August 27, 2026
Opening Statement: “Last big day here, we’re going to get really good work with a number of guys. There’ll be a lot of these guys that will be playing in this game – won’t get a ton, but they’re going to get some reps today. And then certainly, the Indy game will be big. There are still spots available, jobs available. And really for even a lot of these guys, man, we want to give a lot of exposure to some of these guys to give them the best opportunity to put their best stuff on tape, whether it’s here or for another team, because they’ve earned that. And so, they’re going to get a lot of reps, a lot of snaps, and it’ll be good exposure for them.”
On any updates for Lions S Kerby Joseph and Lions DB Brian Branch: “Yeah, (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I will discuss all that over the next, call it three or four days here. We’re going to start kind of meeting this afternoon after all this and start going through it. And so, I’m not going to be able to give you a definitive answer right now. Both of those guys are doing well right now.”
On if there is a clear picture of when Lions C Cade Mays will be back: “No.”
On if Lions RB Isiah Pacheco will be back for Week 1: “He’s another one, I can’t give you anything definitive. And he is feeling better as of yesterday. I mean, it’s been a little touch and go right now. He’s had a little bit of a back and we’re hoping he’s coming out of this as of yesterday a little bit.”
On if Lions RB Isiah Pacheco’s back injury is in addition to his knee injury: “Uh-huh.”
On if the knee injury that Lions RB Isiah Pacheco sustained is the same knee he injured last season: “I do not know that. That’s a good question, the knee is not the concern.”
On what Lions QB Luke Altmyer has to do in the last preseason game to have a chance of making the roster: “Consistency. He’s – just play good smart football. We don’t need some wild throws, whatever. Be able to run the offense, be efficient, make smart decisions, even if that means that you’re punting the ball. That’ll be the most important thing. We don’t want the wild plays and then there’s an ill-advised throw across the middle for an intercept – those won’t get it done. So just be smart, take what’s there, run the offense and that’ll go a long way. Consistency.”
On the importance of having a veteran quarterback as your backup: “I mean, you would like that because those guys have played, there are real reps. They’ve been under real fire in real football games and that is important. But that’s not the end all be all either if you think there’s somebody to work with here and that he’s shown enough progress and he’s only going to get better, then we don’t close our eyes to that either.”
On any takeaways from this camp: “I mean, I love the competitiveness. We always get after it pretty good, but I think us getting back to it, it’s just Detroit versus Detroit, the no joint practices. I just think we got a lot of good stuff done. We got through full installs, man. We got to hit every situation multiple times. And so, when you’re able to do that, then you can really get pretty advanced with each other and test each other pretty good. Special teams is flying around. I think the competitiveness has been really good, man. And I like the talent that we have. We have got a lot of football players right now on this roster and you can’t help but get better. I was talking to (Lions OL) Tate Ratledge this morning because I think he’s had a really good camp, but you go against (Lions DL) Alim McNeill every day, man, you can’t help but get better. And I think those two working each other and that’s part of it. We talk about (Lions T Penei) Sewell and (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch all the time or Hutch when he goes over to (Lions T) Blake Miller. I mean, you can’t get better competition than that. And you’re getting that every day of the week.”
On how much the starters will play Saturday: “Yeah, I think our guys, they’re all ready to play and we’ll play it by ear and just see, we’ll get a feel of it. I mean, I want our guys to get some reps here and if you’re going to the game, then you’ll be expected to play the whole game if needed.”
On his assessment of the secondary: “I think that’s a little bit like the D-line room. I think it’s a pretty good room of different skillsets, different versatility. We feel like we’ve got some guys that can swing between nickel, safety, corner, there are some candidates there. And the more you feel like you can do with that room, the different – I guess, like I said, skillsets, man, it gives you more options and it helps you gameday because now, OK, this player can play nickel, he can play safety or he can play corner. Well, now we can take one less DB maybe and bring an extra rusher or we can bring another receiver or we can bring whatever we feel like we need that’s going to help us win the game. So those always go a long way, just like the D-line, the more jobs you can do, you play big end, three-technique, nose, you can play the rush end, you’re a DPR and you can do special teams. It could allow us to gain another guy to the game, if you will.”
On if the continuity of the secondary from last year was intentional: “Yeah, I would say that whole group, and they knew it going in, it was a competition. I mean, our eyes were open for everything, corner and safety. And right now, you would say those are the four best. And you brought up safeties first, well, (Lions DB) Avonte (Maddox) and (Lions S) Chuck (Clark) are the most consistent safeties that we’ve got right now. So, I mean, that’s day in, day out and they’ve proven that. They’ve earned that, they’re there. And just like (Lions CB D.J.) Reed and (Lions CB) Rock (Ya-Sin) are our two most consistent corners on the outside, but it’s not like our eyes have not been open. I mean, all of those guys have gotten opportunities to go against good-on-good, the other ones, and that’s kind of where we sit right now.”
On the start of high school football and it being last pure era of football at the amateur level: “Well, I think you just nailed that, it is a little bit of the last – there’s no nonsense. There’s nothing that goes along with it. And it’s just good ole – man, it’s the grass, right? Man, you can smell freshly cut grass. It’s Thursday night, it’s Friday night, it’s Saturday. It’s you and this – probably a lot of kids you grew up with, you guys grew up together. And I know this, we’ve got a couple of coaches that have seniors. They have seniors that are opening up tonight. And man, you never forget your senior year for sure. You don’t forget all of them, but man, wherever you’re at, make the most of it because you’re not guaranteed to be able to get another chance to play and be with those guys that you grew up with and enjoy the game at that level and the wins and the sacrifice and the hard work and the blood and the sweat and the tears. It’s a special time, enjoy it. And you really, if you’re a young guy, man, I’m a freshman, I’m a sophomore, you owe it to the seniors because this may be the last time that – you get one more shot, they don’t. So, give them everything you have got and make it a special year for them because next year is your year and you’re going to want those young guys to help you. So, man, enjoy it. It doesn’t last and you’ll remember it the rest of your life. “
On if the team will continue to not do joint practices in the future: “Oh no, listen, and that’s what somebody asked me yesterday, I want to be careful. This is not a, ‘OK, well I’m done with those.’ This is right for this year. This felt right and I’m glad we did it and it was just what the doctor ordered. It doesn’t mean that we won’t go back to joints next year. I mean, we could. If I find the right partner and it just makes sense, man, well, I’m open to that. I just know right now this is what we needed. This was good.”
On his last high school game: “Yeah. We lost, it wasn’t good. Yeah. We weren’t going to the playoffs, I remember that. But I remember being with that group of guys that I knew and I grew up with and I was with for a long time. And it is, you don’t forget those and they kind of – you just don’t. You just don’t forget and it is a special time. And you’re going to look back and wish, ‘Man, I wish I could do that one more time. I wish I could go back and play that game one more time or play with those guys one more time.’ And no regrets is the point, man. No regrets. Give it all you got.”
On injury updates for Lions EDGE Ahmed Hassanein and Lions EDGE Derrick Moore: “He’s not going to practice today. Moore’s going to be down for a little bit, hopefully next week he’ll be ready to roll.”
