Parker, which we don’t know yet. That’s day-to-day. I would say A.J. is better than we thought he was when I talked to you guys last.”
On the options at slot cornerback if CB A.J. Parker is unavailable for Sunday’s game: “I think Jerry (Jacobs) can do some of that.”
On what kind of players they would look to acquire at the trade deadline: “As of right now, if I’m being honest, I’m not even thinking about that. (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes)’s always thinking and looking like, ‘What can we do? How can we upgrade? Is this a smart move? Is it not?’ And if it’s something he feels like is of value, he’ll bring it to me and we talk about it. But right now, I’m not even – that’s not on my mind. I’m about what we have on this roster right now and how we get the most out of them.”
On if he sees similarities similarities between RB D’Andre Swift and New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara in the pass game: “I do. He’s a dynamic player. I think he’s one of those – I think he’s got game-changing ability and I do see similarities. They’re similar in that regard that they can both I think somewhat take a game over. I think they have that ability, but they’re different just athletically if you will. AK’s just – his balance, he’s got this strength and balance about him. He doesn’t have blazing speed, but he’s certainly fast enough and he’s highly intelligent, really smart. And Swift is a smart player as well, but Swift is super explosive. He’s got some speed. There are these things about them that are very similar, but they’re different in the way that they do their job and they’re both very dangerous I believe.”
On if he leans into the image of him being a coach that would do whatever it takes to win a game: “I think that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get a win within reason. We really felt good about those plays. Like, those were calculated. We had a real good idea of the look that would be there and really all three of them. Now, there is still a risk to it – but I just bring this up again, offense, defense and special teams in particular, when you practice those things against the looks you feel really good about getting and those guys do it all week. And some of those we’ve been doing for weeks. We’re just, ‘When is the right time?’ So, when those guys do it and they execute in practice, it gives me all of the faith in the world like, ‘Oh, this is going to work.’ It’s like, ‘I don’t care what they put in there. This thing is going to work.’ Just because those guys, man, they start to feel it. They understand the looks. They know how to make it work. (Former Texas A&M Head Coach) Mike Sherman used to say, ‘Sometimes when you rep something enough over and over and over, the players just – they know how to make it work. No matter what the defense gives you, they figure it out because they’ve done it enough.’ But I would credit (Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Fipp, but I credit our players, man. They bought into it and they executed all week, which gave me faith and then they went out and did it in the game.”
On if running trick plays can be an advantage for the team: “I think it could be. I think it could give you an advantage a little bit. You don’t know what’s coming next. I think there is something to that. You don’t know what we’re going to do. We’ll do whatever we have to do to try to win a game, I know that, as long as if it makes sense, if it’s calculated. It’s a calculated risk if you will.”
On if there is a limit to how many touches RB D’Andre Swift gets and how his touches compare to New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara: “Well, that’s the balance isn’t it? I mean, we used to have these conversations getting ready for games. You start tagging plays and it’s like, ‘Alright’ – the whole time we say, ‘Hey listen, we’ve got to be smart. We’ve got to use AK because he’s a difference maker, but you give too much and you won’t have him at the end of the year.’ But then when you start tagging openers, it’s like, ‘Who do you want here? AK. Who do you want here? AK. Alright, let’s go AK. OK, AK.’ Before you know it, it’s like, ‘Well, wait a minute.’ And Swift’s a little that way. Now, AK’s been a very durable player. For the most part he really has, which is a credit to just the way he takes care of his body and all of that. Swift, he’s in his second year. Coming back, we didn’t have him all in training camp, kind of had the groin coming back, and so he’s really just every week gotten a little bit better. He still gets a little irritated by these things coming after a game, and so we’re trying to be smart and maximize his abilities and his time and be smart with it. But I do feel like he’s starting to turn that corner to where, ‘Alright man, he’s got some game, some reps under his belt. He’s able to handle it. He’s recovering.’ If we think he can handle it, we’re going to start giving it to him a little bit more.”


LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
October 27, 2021
On what jumps out about the Eagles’ defense on film: “I’ve played them almost every year now in my career. It’s always been about their pass rush and who they’ve got up front. They’ve added (Javon) Hargrave, he’s done a great job. Fletcher (Cox) is always an issue and they’ve got big guys on the end with (Derek) Barnett and (Josh) Sweat. They can cause you issues. It’s always an issue and something that we’ll be focused on.”
On Eagles CB Darius Slay: “He’s done a good job. I’ve played against him a couple of times in my career, maybe once when I played Detroit back in the day. I guess once last year, right? So, yeah, twice. He’s a good player. Good player, does a lot of good things and again, a guy that you’re aware of where he is.”
On how the team stays upbeat despite an 0-7 start to the season: “It speaks to who we are and how you handle everything and it’s hard. It’s not easy. It’s about coming in every day with some energy and coming in with some enthusiasm and some intent to get better and we’ve done that up to this point. I don’t expect that to fall off.”
On if he has mentors he has reached out to after an 0-7 start to the season: “I’ve had a lot of people reach out and I think that’s been one of the coolest things is that you see the support system that you have and you see a lot of people that truly know how hard something like this is and truly know what’s going on and what needs to happen. It’s a lot of that going on, but at the same time, it’s a result-based business and you’ve got to go win.”
On Raiders QB Derek Carr completing 31-of-34 pass attempts last Sunday against the Eagles: “It looks good. He had a great game. He put the ball in some tight windows too and he played well. I think only one of his incompletions was maybe a bad decision, but other than that he played pretty well.”
On his appreciation for the Lions’ special teams unit: “Last week was special obviously with what they did, getting us three extra possessions there and I think Jack (Fox)’s pretty versatile with his ability to throw the ball. I was around Johnny Hekker for five years and he was very similar where he played high school quarterback too and could throw it a little bit. That’s always weapon you’ve got there, and then they’ve done a great job just raising their level every week and have been a backbone for us this year.”
On if P Jack Fox took reps at quarterback during the walkthrough: “No. He’s always welcome, though. He’s always welcome.”
On if there is an eagerness to get the first win before the bye week: “It’s all the same. No. The bye doesn’t really mean much. It’s a week away, but we’ll speak about that when we get there. It’s good rest for us, but no. The games count the same.”
On if winning a game before the bye week would give them momentum: “I guess to kind of piggyback on that, yes. You can win this week and then have a good taste in your mouth for the bye and then come back with a little more energy, but you don’t put any more stock in the game than you would.”
On his relationship with WR Kalif Raymond: “It’s really grown really well. It’s been fun to work with him. I think I’ve been lucky to work with some really good receivers who practice hard and that’s the – like, he practices hard. Cooper Kupp was the same. Robert Woods was the same. Brandin Cooks was the same and Kalif is the same in that way where you know where he’s going to be. You can trust him. You can rely on him and he’s accountable and that’s all you can ask for as a quarterback.”
On if he knew anything about WR Kalif Raymond before playing with him: “I didn’t. No. No, I didn’t.”
On if he is surprised by WR Kalif Raymond’s production: “I think he’s surprised everyone with the way he practices and he kind of sets the standard for that receiver room of, ‘I’m going to return punts. I’m going to play special teams and then I’m going to run every route at full speeds and that’s how you get better.’”
On how he gets receivers to stay focused in the game if they are not being targeted: “They always know it’s just how the game goes sometimes. I don’t think there’s any specific reasoning for that. (Amon-Ra) St. Brown is a guy that I’d love to get involved more and I know we all would, but just sometimes the game just flows away from those guys and it happens that way and I don’t think they get bitter about it. They know the ball is going to hit them eventually and it’s something we’re aware of.”