December 1, 2021 Opening Statement: “I would start with this, I mean it’s the news that everybody knows right now, it’s everywhere, our heart goes out to the Oxford community. It’s awful. Nobody should have to deal with that. Just prayers go out to the families and the friends and everybody involved. That goes from myself to our players, the whole Lions community. It’s awful.” On his reaction when he heard about the shooting at Oxford High School: “Shocked. That’s not something you want to hear or think about it. And so when you hear it, it hits you like a ton of bricks, especially when you’ve got kids. You think about – whether they’re young or whether they’re like these – you’re in high school and they’re going to school and that’s the last thing they’re thinking. It’s brutal.” On the conversations he had with his daughter about the shooting at Oxford High School: “To be honest with you, this got on us in a hurry. I reached out to her this morning, told her, ‘Have a good day,’ and just wanted to make sure that she knows I care about her. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’re not guaranteed anything on this Earth. You just live each moment like it could be your last because you don’t know. That’s kind of the reality behind it. It’s awful.” On his self-assessment of his play-calling in the last three games: “Certainly, I can be better and there are things that – now it’s been three games and all three of those games there are three calls I wish I could have back. So, you learn as you go, you grow and then look, I’m not going to lie, there are things about it between learning to be a head coach and a play-caller that are all – it’s stuff that I’m working through right now that I can get better at. Look, I look at all of it and I think about how do I prepare myself as best as I can and how do I improve on what I’ve done to help these guys?” On the offensive play-calls he wishes he could have back: “One of them would be last week. I kind of alluded to this, but when we’re on the minus-49 and it’s third-and-32, I wish – it’s one thing to run it, but I hated the run that I called, that’s one. But, two is, hindsight, I wish I would have thrown. We would’ve had something a little deeper and it if it’s there, great. If not, check it down, see what you can get and now you’ve got a decision to make. Do you still punt it or do you go for a field goal? I wish I had that one back. And then, there were a couple of – we had a play in Pittsburgh where I put the ball – I didn’t like the hash that I put it on. I should’ve put it on the other hash and maybe it’s a better play that gets us a first down instead of we don’t get as much yardage out of it. It’s some things like that, that come up that you just learn from, how to be better.” On the play he wishes he would have put the football on the other hash: “It would have been – I’ll tell you what it was. It was the one we ended up throwing it to Trinity (Benson) and I think we ended up getting five or six out of it. But number one, we probably should have had it out of – we had it out of a two tight end set and had it on the other hash and I called it out of 11 and then we had it the other way, we had it on the other side. The combination of those two things, you’re going to get more than a five or six-yard gain is my point. You do like to believe that, just things like that.” On becoming a play-caller while being a first-year head coach: “I’m doing what I feel is best for our team right now. This is not about me. This is not about my ego, about me trying to – like, I’m doing what I believe I need to do right now and what I feel is best for us.” On if he has coaches helping him prepare an offensive game plan: “(Tight Ends Coach) Ben Johnson is helping a lot with the pass game right now, so I’ve kind of moved him a little bit from – he still works with the tight ends, but I’ve got him working more with pass game now. So, I’ve shifted that, so he’s helped a lot. And then of course, (Offensive Coordinator) Anthony Lynn is dealing with run game and protections, things of that nature.” On how he keeps himself upbeat despite a 0-10-1 record: “You’ve got to take the good and see the progress that’s going down. You’ve got to look at all of these young guys. For me, that’s what I do. I look at all of the youth that we’ve got that is really improving and getting better. And then there again, just knowing the vets that we’ve got on this team. We’ve got some good vets. It’s a group of guys that just continues to come into work and they want to get better and they know we’re this close. And so for me, that always gives me hope, and so I know that the last thing you can do – and look, I’ve been around some good ones. (New Orleans Saints Head Coach) Sean (Payton) was always this way. Good, bad, ugly, it didn’t matter. He was the same guy every day. You come into work and I just know that you don’t get anything solved by losing confidence and sulking and getting mad at people or placing blame. And so, I know everything starts with me as far as all of this is concerned. So, I’m going to be myself. I have to be.” On if he has reached out to former New Orleans Saints FB and Oxford High School Head Coach Zach Line after the shooting at his school: “Look, I’ll be totally honest with you, literally Eamonn had just put on, ‘Hey, Zach Line is the head coach.’ I knew he was up here. And so, I found out before the walkthrough. I didn’t even realize that. So no, that will be the first thing I do when I leave here is give him a call. I did not even put two and two together.” On how the team can learn to win with young players: “(Former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Bill) Parcells used to always say, ‘There is a demonstrated ability to win.’ How do you do that? It’s small battles, but ultimately you’ve got to be able to do it in a game. You’ve got to find a way to make that play when it’s crunch time that puts you right over the edge. Until you do that, it’s really hard to do it until it shows up in a game. And so, you practice and you keep preaching those things and you work at it, but ultimately we’ve got to prove that we can do it in a game. And once that happens, then you feel like now you kind of got over that hump and now you understand what it takes. You know what we have to do and you understand that you can say it all you want, but until we realize it’s that one less mistake that gets this or that one more play more than the opponent. And so, I just think – look, we’ve been in a lot these and we’ve got to keep harping on all of those things that we have to do to win this game.” On if learning how to win also extends to the coaching staff: “Oh, yeah. There are so many things that go into play with everything. From what you are trying to do schematically and build the game plan and then put your guys in the best position to have success and then don’t forget that they are allowed to do things differently on defense than what they show all of the time and that’s part of the game. That’s part of the things that we do. Look, there is all of that and – look, it’s not an excuse, but it’s also as a staff, we’re all learning how to work with each other and there again, just how do we complement each other the right way.? Everybody’s got strengths and everybody’s got things that aren’t quite their strengths, and how do we balance those things and use what everybody does well and help us? It’s no different than the players, and so that’s something that we’re evolving with and working on and trying to get better.” On which running back will get an increased workload with RB D’Andre Swift potentially missing Sunday’s game: “Look, you bring up a good point, it’s no different than any other injury when you lose a guy who’s been very productive for us. Somebody’s got to pick up the slack. The good news is we’ve got Jamaal (Williams) back. We got him back, and so this will be his third week to get back and get into the flow here a little bit. So, certainly we’re going to lean on Jamaal quite a bit. But look, we’re going to use Godwin (Igwebuike). We’re going to use (Jermar) Jefferson. That’s part of the plan. They’re all going to be able to play and it’s a little bit by committee, but I think you’re going to see a lot of Jamaal Williams.” LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) December 1, 2021 Opening Statement: “Obviously, I would like to open it up and talk about yesterday at Oxford High School. I was in L.A. when the Thousand Oaks shooting happened and you never think it’s going to happen so close to you and so close to home and you hear about it. Our thoughts are with them and their families and I know myself and all of my teammates and our team will be looking for ways to help and support and really be that positive light for these people right now in such a hard time.” On if the Thanksgiving weekend break came at a good time for him to heal: “Yeah, definitely. I think it was a good five or six days there after the game to recover and get my body right. Again, I don’t want to make any excuses, but just having that minor oblique deal that was bothering me, just getting right on that and feeling good.” On the challenges of game planning to be potentially without RB D’Andre Swift Sunday: “It’s never easy obviously. He’s one of the most dynamic guys in the League and having him on the ground and in the pass game is always helpful. I know he wants to be out there, but Jamaal (Williams) is ready to step even more than he has and so is (Jermar Jefferson) J.J., Godwin (Igwebuike). So, they’ll be ready to go on that front and obviously we’ll miss him if he can’t go, but those guys will step up and be ready.” On his confidence in RBs Godwin Igwebuike and Jermar Jefferson: “Really feel good with all of them. They’ve grown so much since training camp and learned. Seeing Jermar really become a pro and I know Godwin has bounced around a little bit, but he’s already a pro. Watching those guys work now, it’s a lot of fun and I feel great with either of them in there.” On if his oblique injury is completely healed of if it is still lingering: “We’re all kind of sore right now, so it’s just kind of – whatever week we’re in, 12, whatever it is – it’s kind of standard for everyone. I don’t feel like I’m feeling any more than anyone else.” On how the Los Angeles Rams supported the Thousand Oaks community after the shooting: “Obviously, there was some financial help, but I think more than that was just being there for those families. We got to meet a lot of the families of the victims, came to practice, and then we had that Monday night game against the Chiefs, we hosted them there at that game. And, it was just a special night and to see them after the game just a week removed from losing a family member, the light of joy that we can provide to people in times like that, it’s not to be understated. It’s part of our responsibility I think as leaders of the community and just what we’re able to do to help raise those people up and be there for them.” On how powerful it was to speak with family members who lost loved ones during the Thousand Oaks shooting: “Very. I was younger at the time and probably didn’t fully grasp the gravity of it, but looking back, it’s a very powerful moment in my career and in my life just being able to be a supportive force for those people during that time.” On if he has any routines to help keep him positive despite a 0-10-1 record: “I think everyone has a routine and I have a routine that I’ve kind of built up over six years of playing. I think every week you kind of evaluate what did you, what can you have done better, and then you have your points of emphasis during that week and that’s kind of been the same way this week with the way things have gone. Especially this year, you can find some points of emphasis every week to get better at and things that you want to work on.” On having Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell as the offensive play-caller for the last three games: “I think he’s getting more and more comfortable, and it’s fun to see for me obviously at quarterback and being the one he’s communicating with. But, I think everyone can feel it. His comfort level is starting to set in and anytime you take something over like that in the middle of the season and haven’t done it before, it’s going to take a week or two and I think he’s really settled in this past week. I know he’d be the first one to say he wants things back, but I think he’s doing a great job and feel confident in him.” On if Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell is relaxed when talking to him during a game: “Very chill, very chill. Very calm and that’s kind of how you like it as a quarterback. Obviously, with his personality you never know what you’re going to get, but on game days he is calm.” On the adjustment as a quarterback after the play-caller changes: “I’ve never been a part of a switch midseason, so I don’t know. But, it’s been pretty smooth so far. He’s done a great job like I said. I’ve only had two games with him now and obviously Pittsburgh was altered, so last week was kind of our first real full game plan where we were able to do some things offensively. I thought he did great. I thought he did really well and I think – like I’ve said, he’s more critical on himself than anybody, but from my standpoint, everyone is feeling comfortable with him and he’s done a great job.” |
