LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
December 20, 2022
Opening Statement: “Basically the same as yesterday, so it’s really nothing new. We’ve got a walkthrough practice today. This opponent, it’s a good opponent. They’ve been in a lot of close games. I think (Panthers Head) Coach (Steve) Wilks is doing a great job. I’ve known him from afar, for a while in that division when he was defensive coordinator, secondary at Carolina when I was at New Orleans, and they were always a pain in the ass. So, they play that way, they’re talented. (Panthers DT) Derrick Brown’s a hell of a player, and we knew he would be when he was a rookie. He can do it all. He’s heavy, he’s violent, he’s explosive. (Panthers DE Brian) Burns has really grown as a rusher, edge defender. He’s come a long way, uber talented. (Panthers DE Yetur Gross-Matos) 97’s a good player. (Panthers OLB) Shaq (Thompson), I’ve watched Shaq for a long time, played against him as far as, there again, when I was at New Orleans. He played the Will, played the big nickel, and now he’s the Mike, so he’s done all of them. He was with (former Panthers LB Luke) Kuechly all those years, so he’s a smart football player, very active. (Panthers S Jeremy) Chinn’s a good player. (Panthers CB Jaycee) Horn, man we liked him coming out. He’s been what we thought he’d be, good player, so this defense is stacked. They play hard. They run after the ball, and offensively, they have an identity. They want to run the football. They want to play-action pass. This (Panthers T Ikem Ekwonu) left tackle comes off the rock. This O-line comes off the rock. They’ve got a stable of backs that are aggressive, downhill. And then (Panthers WR D.J.) Moore’s dangerous. They’ve got a couple of tight ends that are good players. Moore’s a dangerous receiver, so look, we’ve got our hands full.”
On how they fixed the issues with missed tackles that plagued the team last season: “I mean you just make an emphasis of it, and that’s something that we’ve talked about for a long time, and you’ve got to be able to tackle. You’ve got to work it. We do work it, and we’ve done a good job. It was something that we identified and look, you want a good defense, you better be able to tackle. And you better get takeaways, and we’re doing those things right now, so that’s a credit to (Lions Defensive Coordinator) Aaron Glenn and his staff.”
On Lions S DeShon Elliott’s shoulder injury and if he can play on Sunday: “Yeah, I would say right now, he’s looking like he probably won’t be able to make it.”
On if Lions S DeShon Elliott’s injury will affect him for multiple weeks: “It’s hard to say that. As of right now, it looks like – it doesn’t look very promising, but there again, we’re going to see how he feels every day.”
On how much he is emphasizing the message to not play as if the team is afraid to lose: “Yeah, honestly, I didn’t really even hit that other than what I said. We talked about it at the game the other day, and so really, this is just about – look, I showed them where we’re at. They know exactly where we’re at in the standings, and that we know what’s in front of us, and we know it all starts with this one. So, it’s very much the same as it’s been. We’ve got a really good opponent. We’ve got to go to their place. The weather’s going to cold. It’ll be a little windy. And this team has an identity, and they’re going to try to bully us, so we have to be able to absorb it and answer back.”
On how Lions DL Romeo Okwara has worked to get back to where he is today after his injury: “Yeah, Romes is a – you wish they were all like Romes. I mean he’s a blue-collar guy. He puts in the work, and this has been a long – it’s been a long process. Everybody heals differently, and so, he just – man, I’ll tell you what, I never saw him get down. I know it can get frustrating, that’s for sure, but he never let it break him. He never let it bleed into having a bad day, and he’s somebody that believes in just stacking the days, man. Putting in the work, day after day, and he’s a smart guy, hard worker, and there again, we’re three weeks with him, and he’s gotten better every week. And so, look, I think it’s just a testament to the kind of guy he is, the character, the type of character he has because he’s worked himself back into this position is what he’s done. And he’s only going to get better and better and better the more he plays.”
On what Lions DL Romeo Okwara can add to the pass rush: “Yeah, it’s good. Well, look even the run game. I mean, that’s the thing, his length. Just his length and his strength and to be able to set edges for us and then on top of that is the rush. There again, you’ve got him on the perimeter, you’ve got (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, you’ve got (Lions LB James) Houston, you’ve got (Lions DL John Cominsky) Commish inside, you’ve got (Lions DL Josh) Paschal. So, we’ve got some options and our backers. So, believe me he helps us. I mean, he definitely helps us in that department. So, it’s great to have him back and there again, just from having him on the field, that in itself is a – that’s what it’s about, production. But there’s – look, everybody loves Romes, man, because he does, he’s all about the team. He’s a hard worker, and so it’s good to have him back.”
On if he sees the playoff implications affecting the players and if it is something he addresses with them: “Well, I kind of feel like – if it was going to happen, it would’ve happened last week because I felt like all of sudden there was this big – all this attention and everybody wants a piece of the players and coaches. And so, if it was going to happen, it was then. I think because that was a big swing, we were in the sewer before that and then all of a sudden, we’re – life’s great. So, I feel like, alright, we’re through it. Now, to me it’s – man, the emphasis is on – there again, you can never lose sight. You’ve got to respect the opponent and what they’re capable of. They’ve got a chance to win this division, they’re very much in the hunt. So, we understand that. We identify that. We know it’s a physical unit, but the other thing is, man, you don’t know. This is a – we’ve got an opportunity and you just don’t know when these opportunities are always going to be there, and so we can’t let this slip through our fingers. And by saying that, which is what you asked me a minute ago was – we just we can’t get so uptight with that, but it’s – the stakes go higher and our temperature’s got to go down and that’s how we have to handle it. But we have an opportunity here and I think that in itself is – a guy like (Lions T Taylor) Decker’s been here seven years been to one playoff, hey man, you don’t know. And we are trending the right way and I believe we’re going to get better. We’ll be better every year, but that doesn’t mean – you don’t know what kind of opportunity you have, particularly the young guys, man. You better hold on to it and grasp it, us coaches, all of us and let’s make the most of it.”
On if stopping the run is more of an emphasis this week against the Panthers: “It’s – it’ll be everything because look it’s what Pittsburgh was able to do. They did a good job of being able to – to shut down that run game and they got off the field on third down. And so, they really – Pittsburgh ended up playing the type of game that they really wanted to play, and they possessed the ball. They were able to get off the field on third down, their defense, Pittsburgh was able to – shoot, they were 75 percent on third down, their offense. So, they stayed on the field, but it’ll be very important because if they can get this run game going, which they’re pretty good at, their play-action pass is real good off of it and now you’ve got those strike routes with (Panthers WR DJ) Moore. Your backers have to come down to attack the run and there’s just open space back there. So, it’ll be real important and that’s when (Panthers QB Sam) Darnold’s at his best too. He’s playing pretty good football when they’re able to do that.”
On how much of a benefit it is to have a veteran quarterback like Lions QB Jared Goff who has been to the playoffs and knows the expectations: “Yeah, that is big. That is big because look, your quarterback is – he kind of gets everything magnified. That position does, right? The highs and the lows, everything is – he has to absorb so much more than really even a lot of guys do. And so, when your quarterback’s been through it, it does, it helps. I mean, there’s – and Goff in general is a pretty even-keel guy which I think is great. He doesn’t get too low, he doesn’t get too high. But he has been through it and that is big because we’ve got a number of guys that can draw off of his experiences. He can help them with that. Look, we do have a few guys now. (Lions DL Michael) Brockers has been through it. He’s been through it. (Lions RB) Jamaal (Williams)’s been through it. (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) has been through it. Just this type of football, so we’ve got some guys. But other than that, we are young but you can use those guys to draw from.”
On if there are any challenges that come with playing on the road during the holidays: “No. Nope, not for us. We’ll do whatever we’ve got to do. We’ll leave when we’ve got to leave, and we’ll play when we’ve got to play. So, if you want to play tomorrow, we’ll play tomorrow.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
December 20, 2022
On if he is a player that can help lead the team given his playoff experience: “Yeah, a lot of guys here have been to the playoffs and I’m sure I’d be a part of that. But yeah, I think as the quarterback of the team and a leader on this team that is part of my job, but not because I have experience in it just because that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
On if any players have come to him asking questions about his playoff experience: “No, we’re not there yet. We’ve got three more games, but yeah, we’re in a good place.”
On what he learned about making the most out of an opportunity when he was in the playoffs with the Rams: “I remember taking it very not for granted and making sure I was conscious of that. This is a different situation, we’re 7-7 with three games to play, but yeah there’s a lot to look forward to.”
On if he has to remind younger players about playoff implications: “No. No, they know it. We’re aware.”
On preparing for Panthers CB Jaycee Horn: “Yeah. Yeah, he’s a really good player. Yeah, he’s a really good player and a guy that you’re definitely aware of on every snap and a guy that’s been very productive this year. Yeah, he’s a hell of a player and one of the best guys over there for them.”
On if preparing for the Panthers this week is similar to how they prepared for the Jets last week: “Yeah, we don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. I think last week knowing what they were capable of defensively we knew was going to be a little uphill for us and we were able to battle through it and come out with a W. And our defense played well and did everything they had to do to help us out and it was a full team win, (Lions WR) Kalif (Raymond) with the punt return, and this week we’ll need another full team win if we’re going to get it done.”
On how the offense has avoided giving up a sack in 10-straight quarters: “Yeah, it starts upfront with them for sure. But it’s a conscious effort from (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson) to not put us in bad situations and for myself as well to make sure I’m getting rid of the ball on time. And stepping up in the pocket and being where I’m supposed to be and it’s a full team effort. But most certainly it starts with those guys upfront doing their job and keeping guys away and it allows me to play pretty freely.”
On the amount of fun the team is having playing in high-stake games with a potential playoff push on the line: “Yeah, it’s fun, man. It’s a lot of fun to be here right now, and to be winning and doing what we’re doing. I think we’ve had two-straight streaks now. We had a streak before the Bills game, and another one now, and it’s a lot of fun, man. We’re doing some good things and need to keep doing it.”
On if it is difficult to keep outside noise and expectations from distracting the team: “No, because it was just as loud when we were 1-6 the other way.”
On if it was a different kind of outside noise the team heard when they had a 1-6 record: “Yeah, just different, but it was just as loud.”
On if it is difficult to play on the road in a short week: “No, there’s some challenges to a short week, certainly, but they’re dealing with it too. Yeah, we’ll be ready for it, and it’ll be fun.”
On if it is nice to hear praise about his and the team’s play: “You think? I think that’s the easier side, but yeah sure, I think I kind of talked about it last week, just us showing our maturity, showing that we can handle a little bit of praise and that we are doing some good things, and people can tell us we’re doing good things and being able to handle that and not change what got us there absolutely is the challenge now. But the challenge earlier I think was a little bit harder.”
On if Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson had to pull out a new play design on Lions TE Brock Wright’s touchdown in the fourth quarter: “No, to be honest, that was the same play we ran to (Lions T) Penei (Sewell) the week before. It was just different people in different spots, and we’ve done quite a bit of that over the last handful of weeks of running similar plays with different people in different spots, and there’s always wrinkles every week of how we want to do things, but we found a bit of our identity, and it’s worked for us.”
On if another player is ready to catch a pass in the same play design they used in critical situations the last two weeks: “I don’t know, we’ll see. We’ll see. We may have used it twice now, so we’ll see if we continue to use it. I don’t know if three-for-three is the way to go. We’ll see.”
On if it is difficult for a defense to defend against a known play design that has different personnel: “Yeah, I mean that’s a good play regardless of who’s where, but yeah, it’s just moving guys around and putting them at different spots and making it challenging for a defense in some ways.”
On if he knew the fourth-and-1 play where Lions TE Brock Wright caught a touchdown pass would work against the Jets defense before it was executed: “No, not until I turned around, and he was wide open. I loved the play-call from the jump, but there’s four guys on it and there’s a read to it, one, two, three, four, and Brock was number two, and he was open, and we hit him.”
On what it means to him to reach 25,000 passing yards: “Yeah, it was cool. Yeah, definitely a cool milestone. Not one I’ll mark down, but definitely something cool to see, ‘Oh, man,’ with those guys, who it’s with, and yeah, it’s a cool milestone and something I’m proud of.” | |
