August 3, 2025
Opening Statement: “Nothing new to speak of here. Getting ready, week two, we’ll get three really good practices here and then get ready for Atlanta. This’ll be a big week for us, but ready to roll.”
On Lions T Dan Skipper’s injury: “He’ll probably be down for about a week, got his ankle a little bit. Shouldn’t be long term, but he’s going to need to lay off of it for a little bit here.”
On Lions T Taylor Decker’s timeline to return: “He will be out there individual, group. Don’t see him doing any team right now, but he’ll be back out moving around which is good.”
On Lions S Ian Kennelly’s progress and production on special teams: “That was because he was coming off of injury, and we really didn’t even know if he would be able to play in that game. It was kind of last minute. (Lions Director of Player Health and Performance Brett Fischer) Fisch and them took him through a number of things and felt like, ‘Hey, he can go.’ Doing pretty good, the kid felt good. So we let him go a little bit on defense but held back on special teams. Yeah, he did a few things. It was a good outing, especially for his first game. He did miss some practice time, so we’ll see what this. Certainly, he’s going to get more reps this week. He’s going to get special teams and just see where he can go with it.”
On how Lions CB Rock Ya-Sin fits in the with the team: “Yeah, I like Rock. We all like Rock. His work ethic, man. He’s pretty tough, he’s physical, he’s headsy, and he’s versatile. There’s a number of things he can do. We’d like to start working him at some safety, too. He drew a rough matchup in this game on special teams on some stuff. That was just kind of the nature, the way that game was set up on teams. You can’t really do what you’d normally do in a game – you just put a guy. But the defense, the few reps he was in there, man, he showed up on the perimeter. I just like this guy. He just can do a lot. He’s the same guy everyday and just goes to work.”
On what he thinks about Lions OL Giovanni Manu’s performance and where he thinks he is at in his development: “Better. It was better. That’s the best way to say it. The beginning of camp has been probably more downs than ups, and then the game was more encouraging. And actually, I will say this, I thought his last practice before this game was better. I do feel an uptick here, and now you just have to build off of that. Always going to be things to work on, but it was better.”
On what Lions Tight Ends Coach Tyler Roehl brings to the coaching staff: “I mean, everything he does is very intentional. He’s a guy that wants to make sure that he’s detailed, he’s thorough, he’s intense. He’s got intensity. He just brings a certain attitude and urgency really to the position that I think is good for those guys. He’s involved in a number of things that we’re doing offensively. Run game protections, certainly the pass game – when you’re coaching that position, you have to know all of it. He’s a good asset, and he’s – I bring this up all the time – he’s different than the rest of those guys. He’s different than (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers) Scottie (Montgomery), he’s different than (Lions Offensive Coordinator) John Morton, he’s different than (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Hank (Fraley), and that’s a good thing. He just brings a little bit different type of personality to us, which is good.”
On what he likes about Lions DB Avonte Maddox at the safety position: “Well, he’s another guy – vet, man. He’s a vet, he’s a pro. He’s been there, he understands how to play. He’s a smart football player, very aware. He’s aware of his own, ‘Alright, this is where I’ve got to check myself and make sure that I can do this.’ Or, ‘I’ve got to get to this spot a little bit quicker because of my size.’ Whatever it is, he just knows his own deficiency and time can make up for those because he plays one step ahead. He’s another guy, he can do a lot of jobs. He’s got a lot of versatility. We know he can play the nickel, but we’re asking him to do some safety, special teams if we get in a pinch. He’s just a good guy to have, because you never know. He can kind of cover you in a number of areas, he can go out and play corner if you have to have him out there, too.”
On what he did not get to see in the Hall of Fame game and how joint practices can help fabricate in-game scenarios: “I’d like to see more first downs on offense, but I guess you can’t really fabricate those either in a joint. If anything, you’d like to have felt like you got down in the red zone a little bit more offensively and gotten some of those reps. The good news, I mean, defensively I felt like we got a little bit of everything. Probably minus a good two-minute drive. Everything else, we pretty much saw defensively. Offensively, you like to see – just to get down there in that red zone a little bit more. And that requires not turning the ball over, as we know, converting on first downs, but that would be the big thing. Whereas joint practices, you know you’re going to get those. You’re going to get plenty of your base reps, red zones, third downs, all of those. So probably that.”
On Lions CB Terrion Arnold’s injury status: “He’ll be down for a little bit. It’s not a major hamstring. This is a low-grade, but we’re trying to be smart with it. We’re hoping to have him back – what is today, Sunday, right? We’re hoping to have him back by the middle of the week.”
On what they can get out of changing up practice times: “It’s a little bit of all that. We do this once a year, we do this night practice. I just know, I always liked it as a player, it was a good changeup. It just kind of breaks the monotony of camp a little bit. And then it’s, as to what our schedule has been over the last two to three years, you don’t know when you’re playing. You’re playing in the afternoon, you’re playing at night, you’re playing five days away, four days away, six days, seven across. So, it’s just how do we mix up things a little bit and get them used to a little bit of the chaos in a good way.”
On if they will mix up the starting quarterbacks in the preseason games: “Yes, I see (Lions QB Hendon) Hooker starting this first half versus Atlanta, and then (Lions QB) Kyle (Allen) will take the back half.”
On how both backup quarterbacks feel after the Hall of Fame Game: “I can tell both of those guys are – it goes without saying, they’re frustrated with the way that went, and they both want to improve and get better, and they will.”
On how much flexibility they have to attack defenses with both Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and Lions RB David Montgomery: “I think you’re getting another athlete. Speed and space, things of that nature. That’s one of the areas that you really can – you feel like maybe you can find an advantage there. I don’t think you can live in those packages, but I do think they’re a good changeup to have at times. And then to answer that question, really, it’s about how far can – for example, Gibbs, if you’re going to do that, and you want to do a lot more of it, how much can he really expand the route tree, concepts, scheme, all of that. Physically, he can do a lot of things, it’s just about being about able to invest enough time to get all that stuff done with him. Because he’s still got to get in the backfield, still got to get protections. The route side of the backfield now, we go outside, which we’re working on. So, it’s just kind of a balancing act with that. But there is a way to use it certainly when you’ve got the two horses we’ve got.”
On the different packages they can use with Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and Lions RB David Montgomery: “Those things, there is a place for it. And really, there’s nothing new about Pony 21, I mean that’s what we call it. It’s been around for a while. Green Bay uses the heck out of it, they always have. (Packers Head Coach Matt) LaFleur’s big into that stuff, and it is good. There is a good place for it. I think it’s, ‘What are you going to get? What kind of matchup are you going to get? Are they giving you base defense or are they giving you nickel defense? If so, what are you going to do out of that? What do you hang your hat on?’ So, there’s a place for it, it’s just about finding the right balance of how much you use it, what are you going to do with it? How much are you going to put on Gibbs, but also what about David? Out of that package, what’s good for him, too? That’s why he’s out there, too. We’re working through all of that, it’ll be good. It’s pretty exciting, though.”
On Lions TE Kenny Yeboah’s injury status: “He’s good, he’s actually – he should be good. He’s got a personal, he’s dealing with a personal, in a good way. He’ll be back tonight. He won’t practice today.”
