| November 4, 2020 Opening Statement: “Good morning. Obviously, really big game for us here this week with Minnesota, and we’re at work here today trying to do everything possible to get ready to go. Obviously coming off a big win up in Green Bay – I think we know Minnesota, obviously (Head) Coach (Mike) Zimmer does a great job of coaching that team. They have really good players on both sides of the ball, and I think they do a great job on special teams. We know we’re going to go up in a difficult place to play, and we have to go play well. So we’re just in the middle of that process getting ready to go. So we’ll probably just go right to questions.” On the COVID-19 protocols the Lions have in place: “I’m not really going to comment on anyone’s individual situation, but I will say – just to answer your question as far as the building – we’re always in communication with the League and the protocols that come out and what we can always modify. We’ve actually modified the building, probably two or three times already, again, we always do it on our own to ensure the health and safety of our team, and to try to keep everybody as safe as possible in the building. We’re kind of always going to whatever level we think we need to to accommodate where we are, (and) just I would say, where the communities are. That’s the biggest thing for us, is what’s happening in the (community), and we understand that as those numbers increase, we’ll have the opportunities or the situations for us, we have to be more careful in what we do inside the building. From that standpoint, we’re always trying to improve. We’re always trying to adjust the facility to make sure that everyone can work safely.” On why the facility didn’t close when a player was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and if that’s a risk going forward: “Again, I would say for us – we’ve always been in constant contact with the NFL, but there’s no need to us to shut down the facility. There’s no need for any of that, as far as our situation. I can’t speak to the future. I think that right now, everybody across the country, especially in Michigan right now, and the cases going up, really no one knows what the next day is going to look like. We just have to do the best we can to stay safe today.” On why the Lions didn’t close their facility where other teams have when placing a player on the Reserve/COVID-19 list: “I can’t really comment on other buildings. I’m not really sure what their individual situations were, but I would say that (we’re) just trying to do everything possible for our situation. There was not a question as far as that’s concerned.” On if this was the first time this season a player or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19: “Again, ‘JD’ (Jarrad Davis) is the first guy we reported. Again, I don’t comment on anybody’s – any of the situations. We just report it as we’re supposed to.” On what a typical Monday looks like from a player scheduling standpoint: “We definitely have taken a look at – I think Monday in general in the NFL is different than what it’s been for before, and certainly, the protocols that came out originally as far as what our requirements were on Monday, they changed, I would say, before the season started. But there was a lot of conversation back and forth as far as what to do. So, we basically went with a program that we felt was the safest for post-game for us in those situations for Monday and Tuesday to try to just limit the amount of contact that everybody had with each other until we kind of got back on the testing rhythm. If you remember, they actually changed the protocols to also test us on Sunday, which gave us a whole other level of information as we headed into Monday. So, we just try to use all of that that the League has put out there for us, and then they’ve given us great guidelines, and I would say, that what we try to do is maybe stay one step ahead of those guidelines as far as just on the precautionary level in case something is to happen. Again, I would say with the unfortunate cases in Michigan alone, just the increase there, we’re trying to do everything we can to keep this building safe. But we do know that it’s hard. It’s hard right now. We’re in the middle of a pandemic.” On if the whole team comes in on Mondays and if they’re in at different times: “That changes. I’m not going to get into specifics about what exactly we do on Monday. But we definitely are in different types of protocols to help us.” On how many players are out of practice for close contact to LB Jarrad Davis: “I’m not going to comment on any of the COVID-19 stuff as far as that, but nobody would not be able to practice because of ‘JD.’” On the timeline of what happens after LB Jarrad Davis gets placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list: “With all of our situations and our players, no matter what the case may be, we’ll always just have great discussion and dialogue. We’ll go look at the contact tracing, we have an interview process that we go through. We kind of just completely make sure that we understand the situation that we’re talking about, whatever that is, and then we run everything through the League, and we have great conversations with them as far as what are the risk factors and what does that look like, and then from there we go forward with what we think’s best for the team. A lot of times in the situations, it might be something that we try to just do extra, just because. Because you really just don’t know. I don’t think anybody really knows anything about this virus to the exact timing of any of it, so from that standpoint, we’re always just trying to stay in front of everything as best we can, even knowing that no one really has great answers on it.” On how addresses a COVID-19 case with the team: “I think we’re just trying to be open and honest with all of our communication all the way across the board, and just let them know the exact situations that we’re dealing with from that standpoint, and knowing that some protocols are just protocols to keep everybody extra safe, and that’s what we do.” On if DE Everson Griffen will practice today and can help the team against Minnesota: “Everson will be at practice today, and obviously with Everson and (Jayron) Kearse, we’ve got a couple of guys who are familiar with their team. But it’s like everything – the teams change, things change. But certainly, we know those guys will be excited to go back to Minnesota.” |
