Opening Statement: “Just talking about the Vikings, (Vikings Head Coach) Mike Zimmer I think is a damn good coach, got a lot of respect for him. I think it’s a veteran group, smart players. They’ve been running their system for a long time, but also they have young explosive players, so they create some challenges here. This will be a big test for us.” On Vikings DE Danielle Hunter and what it means to the Vikings defense to have him back from injury: “Look, he’s an element that they need and I think he’s one of those pieces that makes them pretty dangerous because he’s one of those D-ends that I think plays the run as good as anybody and he’s an excellent pass rusher, too. So, he can transition from run to rush very quickly and run action stuff and he’s long. He’s a heck of an athlete, high motor, so it’s helped them.” On how much of the Vikings’ defensive game plan is built around their pass rush: “Well, it is. Especially when they know they can get you in pass downs, it’s an issue. They’re a fast, aggressive defense, it is. That’s the premise of it. If they can’t get to the quarterback, as with most defenses, they get you in a bind.” On the challenge of building a game plan for the offensive line to face the Vikings’ defensive line: “We’re going to be smart with what we do game plan-wise to try to help our guys out. And not just them, but everybody. We’ve gone back and tried to really look at what we think we do well. We’re four weeks in now. ‘What do our guys do well? Knowing what we have up front moving forward and what they have, how do we help?’ So, the plan is catered that way somewhat and there again, we’ve got to play complementary football. We can’t get in one of these – like we’ve been, we can’t get in one of these, ‘We’re down and we’re in two-minute mode and we’re having to throw it every play and they know it, we know it.’ That doesn’t serve us well all of the time.” On C Evan Brown’s performance after coming in for an injured C Frank Ragnow last Sunday: “I thought he played well. I thought he was solid. I thought he went in and really didn’t miss a beat. There were really only a couple of plays that I know that he wishes he’d had back, but I thought he went in and did a good job.” On if there are setbacks that young players face because of injuries to the roster: “I don’t think it’s a big setback because, there again, look, (Derrick) Barnes is still coming along, (Alim) McNeill’s coming along. Levi (Onwuzurike), he’s got to get better, but he’s continuing to grow. Jerry Jacobs is going to continue to grow. Bobby (Price)’s still going to be able to grow and help us in other areas. (Penei) Sewell, there again, we’ll see where he’s at, but I feel like we still have enough young guys that we are developing. I don’t feel like it’s a setback. I mean, we’ve still got plenty of young bucks that are out there, that are helping us, contributing, and that are growing every time they get to play and the reps they are getting.” On if T Penei Sewell has an injury: “He’s a little banged up.” On if T Penei Sewell will practice this week: “We’ll find out. We’ll see where he’s at. He’ll probably be limited today, if not out, and then we’ll go from there.” On T Penei Sewell’s injury: “Yeah, he’s just got an ankle.” On his mindset after the first four games of the season: “There again, it’s about building our foundation, man. It’s about finding those guys that we know we can count on and lean on and we think that can help us win down the road, not just now, and how quickly can they help us win now, but down the road and you can’t ever lose sight of that. And with that, as long as guys are coming back into work and putting their best foot forward and they’re a sponge to knowledge and they want to get better and they want to help, they want to win, they want to contribute and they’re not anchors to our program, they’re pulling us down and they’re negative and they’ve got – they’re always searching for an answer, it’s somebody else’s fault – which I think we’ve done a pretty good job of. I don’t feel like we have those guys around here.” On how he keeps the team focused on building a foundation after four losses: “You highlight it. You just – it’s a point of emphasis like, ‘Listen guys, we’ve got to go back to work. This is what we have to focus on. If we want to beat this team, this is what we have to do.’ If you go back to everything we’ve said before a game as to what we have to do to win, it’s been true and we haven’t done those things, not as a – in all three phases together. We haven’t quite put together when the defense does something good, offense, we don’t answer or we don’t complement and vice versa and special teams. Look, 0-4 stings, but at the same time, we’re not as far away as it appears to be. I just bring it up again, we were two plays away last week. You could argue we were two plays away from winning that game. Look, that’s nothing against Chicago, they played well. It’s a credit to them, but we are not as far away as it appears to be.” On focusing on short-yardage situations in practice this week: “We’ll start that today. There will be some things that we highlight. Look, we’ve done a little bit of third-down work against each other on Thursdays. Up to this point, we’re going to start doing it every day. So, we’ll have – whether it’s one or two plays at the end of each segment, offense versus defense, good versus good, we’re going to do it. We’ll start there. I’ve just kind of tweaked a few other things. We’ll be in pads today for a period of time and then we’re going into teach mode towards the back end of practice and really hone in on the package and the scheme and what we’re trying to do and how we need to stop these guys. So, we get a little bit of both.” On if he will have to plan for different pass protections because of C Evan Brown’s inexperience in games: “I think we still keep them together. Look, certainly (Jared) Goff can handle those, but Evan is a smart guy. There are a number of reasons why he’s here. We thought he did a good job in camp, but he’s been pretty steady and reliable and I think knowledge-wise, he’s been right in Frank (Ragnow)’s hip pocket. Look, anytime you lose somebody like Frank – Frank’s a hell of a player, man. He’s one of these top-notch players in this League. He’s a top center, if not the top center. Look, that’s going to hurt a little bit, but I do like where Evan’s at and I know mentally he can certainly handle all of it and I think physically he’s going to be able to do his job and help us.” On which players he leans on for leadership: “Look, Michael Brockers is one. Alex Anzalone is one. I think guys like (Jason) Cabinda, who’ve kind of been here but they’re staples, they just go back to work and do their thing. I think we’ve got a ton of guys that are that way. I think (Jared) Goff. I think Kalif Raymond. I think Dean Marlowe. So, I think there are a number of guys because they know what winning looks like, they’ve been there and they don’t accept it. And I think we’ve got a lot of young guys that they follow their lead. So, yeah, I think those are guys you’re looking at.” On how important it is for the players to take ownership of the team: “That’s what we’ve said all along is eventually, when we get this where we want it, the players are the ones who are regulating this. They do it themselves and they know what’s acceptable and unacceptable. And now, we’ve given them the guidelines and now they handle it themselves. It is important and you want to get there, but until they do take it over and they’re able to make it their own and get all of the pieces where we want them and everybody in the right mindset, that’s on us as a coaching staff to have to stay on it and continue to lead them.” On if the roster has taken ownership of the team: “We’re not quite there, but we’ll get there.” On if CB Jerry Jacobs is in line for a bigger role with injuries in the secondary and his performance last Sunday: “I thought he did a good job. I thought he stepped in and thought he did his job, thought he played hard, and so I think he deserves a shot, but I also think Bobby still gets his shot to help us as a team. But yeah, I thought Jerry stepped in and did some good things.” On signing C Ryan McCollum: “Well, he’s a guy that – first of all, we know he’s played center, I mean, he’s a center and he’s done it in games and we think he’s a pretty smart guy. And so, we wanted to make sure, just especially knowing that Frank (Ragnow) could be down for a while – we think could be down for a pretty long time – to have a guy, a true center, that can help back up Evan (Brown). So, we’re glad we got him in the building.” LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET October 6, 2021 On his performance against the Vikings in 2018 in which he had a perfect passer rating and if he will take anything from that game to apply to Sunday: “Obviously, a completely different team. There are probably still a few guys there, (Vikings S) Harrison (Smith), (Vikings LB) Eric (Kendricks) and (Vikings LB Anthony) Barr, maybe a couple of guys on the D-line, but it’s a completely different team and I’m sure they’re doing a lot of different stuff defensively now than they were then. But yeah, it was a good night for me and a lot of fun, no doubt. It was one of those nights where you just kind of can’t miss. Yeah, it was a fun one.” On if he sees a lot of the same pressure schemes from Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer’s 2018 defense that has carried over to today. “He’s got his stuff that he’s liked to do for a long time, of course. But at the same time, they’re an evolving defense every year and it’s still early in this season, so they’re still evolving. I’m sure being an in-division opponent they will have something for us and we’ll see what that is. You know with him it’s an aggressive style defense and they want to be that way.” On what he learned from studying film about executing in short-yardage situations: “I think just practicing some new ideas, what works and what doesn’t. Typically, it’s just execution. We haven’t had bad plays called, it’s just executing them how we want to. We’ve jumped offsides a couple of times. It’s not like we need to reinvent the wheel, but just a little better execution, a little bit more focus in the details.” On the frustrations of missing an open receiver or receivers not getting open: “There are times where that happens and you’re frustrated. I don’t know if that’s happened too often this year. Sure, there are times where you’d like to have somebody there and there isn’t and you throw and miss a guy. I think that’s just part of the game.” On what he does to compensate for the injuries on the offense: “Nothing. We’ve got backups for a reason. We’ve got guys out here that we trust. Specifically, I think Evan (Brown) stepped in last week, did a good job. Obviously, we want Frank (Ragnow) back as soon as possible, but Evan’s done a decent job stepping, as well as Penei (Sewell) and Matt Nelson for Taylor (Decker). It’s been a good thing to have guys that you trust there in those positions.” On if communication is an issue for players who have less game experience: “It better not be, right? That’s why they are there. That’s why we practice every day and that’s why we trust these guys to step in when we need them to.” On how important it is to have a connection with the outside receivers to open up the potential of the offense: “Yeah, it’s extremely important and we want to get those guys going as much as we want to get (D’Andre) Swift and T.J. (Hockenson) going, right? Those are our dudes, but we want to get (Quintez Cephus) Q and (Kalif Raymond) Lif and (Trinity Benson) TB and KhaDarel (Hodge) and (Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint, all of these going as well and get them their touches. I thought last week what Kalif did both in the pass game and the run game was his best game so far. So, seeing him build off that this week will be fun and he’s just a guy that continues to work hard and deserves those opportunities.” On how much a win can instill confidence in the team after four losses: “That’s a good point. I think I’ve – my rookie year, we were on a tough team and it seemed like as the season went on and we lost more games, you start going like this mentally a little bit, right? And I was young and I didn’t really know any better, but here it doesn’t feel that way. We have lost four in a row, but we do feel like we are improving, we are doing the right things in practice, we are making plays in the game. How can we make them more often? How can we eliminate those mistakes I spoke about after the game? How can we stop beating ourselves really is the bottom line and we’re getting there and it’s always a day at a time. It’s always one practice at a time, but I believe in these guys. I believe in (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell), I believe in our coaches and believe that the pop will happen and from there, like to answer your question, hopefully the momentum starts from there.” On how important it is to get a win just to feel the reward: “Of course, it’s very important. Anytime you feel the reward of the hard work and the reward of doing things in practice, your incentive has to continue to do it. But, I think that’s been the most encouraging thing about our group so far is that we haven’t tasted that reward and we’re still doing the right things and still chopping wood. And again, it’s never a moral victory, but we have the right guys, which is the encouraging part.” On what the offense needs to do to score points early in games: “It’s a good question. Obviously, execution and just being, I think, intentional about starting fast to answer your question. We’ve put ourselves in a hole two weeks in a row and have crawled back. But close, but no cigar, right? We just haven’t been able to finish it. Being intentional about, ‘Hey guys, we have to start fast,’ and even with the younger group we may have, making sure they know how important that is and I think we do. It’s just a matter of being ready and executing.” On the source of positivity in the team: “I think it’s just the group of guys we have, and that’s not to negate the people I was with in my rookie year. We had a great group. It’s just sometimes teams go with one way and sometimes they go the other and I think at least at this point, I can say we haven’t gone that way and have had that mentality and, obviously, it’s probably a credit to what (Head Coach) Dan (Campbell)’s done with us and just belief in each other and the leaders on this team. It goes a long way when you’re going through some hard times. It’s been the encouraging part of all of this.” On if there is a difference between his rookie year and this year in terms of team morale: “I’m sure, yeah, of course. We’re young. It’s natural to be a little more excited when you’re young, but at the same time – again, I keep saying it, it’s the people. It’s the guys, it’s the players, it’s the coaches, it’s the daily messaging, it’s the leaders, how hard we work at practice. All of that stuff is intentional and leads to the results that we will eventually get. It’s encouraging to see that in a time where you could go the other way very easily and the adversity is hitting us hard and you could go that way, but we haven’t.” |
