LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
December 28, 2022
Opening Statement: “Physical defense, high motor, they’re getting takeaways, punching the ball, scrape at them, they’ve been playing pretty good football. They played good against Buffalo last week, and then offensively everything starts with (Bears QB Justin) Fields once again, man, he’s dangerous and (Bears RB David Montgomery) 32’s a hell of a back in the run game. So, there again starts with the run game with these guys. Special teams unit is physical, so we know we’ve got our hands full. This unit we’re getting ready to play will be ready to go.”
On if there is anything the Bills did to contain Bears QB Justin Fields that is replicable: “Yeah, I mean there’s certainly some things that you’ll take, any of these teams that have had success against them. You’re always going to look at that and see what you can do. But they also had different personnel than we do, and so you take some of the good. You also take things you believe that you can do. There’s some things we did well the first time we played them. So, I think it’s all encompassing. But we’ll have a good plan in place, and we’ll be ready to go. I mean, we – everything today has been about we’re moving on. You identify those things that happened and they’re behind us and now it’s all about working forward through Chicago.”
On why he is confident the team can bounce back after last week’s loss: “Yeah, because I know the guys in the locker room, that’s why. And I know these coaches, and I know these players and I know what they’re made of, and I just go back to the fact that this team is assembled for a reason. So, there is nothing that would tell me that these guys won’t bounce back. So, we’re going to put in the good work today and they’ll be ready to roll.”
On Lions S DeShon Elliott’s and Lions RB Jamaal Williams’ injuries: “Yeah, there again I would say DeShon’s day-to-day. Jamaal will be out there practicing today.”
On if he believes that opponents are hard to beat twice: “Well, I think it’s – anytime you face somebody twice, they know what they need to improve, but you also know – you know that what you did the first time works, but they’re looking at that, understanding that. So, they know what to attack on both sides of the ball, so there is a bit of a chess game to it. And I think that’s why it’s – it can be hard, but I think if you do your homework and you come up with another good game plan. It centers around your personnel and what you do best and how to take out their best personnel. That’s one, and two is man, the effort, the focus, the intensity, all those things that you have to have in every game then you give yourself a pretty good chance.”
On if it is still possible to consider the season successful even if the team does not make the playoffs: “Yeah, I’m not even going to get into that honestly just until this thing is done because of where we’re at. To me, success would be winning this game right now. To bounce back after a tough loss and get back on track and to me this is our recalibrate week. We’re going to recalibrate, man because we were doing some good things. We found a pretty good spot and what we were doing and how we needed to do it. And we just – we got a little out of line. And so, let’s just – let’s do a little realignment, recalibration and go back to work because we’re not far off. As bad as some of it was, it’s honestly, you’re not as bad as it appears to be too. So, it’s like I told those guys this morning, I’m like, ‘Forget this. Forget anything else, but man the work is on us and Chicago.’ It’s got to be, and then you do that guess what, you give yourself one more week to see where you’re at.”
On the key to facing a team like Chicago with 12 losses and keeping them from building momentum early in the game: “Well, I think – look, this team is very much like we were last year in this time of year and when you turn on the tape and watch them, they’re playing now. They play hard. And so, they’re giving themselves a chance. They are getting takeaways on defense. They have a legitimate threat at the quarterback position over there as a runner. And so, we know that. We understand that, so when you have that, man, this opponent’s going to be ready to go and I still think – like you have to treat this no different than anybody else. I mean, this is the Buffalo Bills as far as we’re concerned. And it’s going to come down to the wire. Could come down to the very end, the last two minutes of the game, and so I think we’ve just got to play clean football. We’ve got to play hard, we’ve got to play smart, and if they do anything over there particularly offensively, they’re going to have to earn it, man. They’ve got to go all the way down the field, no explosives. And I think you do that, then you find a way to get a takeaway which we’ve kind of done over the last few weeks and we get back to what we do.”
On how much time is spent watching the tape from the first Bears game versus tape from the Bears’ other opponents this season: “I do think it’s both. I mean, the first tape you’re going to turn on is your last game. You’ll always look at that one and see what was done well, what wasn’t done well. And then I think you do have to over the last few games. You need to look at what’s been done, and I think you kind of combine the two. And then you have to understand, how are they looking at it? What do they feel like they can succeed at? Or where do they feel like they can expose you? And have an answer for it. So, I do think it’s kind of all encompassing.”
On if the chess match of game-planning for a divisional rival that the team has faced before is fun: “Well, yeah, it is. It is fun. It is fun because that’s the – it is fun. It is because that’s where sometimes you can – there are some people that will – this is one of the things you learn being with (former Saints Head Coach) Sean Payton, it was the best because it was, no stone was left unturned, man. You grind through that tape, and it didn’t matter how many hours, and you find the nugget. And that’s the beauty of it, and when you do find that one, it may be only one play, but that one play can be the one that changes the whole game, and so it is. It is fun. I mean I think as a coach, it’s why you get into it. That’s part of it, being around the players, motivating, all that, but it’s also that finding those little nuggets that can change the game.”
On who has stepped up on the Bears’ defense after losing pieces from their last matchup: “Yeah, look, I think (Bears LB Nicholas) Morrow’s playing very well at linebacker. I think this D-line’s playing pretty good. (Bears DL Justin Jones) 93 is – there’ll be some double teams, he gets lifted and all of a sudden, he’s out of the double team, and he’s making a tackle for a loss or he’s getting a one-yard gain. I think it is a young secondary, but I think they’re playing pretty good. They had a couple of bumps a couple weeks ago, and then every week they’ve gotten a little bit better. There again, they are opportunistic, but I think collectively, when you watch them, they play hard, and they’re pretty sound. I think (Bears Head) Coach (Matt Eberflus) E over there does a good job, and it is. It’s a defensive mentality. Their whole team is built off of that. So, you line up, you’ve got to be ready to go.”
On if he hears former Saints Head Coach Sean Payton’s voice occasionally when he is in a tough football situation: “Yeah, I think you always – those things will always be part of who you are. You’ll always take that with you, and certainly, the best parts of it, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons under him. He’s one of the better coaches in this League for a reason, and I think one of the best offensive minds in football that I’ve ever been around bar none. I mean he’s something else, but he’s also a grinder. He worked now. He worked like no other, and sometimes I didn’t know what – he’s superhuman. I mean I don’t know how he did it. There were things that – it was unbelievable. But you do, you take those lessons from him, and you see how he reacts to situations, and he was as good as anybody, man.”
On if he looks at the start of the season to understand what the team was doing well in the run game after recent struggles the last few weeks: “No look, this was really – when you really look at what went down, there was a ripple effect, and you throw the stone into the pond, and it just – watch the ripples, and it starts with one guy, and it bleeds to the next one and to the next one, and pretty soon, man, if you’re off just a little bit, it creates issues, and then you’re trying to overcompensate, and so really, it’s just getting back to what we do. It’s not an overreaction. It’s, ‘We’re going to go out to work. We’ve got our pads on. This is not going to be training camp, but it’s getting focused.’ Man, we’re bending, we’re straining, we’re hitting blocks, we’re fitting our gaps. And inside of that is schematically getting ready for this quarterback and this run game. So, we’ll have a good plan. Our guys will be ready to go because I know them, and who knows what’s going to happen here, but I know we’ll be ready to compete.”
On if his message to the team has changed this week to ensure they bounce back: “No, just there again, we talked about the issues, the things that we saw and what we needed to correct. And it was as simple as that, and now we’re going to put in the work.”
On Lions WR Quintez Cephus’ status with his three-week practice window ending this week: “We’re going to put him down. That’ll be coming.”
On if he is more of a chess player or a checkers player: “Actually, it’s been a while, but I do love chess. Well, I started in checkers. My cousin and I used to play checkers all the time, and then he brought in the – I’d stay with him in the summer, and then he’d, ‘Hey man, let’s play – you want to play some chess?’ We played chess – we played all summer, man. It was fun, but it’s been a long time, but it’s fun. The strategic part of the game is – it is fun, and I think when you’re a head coach or a coordinator, that’s what kind of floats your boat.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
December 28, 2022
On Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell’s message to the team about recalibrating this week: “Yeah, absolutely that’s a good word to describe it, recalibrate and respond and find a way to get better and improve. And find a way to beat Chicago.”
On if it is easier to bounce back after a loss given that the team has done it before: “Yeah, we’re built for it. Certainly, and the adversity we’ve been through this year is much greater than one loss and we know how to bounce back from things like this, and I think we will.”
On if the game against Chicago is one of those games where the teams’ records do not matter: “Yeah, late in the year it doesn’t seem to be ever. So, it’s a divisional game. They’re a tough opponent. They’re fighting for a lot and they’re a good-coached team, and very sound and play very hard, and we have our hands full certainly.”
On the Bears’ ability to get takeaways on defense: “Yeah, they played Buffalo and Philly recently and like you mentioned a lot of turnovers and something they do well.”
On how tough it is to play an opponent twice in one season and what are some things the team has to avoid: “That’s a good question. I don’t know, not assuming that they – just because you beat them the first time that you just will. It’s a good team and making sure that – we knew who they were in that game and see if we can find if they’ve changed at all up until this point. And if they have, adjust accordingly and if they haven’t try to stay consistent the right way. But yeah, there are some nuances to seeing what they’ve changed.”
On the key to playing a team like Chicago that has 12 losses and to keep them from gaining momentum in the game: “I mean, we’re treating them like any other team. I don’t care who it is and I think – we were a team like that last year and we felt like we could beat anybody and I know they feel the same way. So, yeah, they’ll show up ready to play.”
On if he sees an opportunity to get the run game going against the Bears’ defense: “Yeah, every week you do. I think you’d love to get it going this week and love to move the ball a little bit better there and see where it goes. But that’s every week.”
On if he would like to see Lions WR Jameson Williams get a little bit more involved in the next two weeks: “Yeah, if it fits. Certainly, he’s a great player and a guy that can change your offense and if we can get him the ball, it’s definitely helpful for us. But it’s by no means something we want to force, and we’d love to get him the ball just like we’d love to get (Lions WR) DJ Chark the ball and (Lions WR) Josh Reynolds, and (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, and everyone the same way. But yeah, I think as his progression grows as a player, it’ll grow on our offense and he’s coming right along.”
On the tight end depth and having 10 touchdowns by different players in the room: “Yeah, our coordinator used to be a tight ends coach maybe, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s a good group, they work hard, they’re where they’re supposed to be, and they do a good job getting themselves open and I’ve been able to find them.”
On the tight end room having five players who can contribute rather than just one marque player: “Yeah, it’s a good full room in there. They do a good job.”
On how long it takes for him to develop trust with a wide receiver: “Yeah, you’d love to have OTAs and training camp and the whole offseason. That’s typically what it is, and so yeah, we’re building it, and the trust is there. I don’t think the trust is what I need to build. It’s just timing, and just like anything else, he’s only been out there for, I don’t know, four weeks now, and yeah, he’s coming right along. He’s coming along very nicely, and like I said, as he grows as a player and as his progression grows, so will his role on offense, and I think eventually, he will be that premier guy, and the sky’s the limit for him, but when that happens, I don’t know.”
On how he chooses where to distribute the ball with a deep group of wide receivers: “Yeah, I throw to the open guy, so whoever it is, I’d like to think that I’d find them open, but like I said, he’s on his way to becoming that player that we all know he will be, and yeah, it just takes time, and I’d love to throw him 10-15 balls every week, I’d love to throw all these guys a million balls, but as time goes on, he will become that guy.”
On if Lions WR Jameson Williams’ speed makes it difficult to develop a timing connection: “No.”
On if he had to recover more this week after taking a couple hits at the end of the Panthers game: “No. No, I’m fine.”
On if he is looking forward to playing in the home finale at Ford Field this weekend: “Yeah, it’ll be our last home game. We’ve had a lot of fun in front of our home fans this year, and this one we expect to be the same. We know they’ll be out there, be rowdy, and offensively, we want to score a lot of points for them and come out with a W.”
On what is going right that is allowing him to connect on the deep ball the last few weeks: “I think I go back to when we initially got healthy and however many games that was ago, and (Lions WR) DJ (Chark)’s back and (Lions WR) Josh (Reynolds) is back, and now (Lions WR) Jameson (Williams) coming into the fold, and it’s like, we’ve got guys that can really stretch the field now, and that’s number one, just having guys that can really do that, and guys that I feel comfortable with and fits in our offense, and then just time on task. Just getting reps with those guys and feeling good about it, and DJ, you’ve seen over the last handful of weeks, catching those deep balls, and him and I have a good thing going, and (Lions WR) Kalif (Raymond), we hit on one, and Jameson, we hit a few weeks ago, so yeah, as we continue to grow, hopefully we continue to hit deep balls and continue to get over the top of defenses, and it’ll really change everything we can do.”
On if the players were shellshocked after the loss against the Panthers: “No. No, not at all. Sorry no, it’s another game, and we respond accordingly.”
On if the players feel like they have to prove themselves to fans again: “No. No, we had a tough game. We didn’t play well. We lost, they played better than us, and it’s the National Football League. That’s going to happen. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t go back and look at it and see what we need to get better at and fix and improve and get coached on it and hold ourselves accountable, but we know every game’s tough, and we’ve won six of eight, and need to find a way to win eight of 10, and feel good about it.” |
