Opening Statement: “There’s really nothing new from yesterday other than Nickell Robey-Coleman. We signed him. He’s probably the – he’s got a lot of luck to him. So, we got him here, but he’ll help us. We will give him the look, and other than that, we’re about where we’re at here. So, I’ll open this up to questions.” On the pass interference no-call in the 2019 NFC Championship game: “Here’s what’s funny is I was with (Jared) Goff the other day, we were talking about some different concepts we were in. He goes, ‘Look at this. Look at this. We ran this against you guys.’ So, he’s pulling up stuff and that leads into their final drive of the championship game and these little things. And it was like – when you see some things, you’re like, ‘What? We weren’t – maybe we weren’t meant to win that. We just weren’t.’ The whole pass interference thing was one thing, but then when I’m going through things with (Jared) Goff, I’m like, ‘Really? Are you kidding me?’ We just weren’t meant to win it, I guess. But all good.” On what CB Nickell Robey-Coleman brings to the defense: “He gives us a little depth and he gives us a veteran presence. He’s just somebody we get to look at. Corn (Elder)’s down with a hammy, and Mike Ford is going to transition a little from nickel going to outside. We’re going to get a pretty good look at him out there, too. So it just – he gives us more flexibility and a guy who’s done it and played it, knows it. That was really kind of the premise behind doing it.” On how much influence Defensive Backs/Pass Game Coordinator Aubrey Pleasant and Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Duce Staley had in signing CB Nickell Robey-Coleman: “Certainly, Aubrey’s got pretty intimate knowledge of who he is and what he’s about and so does (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and (Assistant General Manager) Ray (Agnew) and those guys. They were all with him. So, that certainly helps. I mean, when you know the background of the player and his character, what he’s about, then that’s easy. Then you just want to make sure that physically he still has it, he can do it. We got him out here, worked him out a little bit and he looked good. He’s ready to go.” On LB Jahlani Tavai displaying grit in practice: “Grit is never an issue for that player. He’s got it. That’s not the issue with him one bit. It was a great – look, he popped out two of them. It’s a great lesson. I tell the defense, (Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG harps on it, nobody wants this to happen, but you give up 500 yards of offense, and they’re going up and down the field, but you pop out a couple of balls and it changes the whole game. Even when things don’t look good, and you feel like you’re in dire straits, if you knock out a couple balls, get a couple of turnovers, you’re right there and you’re in it. So, just keep going. Just keep going after the ball, the football. It’s the great equalizer. That was encouraging. He’s been doing a good job though. He’s smart. He works at it. Look, we’re happy to have him. He’s in there competing with the rest of those guys.” On if there is a plan to implement things to get through the dog days of training camp: “We know that there’s always – I can’t put that out there. You put it out there, ‘Hey, Coach knows that it’s coming. So he’s anticipating that we’re going to have a dog day’. You understand that that we’re in it now. I told the team this yesterday morning, ‘You’re in it.’ It’s great when you feel great and you’re running around and you feel fast and the body feels good and my wrist feels good. Then when you hit week three and you’ve had about five padded days that are pretty hard and it is grueling, that’s where you really find out who’s who. You really do. I think our staff and I, we have enough experience on this staff to know that, ‘Hey, we’re looking for it. We’re looking for it.’ We’re highly sensitive to that and we will identify those players and we will push to get what we feel like they need, what they need to continue to grow and develop, not only as players themselves, individuals, but us as a team. We just have to. That’s the only way we’re going to get better.” On the value of WR Kalif Raymond and his positional versatility: “Kalif’s a stud. He embodies everything we’re about. Anybody that has flexibility, versatility, position, flex, smart, on top of the ability that he has, it helps significantly. It helps (Offensive Coordinator Anthony Lynn) A Lynn call the game. It helps us with matchups. He’s able to do a number of things. We put him at Z yesterday. He’s been playing the F. He could be a trinket guy for us, do some different things maybe out of the backfield, but he’s also a returner. He just goes to work every day. Every day he’s nonstop. You look up there and he’s blocking guys in the run game, throwing his body around. He’s competitive as hell. He’s another – I’m glad we got him. Glad we got him. It was a great pickup by (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes).” On the potential he sees with FB Jason Cabinda in the offense: “I’ve been intrigued by Cabinda since the spring. There’s something about him – we knew he was a little raw because he made that transition last year, but there is something to him. I think he’s kind of a hybrid of a hybrid. No. 44 (Kyle Juszcyzk) out in San Francisco, I feel like he’s a little more of a H-back, tight end, flex, whereas Cabinda can do – I do think Cabinda can do some of that stuff. But yet, I think Cabinda can get back there and carry the ball a little bit, too. He’s kind of that hybrid type, more halfback, fullback. ‘OK, you can play H-back if you split him out a little bit.’ He’s somebody that we’re intrigued with. He’s another guy that gives it everything he’s got every day, and he works, and he’s a sponge. I told you guys this, in (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs) Duce (Staley)’s meetings, he’ll ask a question to one of the players and he’s just dying to like – he’s just sitting there and it’s like, ‘OK, you got it. Go ahead. Go ahead, Cabinda.’ He just nails it. He knows the answer. He’s great. He plays special teams for us and he’s all out. He’s another player we’re trying to see how far we can take him. ‘What all can he really do?’ He’s got flexibility and we’ll see all he can do.” On if FB Jason Cabinda had to adjust his body composition to play fullback: “Not really. He was pretty much there. He was pretty much right in that mark. I think I would say we probably wanted him to gain just a little bit more weight. It’s not a real easy thing for him to do. He’s not a light guy, but he’s not naturally heavy either. He got his weight up just a tick. I think that also comes with – you think one way of him, ‘Just get his weight up a little bit. Maybe he’s more of a fullback, tight end.’ Then you realize just as you see him move, what he does, maybe he’s more of a fullback, a halfback-type player that has a little flexibility to do some H-back stuff. That’s kind of how we think of him, which is good. That’s a good thing. You’d love to have both, On what he’s looking for in players who are considered on the bubble of the roster: “Grit is number one. It’s always been from day one. It’s grit.” On how he defines grit: “You’re resilient. You’re tough. You’re hard-nosed. You’re a guy that your body demeanor never changes by what happens to you. You’re dependable. You’re accountable. It’s everything that you would want in somebody if you said, ‘I need one guy to do a job for me. You’re the guy that I’m choosing because I trust you. I know exactly who you’re going to be every day. You’re not up and down. You’re the same guy every day. I know what you are.’ Even if that maybe is not quite at the very tip top, I’d rather have that, that I know what I’m going to get every day than the guy that’s like, ‘Wow, what a flash player.’ Then the next day, he’s down in the dumps, we don’t know what he’s doing. Something hurts, It’s not worth it. That would be number one. Now certainly, you’ve got to have talent on this team and not everybody is going to be perfect, but you’ve got to have some mental resiliency, some mental fortitude to play for us and the Detroit Lions, you just do.” On if there are players on the roster who have grit: “I think we’re fortunate because I do believe we have some talented players on this team that have plenty of grit. That’s a good thing. I think there was a number – I’ve said this when I walked in – there were a number of guys that were here. I think (Former Detroit Lions Head Coach Matt) Patricia and (Former Detroit Lions General Manager Bob) Quinn did a great job of – there are no turds here. There are no bad guys. These guys work, now. We don’t have guys, ‘I’m lazy, blah, blah, blah.’ We don’t really have those guys. That’s a good thing. That’s not always the case when you walk in and it hasn’t been a successful program. That’s not the – these guys are – these guys work and they are, they’re pretty tough-minded. It’s just a matter of, ‘Hey, this is how you’ve got to win. This is what it takes to win. This is what it takes to be a winner. This is what it looks like. This is how you walk through.’ That’s all it is. It’s just a matter of sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s all.” On the injury status of RB Jermar Jefferson: “He’s got an ankle. He kind of got his ankle yesterday. He’ll be out of practice today, but we do not think it’s serious. Does it look like a high ankle? It’s low. I think he’ll be good. He’ll be out today for sure.” |
