LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 20, 2023
Opening Statement: “We’ll have a number of guys not practicing today and a lot of them are day-to-day so I can’t really – it’s going to feel that way for a little bit here, but it’s business as usual. Back to work here. We know the opponent that’s coming in. This is a physical, violent team coming off of two wins, two big wins, playing pretty good football right now. So, certainly we’ve got our hands full and we’ve got to be on top of our game to get out there and compete, try to get a win here back at home. So, this will be day one. Our guys will be ready to go.”
On how having a short game week next week factors into injured guys returning ahead of the Atlanta game: “Yeah, I mean, not really. I think more than anything we have to focus on right now, the here and now. There are a couple of guys that it could be, ‘Alright, if it’s close enough, do you try to play them this week knowing that maybe if you do then they’re probably out for Green Bay anyway?’ So, there’s a couple of those guys. I’m not going to say who they are, but that may have a little bit. But I think more than anything, it’s about, man, this one right in front of us and who we’ll have available or who we think can be available.”
On Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s injury status: “Yeah, he won’t practice today. So, he’s a day-to-day. We’ll see how it goes.”
On how valuable it is to have a veteran like Lions S Tracy Walker be able to step in for injured Lions DB C.J. Gardner Johnson: “Yeah, it’s very valuable. We’re fortunate to have depth in a number of areas and that’s of them is at that position there. So, having a guy like Tracy who’s got time on task, somebody we’ve got a lot of faith in, trust in, that alleviates a lot of pressure and stress for us because we know he’s game ready, he’s been in it. He hasn’t batted one eye at it. He just goes to work and he does anything we ask him to do. He’s been playing special teams, been playing for us a little bit here, so certainly he’s taken on a big role now and we have a ton of faith in Trace, so he’s another guy I’m glad he’s here with us.”
On what he looks for to see if his players are bouncing back after the loss to Seattle: “I think more than anything, it’s about – I told the guys this morning, we can get into specifics of, ‘How do you beat this team?’ But to me, it’s more – it is about us. Not more, it’s about us. And I came away and when you look back, I just think about, man, let’s get back to what we’re about, our identity. And I think we’ve got to establish our identity and if that’s our focus and that’s the way we practice, that’s the way we attack it, I think everything else will fall right into place. So, let’s get back to all those things that we preach on offense and defense, the finish, the population of the football, striking the football, biting the ball, offensively finishing in a dominating position. And that’s got to be the focus and it starts today. I think we do that, we’ll be OK.”
On what Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson has done for the defensive backs room: “Yeah, look, losing a guy like C.J. is going to hurt anytime. He’s an impactful player and his energy is infectious. And look, I hate it, I hate it for him. I hate it for him. I hate it for us. But man, this train doesn’t stop, and so with that, man, I think him being around has definitely made guys better, those around him better. And there again, just goes back to the injury question, hey, man, we’re fortunate. We’ve got (Lions S) Tracy (Walker) and he’ll be ready to roll. And now, some of that energy, that slack’s got to be picked up by the rest of the guys. It’s got to come from somewhere else and it doesn’t have to come from one, it ought to come collectively is what it ought to do.”
On if Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson will have surgery for his injury: “Yeah, he will. He will.”
On if there is optimism that Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson will return at some point this season: “Don’t quite know, but I know that the reports that we’ve gotten back on it is that it was a very clean injury and that’s normally good for surgery, recovery, all of those things, so I certainly think there’s a chance that we get him back.”
On if they have figured out who will fill the last active roster spot: “I think we’re hanging tight for now. We’re going to hang tight. And then certainly, we’re talking about some of these guys we may elevate off the practice squad. A lot of that is going to depend on who’s available, who’s not. But all those guys, all and any that we have, there’s a reason why they’re here and a reason why they would go to the game for us. We trust them.”
On how to improve on keeping a mobile quarterback in the pocket: “Yeah, look, it’s – there again, it’s about discipline. You go back and look at every one of the reps last week against (Seahawks QB) Geno (Smith) where man, we had everybody doing their job and it’s, ‘Where’s the clean win?’ We didn’t have a clean win, but even when everybody just does their responsibility, their gap, we wrap tight, we’re where we’re supposed to be, he’s got nowhere to go, it’s hard for him to make a throw out of there. And at some point, he’s just looking to run and he’s got nowhere to go. And it’s a reason why that third-and-18, he couldn’t – there was nowhere to go. We finally got him on the run. He can’t throw it. But when we did those last week, Geno had nowhere to go. So, I think it goes back to, man, let’s just hone in on the discipline of it. If everybody would just stay disciplined and do your job, you don’t need to do more than that, and let the production come to you and not the other way around.”
On the challenges Atlanta’s offense presents and what he has liked about the Lions’ run defense so far: “Yeah, look, first the opponent is a big challenge for a couple of reasons. One, this offensive line is pretty good. They run off the football. They do a good job on the backside cuts. They’re very athletic. They’re a pretty nasty group. And then, this (Falcons HB Bijan Robinson) No. 7 is – he’s an elusive back. He’s a big – looks like a power back, but he’s really got excellent feet. He’s really – you give him a lane, give him space and that’s where he’s pretty dangerous. But, there again, population of the football, close the gaps down and it’s – we’ll be good. And then they bring in (Falcons RB Tyler) Allgeier and man, that guy, he’s power. Now that guy, he’s about running through your face. And so, it’s a one-two punch, totally two different styles and we’ve got to be ready to adapt quickly with the way they do it. Now, back to what we’ve done, that was one of the focuses of let’s be better against the run, try to make teams more one-dimensional and we’ve done a pretty good job of that. This team will – they’re going to try to run the ball more than 30 times. I mean that’s really what they want to do, so. They’re not going to be discouraged by what goes on. They’ll continue to hand it off. So, man, it’s going to take all the way through the fourth quarter. Man, that strain, that discipline, that effort, that finish, that population of the football, it – you’ve got to do it time in and time out, over and over and over because it only takes one to get you.”
On how the game plan changes if Lions RB David Montgomery cannot play and if Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs is ready for more carries: “Yeah, well, to us, we’re going to treat it as business as usual. We don’t – we’re not going to let it affect us. We feel good about the backs we have. Certainly, Gibbs is going to get more of a roll and we’re going to do what we do. And really, our focus was on how we attack this opponent more than the backs that we have.”
On if Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs can handle an increased load: “We’ll find out.”
On how long Lions LB James Houston is out for: “He can be – that’s a tough one too. His is – he may be very similar to (Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson) Deucey. Could be end of the year potentially, but there again, I can’t – I don’t want to sit here and tell you, ‘Yes,’ and then we don’t get him back. But I do think there’s a chance by the end of the year we could get him back.”
On what he does to ensure the team stays together moving forward: “Listen, I hate losing, but I love this because this is – I just feel like this is what we’re all about. We’re back to reality. We’re back in the mud and it’s doom and gloom outside of this building in this world and man, let’s just hunker down and go to work, and let’s get back to what we do well. And it takes all of us to win. It’s going to take all three phrases. And I just feel like that’s what we do best, and I know our guys, I know our coaches, man, they’re – this is challenge accepted. Challenge accepted. I just feel really good. I do. And I know the opponent’s coming in and if we don’t get back to our identity, this team will take your soul and so that’s the motivation.”
On his relationship with Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith: “Well, look, Arthur’s a guy from afar that I’ve always had a lot of respect for at Tennessee because he’s really running a lot of the same system that he did there. He uses a lot of heavy sets. It’s a lot of different schemes. He adapts well to what he has, and he’s carried that over there. And they have been known ever since he’s been there as a real physical team and they want to play physical football, man, downhill, and then play-pass off of that. And certainly bringing in Coach (Falcons Defensive Coordinator Ryan) Nielson over there who I worked with in New Orleans, man brings a whole different attitude system, everything. So, I just think the guy is a high-level thinker and I think he wants a physical team, he wants a disciplined team and he’s got a lot of weapons to work, and he uses them. He uses them properly, so. Look, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
On conjecture that Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is using a steel toe in his shoe to deal with turf toe: “Well if it is, we’re going to put a steel toe in the other shoe too, alright? Because we had a player who did that and only put it in one and then wonders why his other foot hurts. So, we’ll make sure we balance it out. But we could – look, we look into all of that, and we’ll do whatever is needed to get him to where he feels right.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
September 20, 2023
On the challenges that may come with facing the Falcons this Sunday: “Yeah, good defense, really good. Some players that have been really good for a long time. I think first you see (Falcons DL) Grady Jarrett, obviously has been really good for a long time. To me, (Falcons CB) A.J. Terrell is really good, (Falcons S) Jessie Bates really good, then all the guys sprinkled in there that can play as well, but those three guys have been at the top of the League for a long time.”
On how much of the preparation for the game against the Falcons is about addressing their own improvement as opposed to preparing to face the Falcons: “Yeah, of course. It always is, it always is, but you prepare and you get ready and you see what they do on film and then mostly focus on yourself to make sure you’re executing and doing what you’re supposed to do and if we trust our rules, usually things fall into place.”
On building trust with the new additions to the roster and practice squad this week: “Yeah, we trust everyone. This is the National Football League. Guys have to step up. There’s no way you’re going to stay healthy all year and every team’s dealing with it and the teams that end up at the end deal with it better than others, so we’ve got to deal with it well and move on.”
On how much they need to be aware of the multiplicity of the Falcons defense: “Yeah, that’s obviously a new coordinator and they have some multiplicity where they do a lot of things and yeah, I’m sure they’ll have something new for us. It’s only Week 3, so there’s only so much stuff that they could’ve done the first two weeks, so yeah, we’ll have to see what their wrinkle of the week will be.”
On how efficient in-game adjustments are after working with Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson and Lions Quarterbacks Coach Mark Brunell for over a year now: “Yeah, well we’ve got experiences against certain defenses or certain looks and certain plays we know to get to for certain things, so we don’t have to so much do on the fly as much as we kind of know what the answers are now and sure, some new things will come up every week as far as how you want to do things, but for the most part we know what our answers want to be and we can get to them pretty easily throughout a game.”
On how he has seen Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs grow from Week 1 to Week 2: “Yeah, I mean I think back all the way to OTAs with him. Just his growth and his route running ability obviously, and his catching ability has gotten so much better and continues to get better and then just, obviously handing him off the ball and seeing his vision get better as time has gone on. He’s a hell of a talent, the guy we rely on and I think he’s done a really good job through his first two games.”
On how the offense will adapt if Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and Lions RB David Montgomery are unable to play against the Falcons: “Yeah, so it’s always next man up and those two guys are important players for us, but we’ve got guys behind them, if they can’t go, that will be ready to go and we’ll see as we get later on in the week, but yeah, it’s always next man up and guys will be ready.”
On why he thinks Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell is able to fight through adversity with the numerous injuries the team is battling through: “Yeah, I think he kind of represents our team in a lot of ways. We’ve been through a whole lot worse than this. We lost a tough game, we played well in parts, didn’t play well in other parts, but we have some stuff to get better at and some stuff that we like that we can draw on and try to use the next week, but yeah, it’s a reflection of the whole team, I think and he’s a tough guy.”
On the public’s reaction to the team’s 1-1 record: “Yeah, well sure, we’d like to be 2-0 and 1-1 is better than 0-2 and 2-0 is better than 1-1. Yeah, so next week 2-1 will be better than 1-2 and we want to be 2-1.”
On how the public’s reaction to the team’s 1-1 record is a sign of how far the team has come: “Yeah, sure, we would like to win the first one at home, I think that’s the whole thing, but now we get another opportunity in front of fans.”
On Lions T Penei Sewell’s value while Lions T Taylor Decker is out with an injury: “Yeah, having him have the ability to go over to left and not really miss a beat is pretty impressive and I’m getting a guy we rely on and has done a hell of a job at both right and left tackle throughout the years I’ve been with him.”
On what it will be like to play against old teammate and Falcons CB Jeff Okudah: “Yeah, it’ll be good. I like Jeff. I’ve always liked Jeff and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him here, but I wish him the best of luck in Atlanta and if he plays, yeah, it’ll be fun to compete against him. I know he’ll be ready to go and I always wish the best for him.” | |
