LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET
December 19, 2024
Opening Statement: “Last week, we’re facing a really good opponent and when you’re facing a good offense like they had, the three-and-out to start the first half, the three-and-out to start the second half, the fumble, those little things, they end up costing you in the long run. We couldn’t run the ball very well, worse than I thought that we would do going into that game. I really thought that we would have more success than what we did there. It was a combination of some poor angles, whether schematically or our guys just not taking the proper angle, we had a guy trip, we had a mistarget, so a little bit of everything showed up there with that run game and I would call it uncharacteristic of what we’ve been so far this year. So, certainly a point of emphasis going into this week, was really proud of how the guys finished the game though, because we felt like with the momentum we were going, the situational football that we’d been through, that if we could’ve gotten one more possession, that game would’ve been fun there at the end.”
On the consistent issues that are causing struggles in the run game the last couple of games: “Like I said last week, when you look at that, I think there were only 13 cold runs in that game, and we only had four efficient ones. There were things that were popping, it was less what Buffalo was doing to us, they really didn’t do a whole lot that we didn’t expect on the run plays. It was more self-inflicted and things that we feel like we can take care of each, and every week and we’ll be just fine moving forward. We had some success against this team, Chicago, the last time that we played them, particularly in the first half running the football, and so hopefully we can build on that. They certainly have had some struggles over the last couple of weeks just limiting the number of points, but we know they’re going to come out and they’re going to come out firing. So, it’ll be a good challenge.”
On how the offensive line is playing: “Up and down, it hasn’t been consistent throughout the year. We’ve had glimpses of being a dominant unit and then there are other times, like last week, that we just weren’t ourselves. I will say, in regards to last game, the protection was – for throwing it 59 times – was pretty good. I know (Lions QB) Jared (Goff) had some pressure and he got hit a little bit, but when you drop back and you don’t move the pocket as much as we did in that game, we felt like our guys really answered the bell in that regard. It’s not necessarily always rushing statistics, it’s not always sacks, it’s looking at everybody individually and we’ve had some pretty consistent performances across the board. It’s just collectively, it hasn’t come together for an entire 60 minutes in a while.”
On the trust he has in Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and if anything changes schematically with him taking majority of the reps: “Yeah, it’s why we have the room the way it is and we’ve always felt like the running back room was a strength for us going into the season and it stinks that (Lions RB David Montgomery) Monty is going to be out, but Gibby’s really – he’s ready for this. We’ve seen a lot of growth from him over the last year and a half and I think that he’ll take the bull by the horns and run with it. The guys that are depth players beneath him, (Lions RB) Craig Reynolds, (Lions RB Jermar) Jefferson and (Lions RB Sione) Vaki, those guys will have a great opportunity here to contribute as well. So, hopefully we don’t miss a beat, and I really do believe that Gibby is ready for this.”
On if the rest from practice yesterday will help the offensive line get back on track this week: “Yeah, we had an early bye week and then certainly after the Green Bay game we were able to get our legs back under us a little bit, but it’s a long season and fortunately up front there, we’ve been fairly healthy, so they’ve logged a lot of snaps, they’ve logged a lot of games and we have a number of guys over 30 years old, so I think (Lions Head) Coach (Dan Campbell) is being smart with it and just making sure that we’re staying fresh here for the next three of the regular season going into the postseason as well.”
On how the injuries on the defense change the offensive approach: “Honestly, it doesn’t change our approach at all. Our goal each and every week is to find a way to score one more point than the opponent and so the message to the guys on Wednesday when they came in is how many points did we need to win that game, and it was 49. Have we scored 50 points this year? Twice. So, we’re capable of doing it, but we can’t do it when we have those three-and-outs and the turnovers, it’s just not feasible to get it done that way. So, the defense will bounce back, I know they’ll play well the next three games. It’s not like that performance is going to happen every week, but we as an offense have to do what we can and what we’re capable of to find a way to get more points than them.”
On if Bears QB Caleb Williams has a skillset that a new coach would find appealing: “It’s been difficult to just sit down and study every throw, but plenty of crossover tape over the course of the year and there’s no question that this guy is talented. I remember standing on the sideline last game and you can hear the ball whistle by you. He’s got quite a fast ball and has some creativity to him, can extend plays and is accurate down the field as well. Like I said, I haven’t really dove in and can tell you much more beyond that, but he’s been impressive from afar.”
On what he has learned from his name coming up in head coaching conversations the last couple of years that has prepared him for this year: “Yeah, I’d say I’m much more prepared than I was the last two years. The local media’s been very gracious on me this year by not bringing it up all year long. Last couple of years, getting thrown in the coordinator role, things get on you fast and you don’t really have time to think about the future a whole lot. Now that I’ve been through the ringer a couple of times, had some interviews, I certainly do feel more prepared just from a big picture standpoint. But right now, we’ve got three games left in the regular season, going into the postseason, and honestly this is why I’m here. This is why I wanted to be here. I have an obligation to the people in the building to be right where my feet are and when I walk in and I see the coaches staying long nights and working as hard as they’re doing, and I come in and I see the guys, the players, in the meeting room and on the practice field, attacking each day like they are, it’s hard for my mind to wander much beyond what we’re doing in the here and now.”
On if he wants to be a head coach and what he would be looking for: “Yeah, I’d say this, I think there’s a burning desire in every man to find what he’s made out of, push the limits and see if he’s got what it takes. So, yeah, there’s a fire there. Now, when that time is, I don’t know when that’ll be, but there’s certainly a fire there.”
On if it is meaningful as a coach to have an opportunity for a player like Lions RB Jermar Jefferson that has largely remained on the practice squad for the last three years: “Yeah, absolutely, I think that’s a big reason why you get into this business to start with, is to see growth and guys grow as players, as people, and then eventually get an opportunity to play and that’s what you’ve seen from him. He is a guy that has matured so much from the moment he got in the building, and he’s taken some lumps and been cut and brought back and this, that and the other. He’s really deserving of a chance here this week to show what he’s made out of. He’s almost like a silent assassin, he goes about his business, he’s coming in, he’s working, don’t even hear a peep from him in the unit meetings, but you know when you’re watching him on scout team and how he’s going about his job, he’s taking it very seriously, he’s very professional and I’m looking forward to him getting a chance this week.”
On if he finds it bewildering that the Lions Super Bowl chances have gone down when they still have the number one scoring offense in the League: “I think anything can happen in this League and we knew injuries were going to happen going into the season and we don’t want them to happen, but just like (Lions Head) Coach (Dan Campbell) has been saying all week long, no one’s going to write our story for us. We’ve got a great opportunity in front of us this week to win this game and then we already know that we’re going to be a part of the dance, and all bets are off once we get in there.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET
December 19, 2024
Opening Statement: “Epic battle, but two damn good teams at a crucial part of the season, going to the backend of the season. Two damn good offenses, two good defenses, we came out on the short end of the stick. Enjoyed the battle, hopefully look forward to seeing them again.”
On the emotions that he goes through when a defensive plan is not working in a game: “First off, I don’t know why we would think that the adjustments or – that’s a damn good player, MVP-type player that we went against. One of the best offenses in the League and listen we know that player is going to make some plays. I said that last week and they did a really good job. He threw some balls up and they came down with them. When you go back and watch the film, look at the passing game, the passing game was him moving around and just finding guys open and that’s pretty hard to do as a defense when you have your guys covering for that long against a guy like that. We had him wrapped up a couple of times, didn’t make the tackle, and our guys understand that. So, as you go back and look at it, obviously you want to do some things different, I think that happens on both sides, but again, that’s a pretty good player, pretty good player.”
On if he starts immediately thinking about what he would do differently if he faced the Bills again in the postseason: “No, I go onto the next game. So, right now we’re about to get ready to play the Bears, another good team that has skilled players that we have to be good with. They have a quarterback that’s emerging right now and obviously, like I said about the skill players, we know who those guys are, so we have to do a good job against those guys.”
On what he learned in the second half of the Chicago game on Thanksgiving about Bears QB Caleb Williams: “He’s very resilient. There’s no quit in that player. It’s funny that the narrative that so many people want to put on someone when they really don’t know who they are, that it’s funny to me, and that happens to a lot of these young quarterbacks that’s in this League. They get beat down so much that people really don’t see the things that they go through to be a top player, especially a number one pick. You can go through the years of some of these guys – think of the quarterback that Minnesota has right now. He was beat down so much with the Jets and now he’s having success, and now these so-called guys that think they know what they’re talking about have no idea. Now, when I see the same thing with this player, I’m not saying that his career’s going to end up the same way, but I think that he’s a damn good player. He has a lot of talent, he has talent around him, he’s going to have to continue to learn and grow to understand that. To answer your question, we have to make sure that we corral him, we have to make sure we – our disguises have to be on point with this player, because if he sees it, he’s going to get the ball out and he’s going to find out where he needs to go. So, again, emerging player, I think he’s going to be a damn good player in this League, and we have a test for us.”
On players saying that they were instructed to hit Bears QB Caleb Williams when he was near the sideline: “We hit anybody that’s not – if you’re inbounds, we’re going to hit you.”
On the versatility of the secondary that gives him confidence that they can handle losing Lions CB Carlton Davis III and Lions CB Khalil Dorsey: “That’s something that I’ve been talking about all year, that we have a chance to move people around to make sure that we are in the right positions to make those guys successful. Listen, those things hurt, when you lose players like that, it always hurts. I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s not a frustrating process when those things happen, but as you think about it – the way that I look at it, probably totally different from other people look at it – I’m not frustrated for me personally, I’m frustrated for them because of the season that those guys were having. I always look at it from a player perspective. I was talking to someone this morning, you take (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch for example, I think Hutch has 7.5, almost 8.0 sacks, I think the leader has 12.0 sacks, so just imagine if he was still here what he’d be doing. So that’s where my frustration comes from, from what the players have done and what they could’ve done as the season progressed.”
On how he has approached the narrative that the sky is falling to the team: “We’re 12-and-2. We’re 12-and-2 two the sky is falling? We’re going to the playoffs, we in the tournament. Why in the hell is the sky falling for us? What do we have to sit back and be sad? We leave that up to you guys, we let you guys do that. Our job is to go play football and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. We lost one game, well two games. We lost two games, we have a chance to win out and accomplish everything that we want to accomplish. So why should we sit back and wallow and think that the sky is falling? It’s dumb.”
On the challenge of losing Lions DL Alim McNeill and other defensive players: “Listen, we’ve said this from the beginning, the next guy’s got to come up and play, that’s the reason why they’re here. And I’ve said this also, I’m not going to disrespect any of the players that we have here because they work their ass off just like everybody else, and I hope that you guys don’t do that also because they deserve a chance to go out there and play whenever their time is to go play. Our personnel department does a really good job of finding guys that fit who we are and we’re going to put them on the field and we’re going to play.”
On the process of finding the best defensive rotation: “Well, it all depends on the team that we’re playing against and the matchup that you have, and I think in this League that’s what you want to make sure, that your matchup is in position to where you can get the best of the other team. We’ve been fortunate to have guys like (Lions DB Brian) Branch, like (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph), (Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu) Iffy’s clock has started on how we can utilize him, (Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley) E-man, how we can utilize him. And then we just look at what that team has and what are the matchups that best fit. Even with (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson), do we have a guy that is similar to who he is that we can put him out there on and we’re able to put him on the outside, put him on the inside, same with Branch. People said Branch is playing – Branch still plays nickel for us if you take a look at the film, he’s still going to play in the slot, play man coverage. We just try to utilize that as much as we can and again, our personnel department did a really good job of understanding exactly what we need as a defense so that we can go out there and perform.”
On if Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley can contribute on defense: “Everybody goes out there and practices, we’ll figure out the best guy that’s going to give us a chance to win the game.”
On the potential of the defense with losing players to injury: “I believe that we can be a damn good defense because even though that we lost those guys, we’ve still improved and still did some good things. So that’s how I look at it.”
On if he sees losing injured players as an opportunity to prove that they can still be effective: “Well I think we’ve done that. We’re in Week 16 and I think our stats were a lot better, are better now than what it was early in the season. And that has a lot to do with the players. Our players understand exactly what our play style is. Even the new guys coming in, that’s been the most impressive thing to me is the new guys coming in, they’re saying, ‘Coach, we haven’t seen guys practice like this. We haven’t seen teams, we didn’t practice like this. This is why you guys continue to improve on the things that you need to improve on.’ And I like to hear that, really, because it just gives me – it lets me know how other teams are operating and I think it lets us know as an organization that we’re doing things the right way. But those guys come in and they do a good job for us, so each week we look forward to the challenge of each team that we play, and we look forward to the challenge of we don’t want to take a step down as a defense, and I’m sure that the offense feels the same way.”
On where he has seen improvements in Lions CB Kindle Vildor since last year: “Vildor has always been the type of corner that’s going to go up and challenge regardless of who he’s going against. But now, just understanding in the totality of what we’re doing on defense, that’s where he’s improved. Really zone coverage because we play a lot of man coverage with Vildor. But zone coverage, you really see him improve. The thing is, he’s actually been looking at the nickel spot because of the versatility he has also, so he’s improving that too. So, if we need him to go at the nickel, he can do it at the drop of a hat.”
On if the Bills game was an anomaly in allowing more rushing yards than previous games: “This (Bills RB James) Cook is a pretty good player. We never underestimated him going in at all, but he ran a whole that harder than I thought that he would run, totally different from his brother. I just thought that he came out and he had a damn good game against us. It’s something that we have to look at, but that’s the number one part of our defense. If we’re not letting people run on our defense, and he did a really good job. So, we’re going into this week and make sure that we don’t let that happen.”
On how much rust Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley has after not playing a lot in two years: “It’s tough, you look at the things that he’s been through. He comes in one play, what game was that, Seattle game, he was about to get ready to go and he has the other injury. Then he comes in training camp, and he has another injury. So, not playing in two years, but I’ll tell you, when you go out there and you watch him practice, it doesn’t look like that. So, we’re still evaluating him, he understands it’s a process for him, but I’ll tell you, I look forward to him going out there and playing for us.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
December 19, 2024
On how many different varieties of onside kicks he has ready and how many he takes into each game feeling confident in: “Yeah, throughout the years that number would vary, it’s totally different. The one thing that we do do is any time we practice our onside kick, we also practice the opponent’s onside kick, so we’re working on our hands team, and when we do that, then it gives me a chance to see (Lions K) Jake Bates, for example, kick a lot of different kicks and so, you get a chance to see what you think he does best. To me, what’s best is anything you can repeat over and over again, so if you see him hit a ball and then you see him hit that ball the same way and it goes to the same spot again the next time, and then, over time, if you feel like, ‘Man, that’s a good kick, he can repeat it over and over.’ Then you kind of like that. And that’s really what came down to the second one. The second kick – our plan going into the game was the first kick, and we really didn’t have this volume of, ‘OK, well, kick number two, kick number three.’ I mean, at some point you’ve got to weigh time and energy and effort and all that, but – and then after the way they lined up on the first kick gave us the idea that they were pretty wide out there and we knew he had the second kick that he’s hit a bunch of times for us, and so then we went with the second one. But not much, we don’t have a ton of plays, but enough that we can get through a game and try to get the ball back if we need to.”
On if he liked the way Lions K Jake Bates executed on both of the onside kicks against Buffalo: “Yeah, I obviously hated the result, and at the end of the day what we’re trying to get done is we’re trying to get the ball back, so we came up short on it. But in terms of the kick, I did think that we gave ourselves a chance. I mean, there are a number of things to that, number one is being onside, if you’re offside, you’re in essence just handing the ball to the other team in that situation, so you can’t be that, but you’ve also got to play on the edge, if you don’t, you’re not going to get it. And so, I thought both balls gave us a chance, I mean, all you can really hope for is to get one-on-one with the guy catching the ball right around the time he’s catching it, and if you get that, you’ve done a pretty good job with the kick, I think. And so, I felt like he gave us two great chances on both kicks. Ultimately, we would’ve loved to come down with the ball, obviously we didn’t want the guy to return it that far down the field, and that’s another – I mean, are you trying to get the ball back, are you trying to prevent the return? And it’s hard to do both those things.”
On the philosophy of how they kicked the second onside kick against Buffalo: “Yeah, no, there was – on that one, there was one guy lined up over the ball and then the next-widest guy was out there pretty wide, and it looked to me like they were doing that regardless of kind of the formation we were in. And so, the next kick, we actually moved a couple guys around and we cheated another player, two players down inside towards the middle of the field and they didn’t adjust to that, so we kind of got what we thought we might. And then, really the goal was actually to hit the ball just a tick wider to the left and it would’ve been in more of a dead spot right there, but ultimately, to give us a chance to get there at the same time they were getting there.”
On Lions K Jake Bates having to be careful about not getting injured on the second onside kick against Buffalo: “Yeah, you get nervous about some of those kicks down the middle of the field with the kicker being out there first. I felt much better about it because there’s only one guy and then that guy’s going to try to field the ball, or if he’s not going to field the ball then hopefully we get the ball, so he’s probably going to field the ball, so he’s not really in a position to hit us. And then, I think you see there was another guy coming in from the left and (Lions RB Sione) Vaki knocked that guy off, so I felt pretty good about us not getting a lot of contact on him on that kick. Had they been loaded up with more guys in there, I would’ve been much more nervous about it.”
On not wanting to use the kicker to knock into the receiving team on a play like the second onside kick against Buffalo: “Yeah, probably not.”
On having to declare onside kicks before performing them as opposed to surprise onside kicks: “Yeah, I mean, obviously it’s more beneficial. The numbers say the surprise onside kick was much more recoverable than the obvious onside kick. But whatever, those are the rules now and that’s what we play by.”
On if there is anything unique about Soldier Field and if there is anything they have to prepare for when playing there: “Yeah, obviously for us, going back outdoors. I think I told you guys before, there are some great things about it, there’re some things that aren’t as fun, but it’ll be a cooler day, it sounds like 30 degrees, it sounds like 10 mile-per-hour winds, roughly, it depends on the day you look at it and the time, I guess, but 10-15. It should be pretty good, wind tells you a lot of times, it’s either blowing left-to-right, right-to-left, which – it would suggest that the kickers or punters are going to try to kick with that or punt with that, so when you play indoors you have no idea if they’re going to kick right or left, the wind’s really not helping make that decision for them or us, so that factors into it. Any time it gets real cold, the air gets real dense, and with dense air, both in the ball, cold ball, and also outside, the ball travels not quite as far, so you’re looking at more returnable kick situations, both kickoff, kickoff return, potentially having some opportunities to return the ball or cover kicks there, so that should be different. Punt, ball maybe not going quite as far, stuff like that. But yeah, it’s fun, I enjoy it, I mean, obviously Philly for eight years, I mean, I enjoy playing outside and I think there’re a lot of advantages to it.”
On if he has had a chance to check in with Lions CB Khalil Dorsey and the impact of losing him to injury: “Yeah, I mean, obviously crushed for him. I mean, this guy’s an incredible player for us, obviously. Just watching the film this morning, even a rep of him on punt return holding up one of their gunners, did a great job for us. But he was a great player for us all year long obviously. I’ve told you guys before, I mean, you hate seeing guys get hurt in this game, it’s one of the worst parts about it, but unfortunately, it’s also part of the game. I’ve also told you before, it doesn’t make me feel better that it happened on defense, for all the guys to say, ‘Well, it happened on special teams.’ Well, it can happen on special teams, it can happen on defense, it doesn’t really matter when it happens, ultimately, it’s devastating any time a guy goes down. But the bottom line is, it also creates an opportunity for somebody else to step up, and that last game (Lions S Brandon Joseph) B-Jo went in there and played gunner for us, something he really hasn’t done a whole lot, so I give him a lot of credit for stepping in and going, and he really helped us on the coverage on that play. So, it gives somebody else an opportunity to step up, make a play and go make a name for themselves, which is also a great part of this game, is some guys get chances and when you get a chance, what you make with the opportunity you get, which is really much like life.”
On how valuable it is to get a player back that he is confident in being able to play in his system like Lions LB Anthony Pittman: “Yeah, I mean, it’s great. It’s great knowing that you have a good player who’s obviously played in your system and can go in there and play right away, that’s obviously very comforting. But, for me, personally, honestly, more than anything it’s just seeing the guy’s face in the building and the smile and his energy, I mean, it gives me energy. He’s a great player, he’s a total pro, he’s totally committed to this game, he’s come a long way, we got to see him grow up and develop. When I got here, I think he was on the practice squad the year before but never played in a game, so we got to see him play his first game, play his first snaps, end up making a lot of plays and being a very valuable player for us. And then, to see him come – and I told you guys, he took a chance and he bet on himself, and he wanted to go out there and see if he could end up being a positional player. Washington gave him that opportunity and he went for it, which I totally credit the kid, I love him more for it. So, he took a chance on himself, it didn’t end up working out, and then it ended up working out that we got him back here and he gets to play again for us, so I’m excited for that.”
On if one side of Ford Field plays different for field goals: “Yeah, we look at all that data, we get all the numbers on kicks on the south end, kicks on the north end, whatever it is, for every stadium, and obviously the outdoors ones typically are like that, which you have to be careful with because it is like, well, maybe in the winter the wind blows differently than it does in the beginning of the season, you know what I mean? And there are more misses late in the year because – whatever, a lot of different reasons, but anyway, I think you do have to be careful of it, every game could be different, but at the end of the day, outdoors is typically like that. Indoors for us, they give me the report on the indoor kicks, I mean, it’s like two percent off or whatever one way or the other, but that means it’s really the exact same, whereas in the polling data it’s like within the margin for error.”
