July 29, 2023
Opening Statement: “Just start with – actually with this one, because I’ve been thinking about this. Man, I don’t speak a lot about him, but (Lions Special Assistant to President/CEO and Chairperson) Chris Spielman, man, he does a lot for us and he’s kind of a little bit unseen and not always heard on the outside, but I’ll tell you what, he’s an important confidant and I’m glad he’s here. He’s somebody that kind of – he certainly helps keep me straight and tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. So, I always appreciate that about him. I just wanted to get that off my chest. The practice went well yesterday. First day in pads and I thought they accepted the challenge and for the first day out, I thought it was – we have a ton to work on but it pretty clean and you start to see some of the fundamentals show up with our guys particularly up front, so it was encouraging.”
On if there was a recent interaction with Lions Special Assistant to President/CEO and Chairperson Chris Spielman that made his gratitude top of mind: “No, just – nothing necessarily recently. It’s just I got to thinking about him and I’m like, ‘I don’t give him enough credit,’ and he needs that. He does, not for him because he’s not looking for it, but he just does.”
On Lions WR Antoine Green suffering heat exhaustion at yesterday’s practice: “Yeah, he got a little overheated. He’s not going to go today.”
On if there were any other heat-related complications at yesterday’s practice: “No, he was the only heat-related guy that we had. Everybody else is pretty good. (Lions DB) C.J. (Gardner-Johnson) will be back out there, but it will be limited. We don’t see him taking team reps, but it will be walkthrough and individual.”
On if it will be good to have Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson back: “Yeah, it – of course, just to get back there and get in the flow with the rest of those DBs. Get in the backend with communication and – that’s always going to be important, so it will be good at any capacity to get him back out there.”
On what he has seen from Lions DB Brian Branch so far: “When you turn on the tape and watch him at Bama and watch his career, it’s – look, first of all you’re playing at – I mean that’s as talented of a conference as you’re going to get in college and he was uber productive and it just showed up on tape against very good athletes, and so you just – you have a pretty good feeling as long as the guy is wired right and he can learn and continue to put in the work, that when he gets here, he can probably take off and I feel like that’s a little bit of what we’re seeing out of Branch, man. He’s a football-playing dude and he has a feel for it, he has a knack. In the heat of the moment, he doesn’t panic. I mean we had some one-on-one reps out there that – I mean he’s – we put him outside and he’s covering and doing a pretty good job for a guy that that’s not necessarily where we see him. So, I just, man, I think he’s – there’s no panic in him and he’s a worker. He loves it. He’s not worried about anything else other than getting better so, it’s a good start for him. He still has a long way to go, but it’s a good start.”
On what has seen from Lions CB Steven Gilmore: “Yeah, we like Gilly. We liked his tape too when he was coming out and he has some awareness about him, he has some instincts, he has ball skills, pretty good movement skills. I think for him, it’s going to be – some of it, along with development, is the physical development. He’s not a real big guy. He has to get a little bit of mass on him, get a little bit stronger. I think that will be – that’s kind of going to be part of what, with him, how fast can those things come to really help him, but we see growth out of him. No different than (Lions CB) Starling (Thomas V), those guys. I mean, none of those guys you’ve just mentioned we are disappointed in. We see development. We’re excited about him.”
On the potential he sees with Lions RB David Montgomery and Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield together: “Yeah, I mean it’s early, but I know it’s a good room. I know those guys get along. I know that Gibbs is really – I know he asks Montgomery a lot of questions, in a good way. What do you think about this? What are you seeing? And I know that Montgomery is trying to help him too which is good so there again, the vision with both of those guys was going to be the one-two punch. They both do things. They really excel at kind of different things, and we like that about them. It gives us versatility. So, I – and to that point, I think it’s very much the vision we had before them. That’s kind of what we were hoping out of Jamaal (Williams) and (D’Andre) Swift, and certainly Jamaal fit that mold of what we were asking him to do, and so I think having both of those guys out there is going to be good for us.”
On the impact of fans coming to training camp despite bad weather has on the team: “Yeah, look, I know our players really appreciate it. It gives them just a little extra motivation and I don’t want to say we’re in the dog days yet because we’re not. We’re only in day two of pads, but any little subtle change and a little more energy that’s brought from the fans certainly helps. I think it’s awesome. I think that shows a lot about what our fan base is about and the fact that they have our back, and they want to see it, and they’re excited and so that makes us excited.”
On the fan excitement and fan interactions he experienced this offseason: “Yeah, it’s – listen it’s awesome, and I’ll be honest with you, it makes me a little uncomfortable only because – man, I really appreciate it, but there’s some things that are said – look man, I’m no different than you. I’m really not. I’m just coaching this team, but we do a lot of things very similar, especially me. I’m not real polished with – I would say the fans are more polished than me, but – and so my point is I appreciate that, but you’re not meeting some superstar. I’m not a movie star. I’m not a whatever and at times that came out and I’m not that, so. But it was very good. It was good seeing our fans and the excitement they have for our team. So, it was good. It was humbling, it really was. It’s awesome.”
On his vision for Lions OL Graham Glasgow: “Yeah, I think really what our vision for him to this point is exactly what we thought we were acquiring and what we thought he could be for us, man. He’s a veteran guy that – he’s smart, he handles his business and he’s going to be reliable. He’s gone in there and done a nice job at guard and then man, we just bump him right into center. He’s going to do a little bit of that today when (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow) – we bump Frank out for a play or two, he’s going to bump into center. So, I think just knowing that this guy – and he’s banked a lot of reps. He’s been steady and reliable at multiple jobs and he’s not going to bat an eye, and he’s kind of a guy you don’t have to worry about. You don’t have to worry it’s going to be too big for him or he’s going to mess something up mentally. He’s just going to go in there and handle his business and that’s one of the reasons we acquired him, and I think he’s shown that to this point.”
On how Lions G Jonah Jackson has looked this training camp: “Yeah, I – Jonah – I’ve been pretty fired up and there again, I know we just finished one day of pads, but I told (Lions Offensive Line Coach) Hank (Fraley) the other day, I said, ‘Man, I love where Jonah’s at right now.’ He just – I think he’s picked up where he left off at the end of last season and – because to me, he can get ever better too. I mean I think he has more room to grow, and I think Jonah believes that too, and so I see a guy who’s man, really coming into his own and it means something to him and I see there’s an intensity and urgency about him. So, I’ve been pleased, man. Those guys up front it was – yesterday 9-on-7 and a couple of things showed up. The D-line showed up just with their fundamentals, but man those – that O-line, our first group, it was good to see. Puts a smile on your face. I like that group a lot.”
On if he sees improved agility and quickness along with maintained strength from Lions DL Alim McNeill after his offseason body transformation: “Yeah, well first of all, the thing that Alim’s not talking about is one of the first reasons he did that was for this underwear photoshoot that he had before he got here. He probably won’t admit to that, but it started there and now it’s blended into his play. No, he’s not lost his strength and he has more twitch. He has more twitch. You can see it. He’s getting an edge on rush and he’s just as powerful. He can anchor in there. I think for Alim it’s always going to be – man, it’s good and it’s good to see – and you can see the movement skills, but remember, don’t ever forget who you are and what it starts with, man. He has to be able to anchor in there and hit the blocks. That has to be first and foremost, but man, it’s good. It’s good.”
On Lions CB Will Harris’s commitment and versatility: “I love Will Harris. I do, and – because he is. He’s a pro. He’s a pro. He’s a vet. You don’t have to worry about Will. Will’s going to be where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there. He’s a four-corps guy for us. He’s played safety, he can play nickel, he can play outside corner, and he’s just steady and reliable. He’s dependable, man. He’s always going to be there for you and that’s one of the biggest reasons that help – guys like him help you sleep good at night.” |
