September 28, 2020 Opening statement: “I hope everybody can hear me OK. Obviously off and running here on a Monday, but like I said yesterday – just really proud of these guys and their efforts yesterday. I thought they tried to compete, and obviously that was a great team we were playing against. I thought our guys did an outstanding job executing, certainly, in some critical situations. We’ll just go right into questions.” On the value of plays where there isn’t a stat to represent them: “There’s a lot of those plays in there that we put in the ‘smart football’ category. Guys being able to finish the plays and the details of the job – I think that’s what really separates some of those big plays and some of the game situation stuff that allows us to be in a different situation that helps us win. Certainly the effort on some of the coverage guys, especially those guys out there running down the punt – I thought that was outstanding, especially the last one we stopped in there deep. Those guys got knocked down, got back up, they finished – just some of the awareness stuff there, I thought that was really outstanding. The end of the game drive and the end of the half drive, great awareness there on the clock and how to utilize that to the best of our ability. I thought that was really good.” On if he could identify a turning point in the fourth quarter where he felt the team was going to win: “I think through the entire course of the game, actually just felt the steady consistency of everyone just taking it play-by-play. Really thought yesterday was the first time in a while that I felt like we haven’t really rode the wave of the game and just – we were going to play one play at a time and play all 60 minutes and get to the end and try to go win. Just felt that was consistent all the way through the game. There were some ebbs and flows in the game, but I thought the group did a great job of staying consistent, so by the time we got to the fourth quarter, I think everyone felt that confidence that, ‘OK, this is going to be right up until the end, and we have to go do a great job of executing all the way through.’” On if there was a rise in intensity before the last drive: “You could feel the energy on the sideline. You could feel actually (inaudible) offense and defense, and really both of them rooting for special teams. You could feel those guys encouraging them out there to just be ready to go and execute and keep pushing each other. I think that was really good. I think that’s needed. I think that’s part of the new 2020 with the way that the stadiums are. Sometimes even on the road trips, even just having hostile fans yell at you, I mean that’s enough to motivate you. But I think it’s kind of getting used to all those different atmospheres. I think the guys know that they’re relying on each other to pick up that energy. I thought they did a really good job of it in the fourth quarter.” On having some fans in the stands on Sunday: “I thought there was really good energy in the stadium. The Cardinals did a good job of implementing different things through the course of the stadium and some of the new things I think the League did allowed some different noise in between plays. So it was cool, kind of felt that it wasn’t so much like a scrimmage where you could hear the other side yelling at you. So that was good.” On why offenses around the League have been scoring efficiently so far this season: “I don’t have anything pinpointed other than the fact I just think offenses are very complex, and there’s a lot of things that they do especially early in the season that are difficult to deal with. I think the explosive plays has been up. I think guys from that standpoint – just great players, great quarterbacks and great skill guys out there. I think defenses just in general take a little bit longer. There’s a lot of communication, there’s a lot of moving parts that have to all work together. Certainly with some of the shortness of what we’ve had to deal with this spring through the training camp, that is a little bit of a process for us. But it doesn’t matter, everyone is in the same boat. Everyone has got to get it going. Defensively we have to continue to try to just get better. I do feel that way just in general with the game. Really kind of feel that way in general every season. I always think that offensively, those guys come out the gate pretty hot, defensively, sometimes it takes a little bit longer.” On if conditioning is a concern with CB Jeff Okudah: “It’s obviously a hot place to play out here and the tempo and all the rest of it play into that. Certainly in his second game, he just has to settle down and keep working on his conditioning to get back out there and be out there when needed. But (I) thought he battled through all that stuff fine.” On his emotions after winning the game: “For me, really honestly, just happy for the players. I mean mostly in the locker room, you could just feel the joy and celebration in there for everybody. These guys work really hard. For me, obviously excited about the win, excited about everybody’s efforts and the way the guys (are going) to work this week. Really, we came back, and we started watching the tape right away. So you just kind of go into correction mode. Again, the Saints don’t really care what happened yesterday. They’re trying to get ready to go win this weekend, so we have to try to match that. I’m just really happy for the players. I think they – general excitement and gratitude towards each other for their efforts that they had on the field – that was awesome.” On if there was a sense of relief after winning: “Again, I don’t ride the roller coaster. I just have to stay consistent. I think it’s hard to lead if you ride the roller coaster. I think it’s hard to exist in this world of competitive football if you ride that roller coaster because I think when you do that, you just hope it stops when you’re at the high point and not the down point. For us, it’s just about being consistent. It’s early in the season. We’re trying to get better. We’re trying to learn, and there’s a lot of places in this game that we have to get better. We’re going to go back to work and try to improve. That’s the bottom line. It’s the NFL. It’s every week. From that standpoint, love to win, love it. It was great; it was awesome. Love it for the guys, but there’s a lot to learn from too. I think if you go into the approach that everything is great, from that standpoint, you’re missing a great opportunity to get better and to learn from what happened yesterday. Certainly in yesterday’s game, we made the play at the end of the game to win, and like I said, I give credit to the players. They’re the ones who did it. But for us as coaches, I think we have to stay consistent of just trying to give these guys every tool we can to help them get better each week.” On if it feels like there is finally a normal football routine: “I think we are. I think we’re trying to get used to everything, the changes and all that I think the guys have done a great job with it. But it’s the beginning part of the year, it takes a little while to get in a rhythm. Really, the only thing that matters is trying to come out and get better this week than what we did last week. No one stays the same in the NFL. You hopefully try to get better each week, certainly our preparation is a big part of that, and we have to prepare harder this week. Just try to build, really that’s what you try to do. You try to build every week. Hopefully this week is better than what it was Week 1, and hopefully the week after that is better than it was last week.” On the Lions being the first defense in 16 years to hold Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald to zero receiving yards: “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Larry Fitzgerald. He’s a Hall of Fame player; he’s an even better person. He’s a tremendous guy. Obviously I just give credit to the players – they’re the ones who are out there playing against him. I think they did a great job, proud of the guys again for their efforts, especially in the fourth quarter. Defensively, offensively, great job in the fourth quarter finishing the game on special teams, outstanding job of helping with the field-position game. So just trying to win.” On if there’s a way to get WR Marvin Hall more involved: “Great play at the end, great catch, and unfortunate that it was called back. I think he does an outstanding job of just when he has those opportunities, going out and making the most of them. I think we’re lucky to have some of the depth that we have at that position. We have a lot of talent and those guys all play. They all have great opportunity. I think there’s a lot of plays out there too that maybe the ball isn’t being thrown his way, but he draws a lot of attention. So I think that’s good too for us. We try to take advantage of that when that happens.” |
