| October 27, 2022 On if he sees a common theme with the offensive struggles beyond just the turnovers: “Yeah, I mean the turnovers were the biggest story of the game for us offensively last week. I know in the first half we obviously didn’t score a touchdown that we were hoping to get done. And then, second half we had an opportunity to do that and didn’t pull through. But no, I think it really comes down to formulating our game plan and executing it at the end of the day. We haven’t changed our process, we haven’t changed our week of preparation. We have been consistent with that, and so just because we’ve had some stumbling blocks along the way, we’re really not going to change what we do per se in terms of getting ready for the game. So, it’s business as usual for us and we’re keying in on the areas that we’ve fallen short over the last few weeks. Ball security obviously is a big part of that. We’ve already touched on third downs, need to get better, short-yardage needs to get better. And then, we’ve got to get it down in the redzone. We’ve been a good redzone team when we do get it down there, but we’ve got to continue to get that done.” On how much of the personnel changes dictated the team’s decision to try to run out the clock at the end of the first half against the Cowboys: “I believe that drive started on the minus-5. I think that had something to do with it just where we were. I don’t want to speak for (Lions Head) Coach (Dan Campbell), but there’s a time that momentum plays a factor as well. We hadn’t exactly moved the ball up and down the field that game. And so, I think when we got the ball with that amount of time, I know we got the timeouts. If we would’ve popped one of those runs and made it a little bit more favorable field position I’m sure we would’ve become a lot more aggressive quickly. And we came very close. We came very close to do that. They were in pass-rush mode, I mean heck I think they had (Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence) 90, their defensive end in as a three technique, and so we were trying to take advantage of that while still being smart and not allowing them to get the ball back. But we were ready to flip over to aggressive mode if the situation presented itself.” On if the offensive struggles are due to opponents figuring out what they do after the first four weeks of the season: “Yeah, I think every unit, offense, defense, I think every unit has tendencies that they develop. We take a lot of pride in self-scouting ourselves and taking a look at what the defense is doing and potentially looking to exploit on us and what they’re practicing. So, we mix it up. I think it would be difficult to say that any defense we’ve faced so far has actually practiced a play that we ran in the game. Certainly, not identical to how we’ve ran it in the game. We have a lot of variety, we’re very multiple, that’s at our core and we want to continue doing that. So, I don’t believe – I don’t believe that defenses are being able to catch up to us. But for us offensively it comes down to execution.” On being more conservative in the game against the Cowboys: “Yeah, it – selfishly I want to – I’d love to score 50 points every game, but that’s not always the best way to win a football game. And so, a few weeks ago we talked about – (Lions) Head Coach (Dan Campbell) having the vision for how the game’s going to be played. And so, we all play a part, all the coordinators, all the coaches, all the players, we all play a part to bring that vision to life. And so, sure last week might have been a little bit more run-orientated and we were in it until the turnovers started happening.” On how he helps Lions QB Jared Goff get out of bad habits: “Yeah, it’s a – that’s a good question because right now, I know there’s a lot of talk about that going on. And he’s been very candid I think about that as well. Here’s what I would say is the only way to fix any issue is recognizing that there is a problem and he’s done that. He acknowledges the fact that he’s turned the ball over too many times. He acknowledges the fact that his pocket presence can be better. So, once that happens now we can work on finding solutions and it starts with practice. Putting him in situations that are tough, challenging looks, so that his reaction on gameday is what we need it to be. And so, we’re starting there this week and as we have really every week. But once again, these things pop up, these problems pop up all over the place over the course of the season and it’s just how quickly can we fix them and improve them. Not just with Jared, but for the offense as a whole.” On if there is a reason why the offense has not been consistently using play-action: “Probably situation a little bit. I think when you look at – I would imagine the fourth quarter of some of these games we’ve gotten away from the play-action game to a degree. But as you guys know we take – our starting point is the run game and because of that on first and second down the play-action game plays a major role for what we’re trying to do.” On if there is a danger of using play-action too much: “If the play-action game’s not good, then running the ball generally is. So, I think they complement each other.” On the impact of Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and Lions RB D’Andre Swift to the team: “Oh yeah, they’re issues for defensive coordinators, so the quicker we can get both of those guys to full health, the better off we’re going to be, and we’ll get back to where we started this season for sure because both of those guys, you get the ball in their hands and they’re dynamite, so we’ll use all the guys that are available as we’ve been doing, and continue to highlight what they do best.” On if he sees a difference in how the opponent game plans when Lions RB D’Andre Swift is available compared to when he is not: “Haven’t noticed so far yet – within six games, haven’t noticed just, we had him for the first two and then really haven’t had him since then, so it’s been first two or three, right? And then, yeah. But no, I haven’t seen that yet, be interesting to see when he does come back how that plays out.” On the lack of downfield pass attempts and if it is because of personnel issues or week-to-week gameplans: “Yeah, I think the explosiveness is a big point that you’re making. First half last game, we didn’t have any explosives by our standards, and that’s not for lack for trying. We had a plan of attack to generate them, and we didn’t quite get it done, but I don’t know that necessarily the 50-yard bombs are the most consistent way to generate explosives, but I think we all saw in training camp what our quarterback and our receiver corps’ capable of in terms of throwing the ball down the field, so it’s just a matter of time. We’ve got to continue to rep it, continue to practice it with the guys that we have available, and I think it’s a matter of time before we start connecting on some of those.” On the lack of downfield passes: “I mean, just because the ball doesn’t travel down the field doesn’t mean we’re not trying to get it to go down the field. Yeah, we’re selective in when we try to dial up some of those plays, some weeks more than others. But yeah, I think it is important to challenge teams down the field. There’s no doubt about it because you’ll see a number of teams in this League, they’ll play a single-high safety, and once the single-high safety starts getting involved in the run game, that’s when you know, ‘Holy cow, they’re not respecting us at all.’ We’ve got to avoid that.” On the balance between not wanting to challenge an opposing team’s top corner like Dolphins CB Xavien Howard and trying to get the wide receiver involved: “It’s part of the gameplan process is receivers, the quarterback, they know we study man-coverage. What are the defenders strong at? What are their weaknesses? How can we attack them? So, we’re very aware. We may have one-way plays in in a gameplan if we know it’s a right corner versus a left corner, to attack that particular player. So, yeah, we’re very aware of what guys do well, what they don’t do well. Doesn’t mean we’re necessarily scared off of anybody or have been this year, but we try to generate ways to attack them.” On what he sees from the Dolphins’ run defense: “Extremely well-coached. Fundamentally sound. I think upfront this might be the most stout run defense we’ve faced all season. They’re big guys – they play more base defense than what we’ve seen. A lot of teams have played nickel primarily, but they like to play base defense, and their big guys have shown so far this year to be difficult to move. They play with good pad level. They shed blocks. They’re around the ball. Last week, we saw a penetrating front, this front is less so. They’re more read and react, but they are excellent at the jobs that they’re asked to do. So run game-wise, we’ve got our work cut out for us, and then in the pass game, shoot, this guy calls every coverage. (Dolphins Defensive Coordinator Josh) Coach Boyer does a phenomenal job mixing it up, makes it very uncomfortable for the opposite play caller or quarterback to develop a rhythm, so we’ve got to have a great, sound plan at the end of the day with the number of defenses he has ready.” On Lions RB Jamaal Williams’ reaction to fumbling the ball and how it affected him: “Yeah, I know it’s – he’s been one of the most steady and consistent guys that we’ve had on offense, most dependable. So, it was a surprise to see not one turnover, but then we had another one on the ground earlier in the game too. He takes a lot of pride of taking care of that football, and so that’s something that he’s looking at, and he’ll get fixed this week, but I don’t think it affected his play before or after those plays.” LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET October 27, 2022 Opening Statement: “Obviously disappointed that we didn’t get the win this past week, but a number of positives came out of this game. When you look at our young players that stepped up, just the overall effort of the defense, the overall looking to make plays, looking to right the ship for the most part, and trending in the right direction for the last two games. Again, there’s no moral victories for us as coaches and as players, but we are excited with the go-forward of a lot of our guys.” On the biggest reason the defense has been playing better the past two weeks: “I would say this, and this is win or lose, and sometimes this word can be overblown because of how people utilize it, but this game is always about adjusting. Doesn’t matter what situation that you’re in. There are some adjustments that we have made, plus I think the players have been challenged. They understand that. We as coaches, we’ve been challenged. We understand that. And every week we go out, we’ve got to put our best foot forward. So listen, we have a good group of guys, and listen, they go out and they want to win every game, and early in the season, things weren’t happening the way the way we want to happen, but like I said this last two games, the guys have been really put – showing what they can do, and we’ve got to continue to improve in those situations.” On why he made the changes he did to the defense this offseason and this season: “Here are some of the things that we want to make sure we get, just from an offseason study. Defensively, you want to make sure you create TFLs in early-down situations. And the way you do that for the most part is you’ve got to have some D-line movement, some attack situations. And actually, that happened, when you look at us in totality. But man, I will tell you this, this game is all about knocking people back, setting edges, building a wall, and everybody else converging to the ball. And at the end of the day, that’s who we are as a defense, that’s who I am as a coordinator. Even though you try to adjust and try to do some of these different things, and when they do work, you’ve always got to get back to the roots of who you are, and those are some of the things that we’ve done over the past couple weeks.” On how similar the defensive scheme is now this season compared to last season: “I can’t say that, because there’s some positives in some of the things that we did do. Again, we had a number of TFLs early in the season, and then we had some unfortunate things happen as far as our coverage and all that, just individual players, and we’ve talked about that before. So, I will say, as far as a go-forward, just some of the things that we’re doing, is it similar to last year? Somewhat, but also just some new things that we’re doing, because we have new players, and putting those guys in position to be successful, like with (Lions DL Josh) Paschal. There are certain things that we want to do with him that we couldn’t do with some of our bigs last year, so. And we’ve got to continue to look at that. We’ve got to continue to – what are we going to do with (Lions DL) Aidan (Hutchinson)? What are we doing to do with (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone)? What are we doing to do with (Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez) Rodrigo. Put all of those and try to put those guys in the right spots.” On why Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson is having more success in a two-point stance rather than a three-point stance: “You know what? When you watch Aidan in college, he played a number of positions to be honest with you. He was inside, which we’ve put him in certain times to play inside. He was on the edge. He was down the three-point, and he was also in a two-point. And just me having a conversation with him, just during the bye week and me just being here during the bye week. Man, as a coach, the one thing you have to do, is listen to the player, and that’s something that I try to pride myself in in doing that. And Aidan would never just say what he wants to do, but he said, ‘Coach, I think I can be pretty successful doing these things.’ And I’m like, ‘Listen, I get it. I’ve been there before. Let’s have these conversations to figure out what we can do to help you.’ So, the one thing it allows him to do is play with more vision. You look at some guys, tey never want to stand up. They always want to be in the three-point. And that’s OK if that helps them. So, as I continue to have these conversations with our players and continue to figure out what they do best to them, and then what I see how they operate and what they do best, we’re going to continue to do those things, and again, I can credit that to some of the changes that happened on defense.” On how the vision of the defense helps Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson improve as a player: “Well, there has to be an overall vision of the defense, and each player knows that we can’t just change one thing for you and just let you go out there and do whatever. It has to fit into what we’re doing. Even with some of the coverage stuff that we’re doing. I mean we’re able to let (Lions CB) Amani (Oruwariye) play more visual, something that he’s really, really good at, and you have to make sure you tweak it, but tweak it in a right way to where it doesn’t affect the whole defense, so – then allow (Lions CB) Jeff (Okudah) to be in more man situations, what he’s really good at. So, there’s not too many defenses you can have zone and man, but there are some. There are some, and you have to make sure that everybody’s on the same page when you do things like that. So, when we talk about the overall vision, just coming out of the bye week, I mean, those are things that takes time, and that’s why I said I was here most of the time, and – but it was good. It was good to get those guys in those situations.” On how standing up in a two-point stance helps Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson improve his vision and allows him to be more disruptive: “Able to see the quarterback, able to see certain run plays, and I will say this about this player, he’s a very instinctive player, and listen, sometimes, guys just – they feel it. And when they feel it, man, go make the play. And that’s who he is, and we give him that freedom to do that, and that showed up. I mean one of the rushes that he had, he made the spin move when he should have been containing, but he spun – actually made sure he got outside and still made a play on the quarterback, and he did it again against the run. So, he knows what his job is. But you just have to make sure that when you go make these plays, you better finish them, because I’m going to be pissed if you don’t.” On if he sees Lions CB Jeff Okudah’s confidence rising: “Well, first off, I never want a corner to have 15 tackles. That’s just me, but he is a physical player, and when you have his mindset, those things can happen. But, I’ll tell you what, that player did, he showed up, and he’s tough as nails. He loves the one-on-one matchup. Is he always going to win them? No, I mean that’s just the life of a corner, but he’s trending in the right direction for us, and each week, you just see his confidence just getting – just growing higher and higher, and we have to keep him that way. We have to make sure we do the things that allows him to be in that zone that he’s in, so he continues to move forward for us.” On how he plans against a quarterback that likes to get the ball out quickly like Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa throwing to two explosive receivers like Dolphins WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle: “First thing is don’t let the ball go over our head. I mean, knowing those two receivers, I think they’re both 4.2 runners or what not, so that’s the first thing. The second thing is the catch-and-run that creates explosive plays for those guys. We have to be able to rally and create population to the ball. We have to tackle really, really well, something that I do think we’ve improved on also. Some of the coverage changed that we’re doing on defense is going to allow us to do that. I’m not going to tell you what they are, so don’t ask, but it’s going to allow us to do that. And then also, this running back (Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert), who we’ve went against before, he’s a pretty good player. He has a lot of speed, so I think (Dolphins Head Coach) Mike McDaniel does a good job of utilizing the guys that he has.” On using his experience as a player guarding the fastest wide receiver to teach Lions CB Jeff Okudah and Lions CB Amani Oruwariye: “Well, there’s a couple of things you can do. First off, back up. That’s just the truth, and secondly, get your hands on them. Don’t let them utilize what they have. You always want to put yourself in an advantageous situation, and our guys are bigger, lengthier guys, so that’s something that we’re going to get a chance to do on those guys, be able to get our hands on them, just disrupt them. The one thing that you can’t do, just allow receivers into the teeth of your defense, and when you do that, usually bad things happen. So the more that we can disrupt these guys, and I’m not just talking about our corners, just any of our interior defenders in the pass game, to get our hands on those guys. And that’s something that I’ve learned way back in the day, when I would – (Patriots Head) Coach (Bill) Belichick. Man, you cannot let guys into the teeth of our defense. As much as you can disrupt them, the better pass defense you can have, so that’s something that we’ll try to do.” On what he sees from Lions S Kerby Joseph: “I will say this, it has showed up the past couple of weeks is him getting his hands on the ball. Now, he hasn’t caught them, which he did a good job in college of doing that, and I’ll tell you what, it’s going to break through for that player at some point. And when he gets one, it’s going to be like a domino effect, and I can guarantee it’s going to be a couple of them getting behind that. So he just has to break through, but the thing that he’s doing a really good job of also is tackling. I mean you’ve saw the caused fumble that he had. He’s a more physical player than we saw in college. That’s what we need of our safeties, and he’s just starting to understand the game of football. It’s totally different than it is in college, so it took him some time, and it’s still going to take him some time to totally just grasp how the NFL operates. But I’m pleased, very pleased with that player.” LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET October 27, 2022 On Lions K Michael Badgley’s performance on Sunday against the Cowboys: “Well, here’s what I know, the truth is usually somewhere in between in most things. Never too high, never too low. It’s not quite what people want. Everyone loves the extremes, terrible, great, but the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. But anyway, he did a nice job in the game. Obviously, happy with what he did. We got a chance to kick a couple of field goals. I know one of them was above 50, which we can’t kick. But, not saying – no, you didn’t say that, you just said we had a guy on the roster who couldn’t kick a 50-yarder. But no, all fun for real, I mean the – but yeah he did a good job in the game with the kicks and that’s been good and we obviously need to continue that trend going forward for sure. I would say there’s a lot left, I mean listen, let’s not jump on the bandwagon too early one way or the other. We’ll just continue to keep working hard and trying to improve and see where it goes from there.” On what he likes about Lions K Michael Badgley since he has been on the team: “I would say, he’s got – oh, I love his personality because I think half the times I’m talking to him he’s kind of like, ‘OK, I’ve heard from a million of you coaches I’m good.’ And I really like that about a guy, and so he’s got kind of a confidence that way that he knows who he is. The other thing I would say is just that he knows exactly who he is. He doesn’t try to be somebody different. He knows what his leg is. He hits the same ball over and over. He’s very consistent. And he’s comfortable with who he is and I think that gives him an advantage. So, he’s been great to be around. I really enjoy the guy.” On how he goes about coaching a player who has been around numerous teams and coaches in the League: “Yeah, I would say it probably depends more on the position the guy’s playing. Like kicker, especially just field goals, I mean you’re kicking the ball through the upright. We’re doing the exact same thing he’s doing here for everybody else, for the most part or 99 percent of it. If you were talking about a positional player who’s more of a core player, I would say yeah things could be a lot different. What I want from him, what another coach wants from him might be more different. But for a kicker it’s pretty much the same. So, not too hard for him.” On Lions P Jack Fox’s contract extension through 2026: “Yeah, fired up about that. Obviously, congrats to Fox. He’s a great player and he can do a lot. He threatens the field in a lot of different ways not only with his leg but also his arm. He’s a great young talent, he works really hard at it. The game’s important to him and he’s really fun to be around too. He’s very competitive and I know he’ll just continue to get better and better, so obviously we’re fortunate to have him I know that.” On elevating Lions WR Maurice Alexander from the practice squad multiple times this season instead of signing him to the active roster: “Yeah, I think I would say – yeah, it’s probably a better question for (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes) him. The only think I would add which I think everyone would be fine with, I think there’s a limitation of three times you can come up on the practice squad. So, if you have a chance to bring a guy up on the active roster then it still keeps those other three opportunities out there for a guy, I don’t know. Other than that, I’m not really sure.” On if there is a certain number of practice squad players that the team can bring up throughout the course of the season: “The way I understand is anybody on the practice squad can come up, but he can only come up for a total of three times throughout the year before you would have to do something else with him.” |
