September 21, 2020
Opening Statement: “I know we got a lot to talk about here, but (I) just want to say that really, my thoughts and prayers are with James White. (I’m) just heartbroken to hear of the loss of his dad, and just praying for his mom right now. Obviously just want to make sure (that) we’re sending our thoughts and prayers to him.
“Had our meetings here this morning with the team – got a lot to correct from the game, a lot to go over, a lot to fix. I thought the players did a great job of that here today coming back in – understanding that there’s certain things here that we got to do better, that we have to coach better and play better. Certainly mistakes in the game that we can’t let steamroll into other mistakes and cause bigger problems, and through the course of the game – especially when you play a great team like Green Bay – when those situations come up, we just have to stay consistent. We can’t ride the wave of the game, and we just have to keep working, do our job and go out and play the next play. That’s something we have to get better at. That was a big part of the conversation today – a lot of mistakes, penalties, things that we know hurt our team, we can’t do, especially in critical situations, and like I said, especially against a very dangerous team like Green Bay. A lot to learn from from this game, and obviously going to go out and improve and be better, and certainly with another very difficult team in front of us with Arizona – traveling to Arizona and play a team that’s obviously playing at a high level. That’s where we’re at here today. Taking a look at the game and got to turn the page here. It is the NFL and there’s another game this weekend. We got to get ready for it. So I’ll open it up to questions and go from there.”
On CB Jeff Okudah’s debut performance: “It’s hard to take a look at yesterday’s game and really think that there was anybody that obviously stood out in a positive way from that aspect. I think there’s a lot of plays on the field that we all need to do a better job of, including Jeff. I think he did a good job of playing within the game and certainly there’s some plays out there that we would like him to do better than he did yesterday and improve on. First game – a lot coming at him from different directions and great players out there on the field, so that was positive from that aspect of it, but we have a long way to go.”
On if LB Jarrad Davis’ apparent struggles are instinctual or mental errors: “I wouldn’t say it’s instinctual or mental. He plays extremely fast. He’s a fast, explosive guy – sometimes a little bit too fast, maybe gets ahead of the play a little bit too early, too quick. He can just rely on his athleticism to get him there. But certainly when you play linebacker, there’s things that happen in front of you that kind of make it all come together and all fit. With the run fits specifically, there’s things in there as a linebacker you have to overcompensate for, try to make plays around and those aren’t good situations to be in. I think in general, being consistent up front, especially inside, we’d really settle a lot of that down and that’s what we have to push for this week.”
On the strategy of using the defensive front where no one lines up over center: “We play a lot of different fronts, and certainly there’s different four-man looks, four-down looks. We play five-down, we play six-down, we play four-down. That look in particular – it’s a four-down look, and we’re trying to make sure we have the edges set on the outside stuff. That was a play that did hit inside, and certainly with the structure behind it of the defensive line, there’s overlapping players there, and in the back end all the way to the secondary, there’s really two guys there that can fit on the run and minimize those big plays, so they don’t turn into huge plays like we had to start the second half. It’s really, everyone just has to do their job better up front and then all the way through the board to finish it and make sure that we don’t give up long runs. From that standpoint too, we have to do a good job of getting off blocks and making plays in those situations. We’re stuck on some of the blockers. Give the Packers credit – they did a good job of executing that. Certainly (Aaron) Jones is a dynamic and great runner and capitalized on that situation.”
On what role he expects CB Jeff Okudah to have in the secondary when injured players return: “I think it’s going to be bits and pieces that come back at different times here, so we’ll take it as it goes. We’ll always put whoever we think is going to help us win out on the field. There’s certainly a lot of improving that we have to do in the back end. We take it day-by-day, week-by-week. Competition is something that’s really important to us every single day, and through the course of the week we’ll see what that looks like when we get to it.”
On if he could address the report claiming that he wanted to draft DT Derrick Brown or LB Isaiah Simmons, and Lions Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Bob Quinn wanted CB Jeff Okudah and selected him: “We usually don’t talk about any of that stuff. We like to keep that stuff internal, but since that is so blatantly not even close to true, I would like to just make sure that – that is not a true statement at all.”
On playing S Will Harris more so than DB Tracy Walker: “I think we have a really strong safety room. Obviously we have to play better, so it’s hard to say that after a loss. I think those guys competed all the way through training camp and consistency and everything that we were trying to do in the different packages that we run and things like that, that we felt in those games that Will had certain roles, Tracy had certain roles and we were going to rotate those guys through. If the snaps are off by 10 here or there, that’s going to happen based on some of the packages that are in and how the game goes, but try to keep it as balanced as possible with all of those guys that are in that situation. That’s just where we feel we’re at with it. Certainly for us, competition every single week with that. I think both players have made plays that they need to do a better job on, and they need to execute better. We just try to put whatever package we think will help us win that game out there at those times. Certainly the penalties are a thing that stick out that are an issue that we got to do a better job of. With all that being said, every single week can be different from that standpoint, and those guys have to go out and compete every week.”
On what he saw to make DB Tracy Walker go from a starter to a rotational role: “I don’t think – those would be the tough words – I wouldn’t say anybody says, ‘Nobody wants anybody not to be a full-time starter.’ We just have to go out and compete. Every year is a little bit different from that standpoint. I think the back end, the DB room has changed completely from that aspect of it, and guys work during the course of the offseason to improve on certain things. It’s just about competition. But certainly without an offseason program and shorter training camp, we have a limited snapshot of what that competition looks like. We continually evaluate it as we go through the course of the season and things can change as we go through. For us, and I would say particularly the safety position, I generally like to play a lot of safeties and those guys will be out there in different roles in different capacities. I think from that standpoint, they’re all kind of starters based on whatever package we’re in that particular game or that particular week.”
On if it’s time to reassess the run defense: “Obviously run defense is something that I’ll talk about Day One when we start installing, Day One we start going through everything, and certainly there’s a lot of work that goes into run defense and getting everyone on the same page and trying to get better. We’ve got to do that, and we’ve got to improve. We know that we’ve played some teams that have good run games and have good backs. We have to go out and execute better, got to learn the fundamentals and the technique, and we have to improve. The good thing is there’s enough flex in our defense where we do change the fronts and the looks, and the styles and the techniques based on what we need to do that week to win. Sometimes it may not be noticeable on film, but we are doing things a little bit different. Maybe sometimes we have to go back to just making sure we’re doing the basic things right, and sometimes that’s the case more so than trying to do more or different.”
On if he thinks the team is too predictable defensively: “It’s kind of one of those great questions. I think we have thrown quite a few pressures in there, maybe blitz is a little bit different, and had some good success with that. So we do try to mix that in. I think for all of it is 100 percent, you’re trying to do everything you can to win that particular play certainly we do a lot on defense at times and sometimes we don’t based on the guys who are on the field and how much we think we can handle. It’s always a good conversation based on, ‘OK do you gameplan it up and really try to make it all scheme-based – and understand that there’s guys out there who are first time playing or new positions or new to the team, and risk a mistake versus trying to make sure you just play good fundamental football and start there and build from there going forward.’ It’s a great question, and we’re obviously trying to do all of it because we’re trying to make sure that we go out and compete a lot better than what we did. So from a coaching staff standpoint, we’re working on that. I think in the end though, it is about good fundamentals. I think if you just build things around scheme without fundamentals behind it, at some point everything hurts. Everything – it doesn’t work. Those fundamentals are what you always go back to, especially late in the game if you’re tired, if you’re run down or you’ve been on the field a long time, that muscle memory – those fundamentals are something you rely on as a player. That’s what we have to get better at.”
On if he expects WR Kenny Golladay to practice this week: “I expect us to keep pushing forward and arrow up on that. So we’ll see what it looks like obviously, but I think we’re close. We’ll get him out and get him in some of those situations, and a lot of times it’s how does the body react after we put guys in those situations that we really try to gauge because you certainly don’t want to do something then have it in a weaker state, then go out and have an injury that’s maybe more substantial after.”
On if there’s offensive changes without WR Kenny Golladay on the field: “Definitely I think for us, we have guys we feel can still get vertical and get deep into the coverages of the defense. I think what it definitely does do sometimes (is it) effects how defenses play you maybe in that particular situation and see some different coverages. I think when you have players out on the field that really impact the vertical game of the defense, you might start to see very specific coverages in those situations to try to make sure that they don’t get run by or run through. When those players aren’t on the field, then those coverages tend to go away. But certainly for us, we got a lot of really good skill players out on the field. Just one guy doesn’t make the entire team – everyone else has to go out and execute at a high level. We have full confidence in those guys to do that – maybe in different forms or different positions. We still expect those guys to go out and perform.”
