Opening Statement: “Just a quick update, Tyrell (Williams), there’s really no change in him. So, I don’t expect him to play this week. Kevin Strong is doing better, so, I think there is a chance we have him this weekend.” On where they start game planning on defense to go against the dynamic Ravens offense: “I think you’ve got to play a lot of down safety defense and you’ve got to be gapped out. I mean, truly gapped out. We know exactly where our fits are at and there will be times where we play some split safety, but that’s what we have to hone in on is, ‘Here’s your gap. Here’s your responsibility.’ They run that pistol run stuff, so, they can go either way with it. There is a lot of eye candy. I just think – I think, really, our safeties are going to be a huge part of this game for us to have success. They’ve got to be where they need to be and be ready to fill. And I know all three of those backs. (Ravens RB Devonta) Freeman, when he was in Atlanta, he gave us troubles. Certainly, I knew (Ravens RB Latavius) Murray intimately in New Orleans, so, I know what he’s capable of. He’s been a good back for a long time. All three of them have done a good job to your point, but it does start with that quarterback. He’s dynamic and I think keeping him away from the open field is, ‘Let’s find a way to force him to hand this ball off,’ is really what you’re looking for.” On how they can simulate facing Ravens QB Lamar Jackson in game preparation: “I think that, first, you’ve just got to get the functionality of it and so I know (David) Blough can do all of that stuff. He gets the shifts, the motions, because it’s not just getting back there and simulating read run like, ‘Here comes these jet turbo motions.’ So, by the time you try to orchestrate it with a receiver, sometimes it’s not all that, unless you know they’ve been an ex-quarterback and they’ve run that in college. So, for us, that’s the starting point. No, you can’t – you can only do so much, but I think just to be able to functionally see it and react to it goes a long way.” On the last time he saw a quarterback with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s skillset: “(Former Falcons and Eagles QB) Michael Vick probably would be the closest thing. Even back in the day, he created the issues, he did. I would say that’s the closest thing that this guy is. He’s a rare breed for the fact that he has explosiveness and the speed that he has and then certainly being able to throw the ball because the minute you start trying to take all of that stuff away and you have to have a jump on it. You have to have a step on where you need to be to get to your gap, that’s when they go right behind you and they’ve got speed now at receiver to get on top of you in a hurry with no underneath coverage because you’re trying to drive on the run. That’s the key for us. It’s how do we get them in third-and-long? It’s easier said than done. I think our offense is going to have a huge part of this if we can find a way to get up on these guys and put a little more pressure on them, getting in some third-and-long, if we can force them into more known passing downs, that will help us. But that being said, these guys will run it. They will run their offense on third-and-8. They’re not just rolling out like, ‘OK, here’s our third-down pass.’ They will do what they do on first and second down, which you’ve got to be careful. You go out there and we’re going to run our dime defense and they run the read run one more time, man. I think our offense is every bit as important to this whole thing as our defense.” On if they try to encourage QB Jared Goff to throw into tight windows: “I think that just from day one we want him to feel good about pulling the trigger, particularly with some of our guys that we really trust. And certainly (T.J.) Hockenson, if you’ve got a one-on-one, just give him a chance, doesn’t have to be a perfect throw. And I think sometimes when you do that, it does – OK, it actually helps it be a perfect throw if you will. So, yeah, we just try to take pressure on him and say, ‘Listen, if you got your one-on-one and you like it, play ball. Let it rip.’ He’s playing with a high level of confidence, he really has after the last two weeks. Look, you can’t excuse the turnovers, but if you take those away, he would’ve given us a chance to win it. He made some pretty dang good throws and he improvised a little bit, which you didn’t necessarily always see that at the Rams. So, that was encouraging to us.” On QB Jared Goff being the leading rusher in Monday’s game: “That’s not what I – I guess you will take what you can get.” On if he sensed a difference in QB Jared Goff’s confidence between Week 1 and Week 2: “No, I felt like he was locked in like he was in the first game. I didn’t feel like there was anything different one way or another. He’s a pretty low-key guy. He never gets too high, never gets too low, which I like that about him. No, there are things that he gets a little upset. Like in practice, he’ll let you know and I like that too, but really, the approach was the same.” On CB A.J. Parker’s performance through two regular season games: “I do think he’s playing well. He’s another one of our young guys, undrafted rookie who is playing more like a vet. I would say he’s a level 401 thinker, which is good for a rookie and he plays that way. He’s one step ahead and I think he kind of knows his own limitation and is able to overcome that a little bit if you will. So, we’re pleased with where he’s going and he has, he sees things quickly. Even the speed sweep, they scored on it, but he saw it and you see him drive on that and he was this close to getting there. But, yeah, we like him. He’s in a good place.” On the strength of schedule to start the season: “It’s the hand we’re dealt and I think anything that doesn’t break us just makes us stronger and I’m trusting the guys that we have in this locker room that we’re going to go back to work and just clean up the errors that have killed us the last two games. And I’m still waiting for that game to where we play the way that we’re capable of playing, clean up the little errors, and then see what it looks like, see what the scoreboard looks like then. That’s what we’re like – there were a number of things – I mean, even you guys heard me say about the shallow cross drill, our receivers were better this week. We were better up front in the D-line gapping out things. We handled the run better, but yet, then there are these other little issues on the perimeter that show up, or on the edge, or in the back end. So, now we’ve just got to clean those up and see if we can put together more of a complete game if you will.” On if fixing mistakes from Monday’s game can be done in a short week: “Sure. Sure it can be done and that’s the plan. That’s why we got them in the building is to try to get these things corrected and then move on to Baltimore. Certainly it’s doable and that’s the plan. That’s how we’re approaching it. Like, ‘Let’s clean this up and now let’s get ready for Baltimore.’ And you guys heard me say it and you’re going to get tired of hearing me say it, but it’s the most important game of this season because it’s the next one.” On the emergence of WR Quintez Cephus in the offense: “Look, he’s a young guy and he made some plays early and then there are some plays that you want him to win on that didn’t happen late. But, that’s part of his growth. And so what’s encouraging is that he did make plays early and the potential is there. Even some of his route discipline was better overall from San Francisco, actually, a lot better. So, that shows that there is improvement. He’s got to just keep coming. You’ve just got to keep getting better and the more he does that, the more (Jared) Goff will trust him and give him opportunities.” On how often on a given play all 11 guys on offense are doing what they are assigned to do: “I think what happens is, offense, it needs to happen a lot more than defense because one guy on defense can do it wrong and blow a whole play up sometimes, whereas offense, one guy does it wrong and everybody is – it’s kind of – but I would say, ‘Tell me where the play is going and what the scheme is.‘ Like, if I’m the backside receiver and I miss a block, but we’re running wide zone this way, you’ll probably get away with it. So, yeah, it’s not always perfect, but I think that the hard thing is when, man, let’s say for example the offensive line does everything right except for (Matt) Nelson on this play, but then everybody else is good and then (Penei) Sewell the next play is bad and then the next play it’s a right guard, and then it’s like, ‘Oh man.’ At the end of the day, they only had one error, but yeah, we had five errors. One from each guy for five plays and it crushes you, it kills you. So, you have to be on-point a lot more than you’re not.” On a percentage of times a player does not do what he is assigned to do: “I hate to put a percentage on it, but yeah, probably not as much as you would think.” LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET On what he can take from his last matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 to apply to Sunday’s game: “They, for sure, got after us that night. I won’t forget that one. I think just their overall physicality and they’ve been doing it for, I don’t know, 15 years, ever since the (former Ravens LB) Ray Lewis regime was there. Just the way that they approach defense and the aggressiveness and physicality and the way they try to impose their will on, you’ve got to be aware of it. It’s different than a lot of teams we play. To answer your question, yeah, there is definitely that mindset that I experienced that night with what they want to do.” On what the basic counters are for a quarterback when he recognizes a blitz scheme: “We’ll have a plan for it. We’ve got a lot of ideas of how to counter it. They know they’re issues when they’re blitzing, though, and that’s the best thing about that defense is they’re not just blitzing to blitz. They’re blitzing for a reason and have a good idea of how offenses want to attack them when they do.” On how he respects Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s play style: “He’s unbelievable, man, he really is. I think seeing him grow as a passer has been the scariest part of it all. His rookie year I’m sure he’d be the first to admit how much he was running and as time has gone on, he’s developed so well as a passer and has become dangerous in both ways. I’ll never forget when we played him, preseason 2019 I believe, and I saw him running for the first time. He’s the fastest guy on the field. It’s not even close and you’ve got to be aware of him. Our defense will be ready for it.” On if the defense can stop QB Lamar Jackson with his running ability: “We’ll see. It’s for our defense to handle. I think that’s a better question for some of those guys.” On WR Quintez Cephus: “First of all, I think he plays a lot faster than he may have of ran at the combine or whenever he ran. He plays fast, man. He can run down the field. He can stretch the field a little bit. I think the number one thing for me that I’ve enjoyed playing with him is his physicality, his ability to go make plays on the ball when it’s not picture-perfect clean. You saw the other night that ball that he almost pulled down. That’s something that we see pretty often in practice. Just being able to rely on him in one-on-one situations and give him a chance in certain areas has been fun for me.” On WR Quintez Cephus’ body adjustment skills: “I think he’s a tremendously talented player. Some guys it just kind of comes natural to them playing the position and I think he’s no different. He’s just a natural receiver and understands leverages and understands people and is still young and still learning so much, but I think his progression has been great and I know he’s – the best thing about him is he’s his hardest critic. After that game, he’s coming back with a bunch of things he wants to work on. So, it’s a lot of fun to work with a guy like that.” On playing with confidence in this offense: “I don’t know if we’re very proud about the results so far, but we’ve done some good things offensively and have been able to move the ball a little bit. I have had a lot of yards through the air I guess, but I don’t know if that speaks too much of the success or anything that you’d like to have. I’d rather throw for 200 yards and win games. There are a million things I’m trying to get better at every day, but I’m starting to settle in a little bit for sure in the pass game. But at the same time, there are still a bunch of things I look at that last game and the week prior that I can get better with.” |
