| Opening Statement: “We adjusted a little bit today. We’ve got a little bit of this sickness going around, and so we’re trying to somewhat eradicate it if we can. So, we adjusted, just kind of split it off to where offense is in in the morning, defense in the afternoon and see if we can limit exposure to each other. But yet, still get our work in, so more of a walkthrough and teach mode, things of that nature.” On if the virus that is going around is COVID-19: “No, not COVID. We do have one that’s had COVID, which – it was Evan Brown. He was on the list, but it’s not COVID. This is more flu-related if you will.” On why it is important for him to have a good relationship with QB Jared Goff: “I think that he’s – it’s kind of, ‘Where he goes, we go as a team.’ That’s why. The fact of the matter is he’s got the ball in his hand more than any other person on this team. So, the decisions he makes, the way he feels, his confidence, it has a huge bearing on us, which is why a lot of times when things go well, you get a lot of credit. When they don’t, you take a lot of scrutiny because he’s asked to do a lot, that position does a lot.” On how he coaches QB Jared Goff compared to how he coaches other positions: “I think you’ve got to hold him accountable like anybody else. You just do, and he’s thick-skinned, which is good. He can handle it. As long as you’re coaching him, that’s what he wants. He’s not worried about getting – as long as you’re direct and open, that’s all that matters.” On how QB Jared Goff’s performance last Sunday can propel his confidence going forward: “I think it can do a lot. I echo the fact that – man, he had some outstanding throws in that game. I mean, really top-notch throws, particularly early in the game. And then, there was about a three or four-play sequence there where it was rough. And, for him to come back and get out of that and be able to drive us down the field I think was crucial. And, I think it’s great for him and I think it speaks volumes and I think that will help his confidence moving forward.” On his motivation to finish the season strong: “Because you’re – there again, that’s what this whole season has been about is what we’re building for the future. And, of course we’re in the moment, but the future is next week. The future is this week, it’s next week, it’s the week after. And so, whatever we’re building only extends not only to the end of this year, but next year. And so, I think it’s important. And look, ultimately we are trying to build a winner, but you’ve got to find – there’s a certain way that you have to play to win games. We know that, but I know this, it starts with guys that are coming to work and they believe and they hope and they just continue to try to want to improve and we have that right now. And so, we can’t let them lose that. Now that being said, hell we are walking into Denver. This is a damn good opponent, now. This is and they’re in the playoff hunt and they know that – for them, basically, it is a playoff game. They can’t lose anymore is the way they’re looking at it. So, this isn’t some slouch we’re playing. This is a damn good team.” On the challenge of facing Broncos RBs Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon: “It is challenging. I feel like everybody’s got backs now, but these guys, yes. They can hurt you and they’re dynamic. They do a great job up front, too. Just schematically, there are a lot of things they do where they keep you guessing. They’ll attack you with the same look, formationally, motion, all of those things. And all of a sudden, it goes the other way. There is enough mixture into what they do to where if we are not sound upfront and with our backers, they can hit you and hurt you. And then, once they get that – especially with Teddy (Bridgewater), I’ve got a lot of respect for Teddy Bridgewater because I think he’s a winner in this League. Man, he’ll hurt you in play action pass. He’s going to be smart with the football. Even what happened last week, they can possess the ball. We’ve got our hands full defensively.” On if he believes success in establishing culture this season will carry over into success next season: “I do, because I still think it comes down to like, ‘What are our expectations for how we want this to look and what we expect out of our players in this building?’ So, the guys that are here, the young guys that are learning from guys like (Michael) Brockers and (Alex) Anzalone, they are figuring this thing out. They’re understanding what it takes and what it’s supposed to look like every day in practice. And yeah, it hadn’t equated to wins yet, we’ve got one, but they understand it’s like, ‘Whoa, there’s a certain way you do things.’ And then, once you start – you get another Draft and you get a free agency and then we sign back some of the free agents we want that are all a part of what we want and what we see it as and our unselfish guys that work hard and your talent level goes up a little bit. You’d like to believe now you’re getting to the range of these Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s the ultimate goal where you become a consistent winner and they are a hard, gritty, tough group.” On RB D’Andre Swift’s injury status: “All I can say is he’s improving. That would be the best way to put it. There again, it was a walkthrough today, so he’s improved certainly from last week and it’d be hard for me to say one way or another what it looks like right now.” On how he can tell a college player has advanced football knowledge when scouting like WR Amon-Ra St. Brown did coming out of college: “I think a lot of it – first of all, (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and those guys do a ton of research on these players. I mean, we check and then they get double checked, they get triple checked, national scout, the local scout, everybody. And so, you do your homework, your research on what their coaches think, teachers, anybody that has a relationship with him or understands them and the way they learn. That’s one, but two is you can tell a lot on tape with some of those – like, Amon-Ra (St. Brown) on tape, you can tell. They moved him around quite a bit. They asked him to do a lot of jobs and he had a savviness about him. Whether he was taught or not, he understood the spots and zones. He understood how to beat man coverage. You could tell he was a smart football player. And so, that’s proven to be true. And look, we’ve put a lot on him and really we put – every week, I feel like we put more on him. Out of that receiver room, he’s probably asked to do more than all of those guys, just where he goes just in different spots, but also the details of what we ask him from the run game to the pass game.” On how T Penei Sewell played through Sunday’s game after dealing with a shoulder injury: “I’ve got a ton of respect for Sewell because – I’ll just say this, he wasn’t 100 percent in that game. He came to us Saturday before the game and said, ‘I’m playing.’ There was no talking him out of it. Man, he went in there and he helped us win. You never want a player to go in there and put themselves behind or make themselves – an injury that you could make worse. But, for a guy who knows what he’s capable of, especially a young guy and is willing to go in there and just bang away and help us win and produce, I think speaks volumes of this kid.” On when T Penei Sewell’s injury occurred: “It was from Thanksgiving. It was kind of the same injury.” On if there was a chance T Penei Sewell would not play in last Sunday’s game: “There could have been. There may be might have been.” On thinking of Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater as a winner and how he defines a winner in the NFL: “I’ll tell you what, here’s the biggest one and this is what I’ve said about Teddy (Bridgewater) because he did it in our building, he made everybody around him better. He was a guy that on Saturdays would pull all of the young guys out. He was our backup quarterback, so he would take all of the young guys, all of the practice squad guys, any of the backups, and he would take them out and go through the whole game plan with them and run, run the routes, talk through them, talk to them, tell them what he wanted, everything. And so, not only is he going through the game plan himself to prepare, he’s making these young guys grow. He’s developing these young guys. He was ultra-competitive on practice squad. Our defense hated him. They had friendly wagers on who would connect, who wouldn’t, who would score, who wouldn’t. It was very competitive, but he made everybody around him better. That to me, that’s a sign of a winner.” On how many players were missing today because of the non-COVID virus going around: “There’s a lot.” On if the virus stems from last week: “Yeah, this mess is going around right now. It’s just kind of spreading through and I think we’re on the back half of it, I really do. I think we’re on the downward slope of this, but we’re just trying to – if we can buy ourselves a day to try to flush this out, we just felt like we needed to do it. It was a little bit rough. Look, everybody is dealing with sickness. This goes around, but yes. I just felt like we needed to adjust.” On if he has caught up on sleep since Sunday night: “No. No, but that’s alright. It’s a lot better this way.” LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) December 8, 2021 On how he is feeling today after the sickness that has been going through the team: “I’m actually feeling good. I was not feeling great really Sunday. Sunday and Monday wasn’t feeling great, and then yesterday woke up feeling fine. Today was kind of out of an abundance of caution. I feel pretty good.” On if Sunday’s game was his version of Michael Jordan’s ‘Flu Game’: “A little different circumstances but, yeah sure, I guess you could say that.” On how he was feeling during the game: “During the game you don’t feel it much at all. I’m being dramatic if I said I felt much before the game when it really kind of hit me after the game. That adrenaline kind of wears off and whatever this little flu bug that’s going around kind of snuck up on me there.” On Tight Ends Coach Ben Johnson taking on a bigger role in the pass game: “Ben’s been awesome. Ever since I got here, he’s been one the guys that you can kind of rely on as a good voice and understands kind of everything that we’re trying to do. Since he’s been in that role, being able to lean on him and asking these questions and having him take some ownership over some stuff has been really cool. He’s guy who’s got a lot of experience in the quarterback room and applying himself back in his time. But, it’s been a lot of fun working with him.” On if the transition of Tight Ends Coach Ben Johnson taking over more pass game responsibilities has been seamless: “Very.” On if the virus he has is the flu: “It’s diagnosed as the flu yes, but I feel great.” On winning NFC Player of the Week for Week 13: “It’s cool. You usually only win those when you’re winning games. So, it’s a credit to us for winning that one. Obviously, it’s a cool honor, but can’t do it without all of the other talent on offense and really everyone on the team to win the game.” On his relationship with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell and why it is important to him: “We’ve developed a great relationship. I think even furthermore, ever since he took over play-calling, that relationship is special and as you grow together in that relationship, it tends to bring you closer. I think it has with us. It’s been great. I think he’s done a great job. Again, another guy that I’ve been able to lean on and rely on since I’ve got here.” On if there is protocol for being diagnosed with the flu: “Well, there was no protocol before COVID was a thing. I remember a few years ago, you get the flu, you used to go home for a day and you come back the next day and you’re fine. Or, you don’t go home at all. But now, it just seems like there is a heightened awareness around every illness nowadays. The protocol is – I would’ve been fine today. I could’ve been totally fine to be at the facility today. It was out of an abundance of caution. We’ve got a handful of these going around and just wanted to take one more day. We didn’t really practice, we had a walkthrough. Just one more day of being safe and be good tomorrow.” On the Denver Broncos defense: “They’ve done a great job. They are good at every level. I think any time you’re playing a (Broncos Head Coach) Vic Fangio defense, you’re going to have some challenges and they are no different. They do a good job obviously on the backend with the rookie (Patrick) Surtain (II) they’ve got, doing a great job. (Ronald) Darby and (Justin) Simmons also doing a great job and Kareem Jackson has been around for a long time. It’s good man and I think the addition the of Kenny Young, a guy who I’ve played with for a couple of years, has been great for them as well. And then, obviously up front their pass rush is elite. So they can kind of do it at every level. They’ve been playing a lot of man coverage and doing a great job of it. It’s a good defense and will be a challenge for us.” On the game preparation he was able to do from home to prepare for the Broncos: “I did everything. I was able to be on the Zoom calls, a handful of us were. Everything except participating in the walkthrough. I was a part of everything.” On what Sunday’s win against the Vikings means to him: “I think it’s kind of like what we’ve talked about all year. Like, you go through – you work so hard and you do so many things right and you continue to do the right things and you just come up short over and over again. Having one where we were rewarded for our hard work and were rewarded for the extra hours and all of the stuff you do as a football player, and everyone does it. You’re not promised anything, but we were rewarded for it and felt like there were some games earlier on in the year where we could’ve gone either way. I think finally you get one and you feel good about it and it’s exciting. For me personally, it’s no different. It’s the same feeling. You put in so much time and effort and you want to win games and you just come up short over and over again and able to finish one in the fashion that we did – I think it’s my first walk-off in my career. With all of that combined in with even the Oxford stuff that was going on, it was really a special day for us last week.” On the video of his girlfriend reacting to the team’s first win: “I saw it. It looked great. It’s been awesome. She’s been supportive our whole relationship. I know she was joking before she left that if we won, maybe she needs to not come to anymore games. It was fun, but it was cool to see her reaction and cool to see that support. So, it was fun.” On what Tight Ends Coach Ben Johnson does in terms of the game planning the pass game: “I think a lot of what he’s done is bring ideas that he’s had in the past and things that he’s seen work to our offense and as well as molding off of some of the stuff that we have had success with or some of the stuff that he saw that can use improvement. A lot of that’s been ideas of his concept-wise, but a lot of that’s just been his coaching and the details that he’s instilled in our receivers and myself. A lot of the stuff that he does daily that he sees and is able to apply to all of us. So, he’s had a big impact on me obviously in our short time together now and he’s done a great job.” On where Tight Ends Coach Ben Johnson gets his ideas for the pass game: “I think he’s just a coach at heart. I think that’s just who he is. He’s been a coach in this League, I don’t know what, 10 years probably now and he’s still a young guy. So, he’s just a coach’s coach. He’s a guy and he gets after it. He’s always got ideas flowing and I know he was with (former Dolphins Head Coach Adam) Gase for a handful of years there in Miami and that’s a good offensive mind there that he was around. He’s been all around, (former Lions Offensive Coordinator Darrell) Bevell last year here. He’s been around a lot of good guys and has good ideas.” |
