Opening Statement: “Rams week, so it’s a good opponent. They’re well-coached, talented, and so we’ve got to put together a good week of practice and be ready to get after these guys.” On if the team will practice in pads today: “Yes, we are.” On if he plans to have padded practice every week except for Thanksgiving week: “Yeah, definitely Thanksgiving week we know we won’t be able to do it there. I just think it’s – I think it sets a tone. I don’t think – I said this yesterday, when you really go back and look at the tape, I didn’t feel like we physically got beat. I did postgame, I felt that way, but when you look at it, we didn’t physically get beat up and pushed around. It was more we got into freelancing a lot. When things don’t go your way, we’ve got guys that are starting to try to do their own thing and it made it worse, it snowballed. But, that being said, I can’t ignore the fact that we come out and it wasn’t certainly our best performance, and it was also the one week we didn’t go pads on a day when you can go. So, I felt like we needed to get back to it. It won’t be – it will be very similar to what we’ve done the last two weeks as far as time on the field and intensity and when we hit. I think it’s something we can handle. I think we needed it, especially with these guys coming up.” On why he did not try to convince Rams QB Matthew Stafford to stay with the Lions before he was traded: “To me, I think it was very evident that he was – it was time. I think you just know when you’re hearing all of that and you know where the mindset is, and so it’s – and that’s OK and that was where it was going to go and there was no need to try to push it somewhere it wasn’t going to be. Both parties, we made the move that we did, he handled it like a pro, and he’s doing a great job out there right now. Unfortunately, we have to face him now.” On the extra emotions QB Jared Goff and Rams QB Matthew Stafford will have facing their respective former teams: “I think that there’s certainly going to be some of that. It’s on a higher level when you play quarterback and you’ve kind of been – you’ve been the guy. When you’re the quarterback for an organization – really, both of them for a period of time – there does come some emotions that come with it, but I don’t care who you are. When you’ve played for a team for a number of years and then you go to play them again, there is an element of – there are mixed emotions, man. You want to win, but you also – there are so many people that you remember and were good to you and you’ll never forget them. And so, there’s a lot that comes with it, but I think at the end of the day, when it’s time to kick off, from this point on it’s all about, ‘Man, what is my job description? What do I need to do for my team to get us ready to go?’ And then once it kicks off, it’s all ball and focus on the job at hand and the play that’s right in front of you and the series that’s right in front of you. And it has to be that way.” On if QB Jared Goff has shown extra emotion this week: “I don’t feel that at all. I feel like really he’s – I feel like every Wednesday he’s coming in locked in and ready to go. Like, new week and he’s no different than anybody else. He doesn’t like to lose and he gets frustrated, like we all do, but when Wednesday hits – and you can feel it today, he’s out on a mission, he’s got to get us in the right play. So, he’s got a lot to study, but it’s stuff that he can handle. It will maximize what we think we do best against these guys offensively. But no, I feel like he’s locked in and ready to go. Nothing different.” On if the roster and his coaching philosophy are still equipped to win in the NFL: “I think it has to be. I think it has to be. Look, there’s a certain way we need to play and we have to play. And I know you guys get tired of hearing it, our margin for error is this and I know that it’s hard to really say what we are and what we aren’t until we take away our own self-induced mistakes. I know this, we have to be able to run the football. We have to be able to stay in the game to be able to play-action pass and do some of those things. Look I’ll tell you, we’re not equipped to throw the ball 40, 50 times a game and drop back, we’re not. That’s not us. I think there are very few teams that are equipped to do that, but I know we’re not, for sure. So, if we don’t keep ourselves in this game, it makes it hard for us. It makes it hard.” On if he has reevaluated the roster throughout the season and if he senses an evolution of becoming a more pass-heavy offense: “I would like to say that with what we have, we’ll evolve where we need to evolve to. Look, it’s no secret this is a passing League, you’re right. You’re right about that. Even over the last, call it five years, it’s erupted even more. You have to be able to throw it, that’s for sure, but I think you make the most with what you think you’re equipped to do with your guys. And I’ve said it before, ‘How do we help our guys? The guys we have on the active roster, the guys that are on our vet squad, our practice squad – is it time to pull one of them up, give them an opportunity? What do they do best?’ Listen man, we keep tinkering, we keep working and we’re going to make the most of it.” On T Taylor Decker’s injury and practice status: “We’ll see where he’s at today. I think a lot of it is, it will be – look for the most part, it’s good to go for the most part. Now, when you play left tackle, there is a big part of this mentally. He needs to feel like he can use it the way he needs to use it and he’s comfortable with it because at the end of the day, if you don’t feel like you can function with it the way that you need to, or you feel like you’re going to be a liability to us offensively, then that does us no good either. The last thing we want, we take him and he goes in and then it doesn’t feel right or something’s not going, and now we’ve used a roster spot for it. We’re taking it as it comes. We’ll go out today, see how he feels, see what it looks like, and take it day-to-day. Like I said yesterday, until that time, Matt Nelson is our right tackle and (Penei) Sewell is our left and they’re good enough to win with right now.” On if T Taylor Decker feels ready to play Sunday: “Last week when we first started this thing, it looked like this microphone times two. It looked like – it just takes a minute to get used to, that’s first of all. That alone takes a minute. Well then when you do that, he kind of hits somebody and now it – well, it’s not like you just nick it, so when you nick it, it all bends backwards, and now the knuckle gets pissed off. And so, ‘Alright man, let’s do this a little different and maybe we crop it down.’ So, a little bit of it is just getting comfortable with what that’s going to feel like and I think, if anything, he’s going to have to – it really gets to a point where, ‘Can you get comfortable with being a one-armed man?’ Because that’s really what it becomes. You can use it to punch, but to be able to grab is going to be hard, and that’s what we’ve got to figure out and he’s got to figure out.” On the possibility of T Taylor Decker needing to be shut down for the season: “There’s a chance. I mean, really, we’ve only got another two-week window here on him since we’ve started his clock. We’re going to have to figure out something within the next couple of weeks on him. One way or another, whether he’s on the roster, activated and ready to go or if not, we have to put him down for the rest of the season. It will come. I don’t know where this is going to go short-term. I don’t, I really don’t right now. We’ll just have to see how he feels.” On what he has seen from QB Jared Goff in the past that he still sees today: “I think if – well, because here’s what I do know, he is a pure passer. He can throw the football and if you give him a minute and give him a little protection and let him see it, I think he can make some pinpoint throws. I’ve seen that from him. Look, I’ve seen enough of him. I’ve said this over the last four years to know that he can just slice you up if he gets in a rhythm because he did it to us every year and when we had a damn good defense. I’ve seen it here and I think that, I do, and I think if we can stay in the normal flow of the game and we can function like we need to right now offensively with what we are, I think we can win with him, I just do.” LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET October 20, 2021 On playing in SoFi Stadium for the first time with fans and the emotions of facing his former team: “It’ll be fun. I obviously never got to see it with fans, so it will be cool to see that and just be there. To sum it up, I think it would be selfish of me to let any emotion get to me or to think of it that way. Of course, pregame you’re going to see your friends and your old teammates, old coaches, old staff members, and that will be good to see them. But, when that whistle blows, it’s the same as any other game. The emotions will be out the window by then. They’re really out the window by now, I guess. It would be selfish of me to have any of that going into this game.” On the emotions he is feeling right now: “Excitement. Excitement. It’s another game. Again, I think the easy answer and the reality is that we need to win and regardless of who we’re playing this week, regardless of my history or (Michael Brockers) Brock’s history, or anyone that would have with this team and with the Rams, it’s more of the reality is that we need to win and we can’t focus on that really.” On Rams Head Coach Sean McVay’s comments about regretting the lack of communication they had before trading him: “I appreciate it. It takes a man to say something like that, so yeah, I appreciate it. It still happened the way it did, but I do appreciate him saying that and got all the respect in the world for them over there.” On his relationship with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay before being traded: “I don’t think it nearly eroded the way people thought and I think that was part of the confusion at the end. I don’t feel like it really eroded that way. Again, I appreciate him saying that and it’s big of him, but at the same time, it was done the way it was. It’s been done.” On his relationship with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay after the trade: “Reliving all of that is, to me, irrelevant. I kind of just hit it there for a second. I don’t think it was nearly as bad as people may think.” On his experience practicing against the Rams’ defense and if he is using those experiences to help game plan: “Yeah, sure. They’re really good. I mean, that’s the number one thing I know about practicing against those guys, they’re really good. I think I never truly understood how to game plan against Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey until you have to, right? I never had to play against those guys previously. They have some good players over there and they do some good things and I know as well as anyone, they’re well-coached and do a great job. So, it will be a challenge.” On what it was like competing against the Rams’ defense: “Always competitive, always great, and I think back to those guys that – as any team you want to be, your best players are your hardest workers, and I thought Aaron (Donald) embodied that. He is that way. He is a Hall of Fame talent, but he’s also a Hall of Fame worker, a person, a player, and kind of just competing against him every day for five years, he put it on display every day.” On if increasing the tempo of the offense means getting the play call faster or getting to the line of scrimmage faster: “It’s both. It’s absolutely both of that, and then maybe getting into some no-huddle stuff and doing a little bit of that. I think just the urgency, the tempo, the attacking mindset is kind of what we’re trying to get towards.” On if he likes to listen to the coach call in the play in no-huddle situations: “That is a mechanism that we used in 2017 quite a bit. And again, that was four years ago. At times, we haven’t done that here, but at times it can be helpful, and at times it can not be. So, a little bit of both to answer your question.” On his positive memories that he has taken from the Los Angeles Rams: “I’ve got so many great memories and so many friendships and life-long bonds and people that I’ll talk to forever and all of that. I think the sourness is there still from how it ended, but there are so much more of good things that happened that make you appreciative for those times and appreciative that you’re able to experience them and be a big part of them.” On if he puts any stock into not having a win yet without Rams Head Coach Sean McVay: “We didn’t win any – we won seven – I guess, lost seven my rookie year and we haven’t won one here. So yeah, that’s I guess, a stat. No, I don’t put any stock in it. I think (Rams Head Coach) Sean (McVay)’s a tremendous coach. Like I said, I’ve got all the respect in the world for him, what he does on the field, the way he’s coached since I was there and think what they do is tremendous.” On the potential of the offense that can be unlocked if the offense has possession with a lead: “That would be helpful if we could score some more points early. I’m sure we’d have some more opportunities with the ball with the lead. But yeah, we won’t get there until we score the points and then we can experience that. But yeah, I guess to answer your question, sure, there are some things that you’d like to be able to unlock in that way where maybe it’s a little bit more run action, maybe it’s a little bit more run game and we don’t have to start dropping back so early.” On how it fuels him to return to play in Los Angeles: “I think to sum it up, like I said, it’ll be fun to see all of those people and it’ll be fun to be there, and of course you’re motivated. Of course, you have the chip on your shoulder, I’ve spoken about that. There was some disrespect felt towards the end. There was some sourness there towards the end and you still feel that. You still have that chip on your shoulder. But at the same time, when the game starts, if I let any of that come into how I’m going to play the game, it would be selfish and I’m going to play the game just how I would any other game. And to be honest, I’m not worried about feeling some type of way once the game starts. I really don’t.” |
