LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
November 21, 2023
On the steps taken since the bye week to trend toward playing their best football in December: “Well, I think if anything we’ve found other ways to win. We’ve – and so finding ways to win always helps you win when you get into games like that again if it comes to that. So, that’s it. I mean certainly, we’re not playing the best all the way across the board, but there again, there’s – you can’t put a price on finding a way to win in tough games when things don’t go your way. So, we keep doing what we do, keep preaching what we preach, keep working on the little things and it will all come together.”
On how much emphasis has been put on improving their third quarter performances over the past couple weeks: “Yeah, I mean look, that’s – it’s something that has not really worked in our favor like we talked about. But there again, I think there’s a couple of things we’ve tweaked and it’s we’ll do a little bit something different. And we’ll find the right balance with what we need to do whether it’s the type of plays we run or the players that we’re getting the ball to, or things that (Lions QB Jared) Goff’s comfortable with. Defensively, what is the emphasis we’re going to come out of halftime with? We’ll keep working with it, and we’ll find a balance. I mean it’s something that we just keep addressing, we’ll keep working on, and there again, I think it’ll all come around for us.”
On what he tells the young players about playing in the Thanksgiving game and if it still carries the same allure as it did before: “I think so. I mean look, I haven’t like just sat down and said, ‘OK, everybody, get Indian-style and let’s talk about this game.’ We’ll talk more tomorrow about kind of the history of it and what it entails, but I would say yes, it does because this to me is – it’s over the break, it’s Thanksgiving, all the families are getting together, it’s the first game that’s on and I still think it’s really something special. I do, I believe that. And the Detroit Lions have been – it’s Detroit and Dallas and it’s always been known for that. I know they’ve got the late game now, but I do think it’s special and it’s a privilege to be able to play on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a privilege for our guys. And everybody’s watching, all your family, all your friends and this is the type of game, man, you come out of and you’ve got somebody you went to school with in second grade who’s texting you and you just – you forgot until he texted you and you’re like, ‘Oh, oh my God.’ And family members, everything – and so, it’s kind of cool like that. It’s special. So, we’ll kind of hit that a little bit more tomorrow.”
On how badly he wants to give the fans a win on Thanksgiving: “Yeah, I mean look, I think we want that for everybody. Certainly, to get another W, that’s one, two is division and then yeah, for everybody, man, for the Lion nation, for Detroit. I mean that’s – it’s no different than anything else. There’s – we’re trying to turn over a new leaf here, we’re trying to do something different and find a way to do some things that haven’t been done in a while, so this is another one of those opportunities for us.”On if he has ever been around a rookie group as composed and productive as this year’s rookie group: “Man, it would be – I’d be hard-pressed to say that. When I was at New Orleans, we had some pretty good crop of young guys, but this group is something else. I mean this group is something else. And they’re all contributing, and they really have come up big in critical moments for us and that’s not always the case with that many young guys, so it’s – we’re fortunate to have them. It shows that they’re developing, their teammates trust them, the coaches, we trust them to put them in those situations and they’re very much a part of why we’re winning. They are, so they’re doing well.”
On if someone he knew from second grade actually reached out to him after a Lions game: “That’s happened, yeah. Oh, yeah. That happens.”
On how someone from his second-grade class got his number: “I grew up in a very, very, very small town. Small area. So, you can find me if you really want to.”
On if he has a different appreciation for the Thanksgiving game now as a head coach: “Yeah, look, just kind of what I said a minute ago. To me, this is a privilege. This is an honor to be able to coach in a game like this. It was a privilege to be able to play in it. I mean I was fortune enough to be with Dallas for three years and then here in Detroit, so that was – most of my career I kind of knew that was to be a part of it. So, it’s what I think about it. I grew up watching it as a kid. I mean you always remember watching those games and then the thought of being able to play on Thursday, Thanksgiving and – it’s special and now to be able to coach in one of those. I grew up a Tom Landry fan. So, Tom was – Coach Landry was – I mean it was awesome, just to watch him on the sideline, so – and all the games that were won throughout his career. But it’s special, it’s absolutely special.”
On the limitations to game-planning on a short week: “Yeah, I think ultimately, you want to do a lot of the things that you’ve hung your hat on since training camp, a lot of things that you’ve done throughout the season, and then you’ll find another way to maybe formationally switch it up, maybe put a different motion on it. But a lot of the very, very unique, wrinkle plays, it’s hard to put those in because those take timing, takes timing and a level of physicality, particularly in the run game or play-pass or run-action. So, you’ve got to be careful with that. It doesn’t mean we won’t have things like that, but most of it is has got to be part of your core and what you feel like you can function at, at a high level. These guys, they won’t bat an eye at it. They’ve run these things it feels like thousands of times and then it’s just a matter of the mental, ‘Hey, here’s how we’re going to formate it this week. This is where you’re going to be, but it’s the same plays we’ve been running type thing.’ And I would say traditionally that’s what most teams do and it’s about who does it better, executes better.”
On if it is possible to see Lions DL Bruce Irvin ready for Thursday’s game: “Yeah, it’s possible. I still don’t see that happening, not right now. We want to be smart. We want to be smart with how we do it. And he’s – look, he’s working, he’s learning it, he’s in good shape and I just think – just want to be smart with how we proceed here.”
On being a Tom Landry fan and if he wanted to be a coach when he was younger: “No, no, never did, never even thought about it. So, that was much, much later, but I always – when you grow up in Texas, I mean Tom Landry was – I mean he’s a legend obviously, Hall of Fame coach. But no, once you sit in the seat and then you think about some of these coaches that you remember, it’s pretty special.”
On if he ever had a chance to meet Tom Landry: “I actually did. Yeah, I did, but this was actually – I met him when I was – shoot, man, I think I was an eighth grader. I have a family member who he became friends with. And so, periodically, I got to meet him. I was just a little – and this was really just towards the end of when he had retired. So, that was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. And he actually – he sent me a letter after I got drafted by the Giants because you know he played there and coached. So, I still have that, I’ve got it framed. It was pretty cool.”
On if meeting Tom Landry had an influential impact on him: “I don’t think as necessarily like, ‘Man, one day when I coach,’ but it was – I mean it’s one of those moments you never forget. I never forget it. I can still remember where I was at, where we were at, what he was dressed in, he came out, it was just the whole thing. It was pretty cool.”
On if Tom Landry had his iconic hat on when he met him: “He didn’t have the hat. No, he actually did not.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET
November 21, 2023
On the biggest challenge he faces in preparing for Thursday games with limited time to practice: “Just downloading the gameplan and getting it down pat and limited field time and limited full-speed reps and knowing what the play’s going to look like without being able to possibly rep it.”
On if he feels secure in knowing that he is doing what he does best in short weeks: “Yeah, we try to. There’s always wrinkles that you may not get to rep, but you try to lean on stuff you do well, like (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) said and be able to play pretty freely out there.”
On what it says about the confidence the coaches have in the offense to be able to call creative plays in the two minutes before halftime: “Yeah, I mean, we believe in ourselves and our abilities and any time there’s enough time on the clock, we feel like we can go down and score and we did just that before the half.”
On how the creativity they have in the two-minute drives before halftime sets them up for success: “Yeah, it’s huge, it’s huge. And that’s kind of where we had the majority of our success on offense on Sunday and being able to come into that fourth quarter, two-minute drive with a little bit of confidence from the end of the half two-minute drive was big.”
On the difference in playing to win the division when they face divisional opponents compared to facing teams outside of the NFC North: “Yeah, they’re always hard. We know each other so well and a lot of the players have played against each other for a few years now. A lot of the coaches have coached against each other, so you know tendencies, you know what they’re trying to do and they know the same about us. So, they’re always hard, the division ones are always hard. This one will be no different. And they’re a good team, they’re a good team, they’re getting healthy and doing a good job.”
On the energy and buzz around playing in Detroit’s annual Thanksgiving Day game: “Yeah, it’s always fun. I always say it’s fun because we’re the first game. The later game, you get to miss Thanksgiving dinner, that wouldn’t be fun. But we’re the first game, so we get to eat later that night and get to play in front of the whole country and while everyone’s with their family, enjoying some time and it’s fun.”
On what it is about their primetime games this season that makes them special: “When the game starts, nothing really feels different. I think the buildup to it is a little exciting, but our guys handle it well. We’ve handled it well all year in the big moments and expect to do that again.”
On if he feels more motivated to get back out and play after having a tough game: “It does help to be able to play so quickly now and be able to hopefully go into the weekend with, obviously a win, but a good taste in your mouth for how you played as well. And so yeah, I’d love to come out this week and play well and get a W and be able to put that one behind me.”
On what he likes to eat on Thanksgiving: “Turkey, standard. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, maybe green beans. I mean, mac and cheese would be good with something. Pretty standard. Nothing abnormal.”
On what kind of pie he likes to eat on Thanksgiving: “Depends, I like pumpkin. I know that’s not very popular. I like pumpkin, I like sweet potato pie as well.” |
