| LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BEN JOHNSON QUOTE SHEET November 10, 2022 On Lions RB Jamaal Williams being on pace for his first 1,000-yard season and what has allowed him to play at his best: “Yeah, I think since we got him even a year ago, he’s been the model of consistency for us offensively. He runs hard. It might not be flashy or sexy all the time, but he finds a way to always be falling forward when he’s being tackled. He’ll find creases. He’s got great vision, and he’s shown the ability to break tackles and potentially have some explosive runs for us too. So, minus the one game, the Dallas game, I mean he has been exactly what we want from a physical, downhill running back. He’s really embraced that role and especially with (Lions RB D’Andre Swift) Swifty being dinged up here and there, he’s been able to take on a greater workload, and it’s been a great thing for us offensively.” On Lions RB Jamaal Williams wearing down the defense throughout a game: “We felt that last week, especially that second touchdown drive when we needed it, we were able to rely on our offensive line and our ground game, and you could – at least I could on the sideline, could feel where we were wearing them down a little bit. And once again, it wasn’t like we were getting explosive gains, but it was the consistent three, four, five, ‘boom-da-ba-boom-da-ba-da-boom,’ and we methodically took it down the field that way. And I think that’s a great thing to have. I think we’ve shown over the course of the season we have the ability to be explosive, but at the same time, we can extend the drive and play a little bit more small ball if needed. Whatever is called upon, and Jamaal is a big part of the reason why we’re able to do that.” On what led to him calling six-straight run plays in a drive against the Packers: “Yeah, so we have a random number generator, and if it’s between one and 100, if it’s under 50, I’m going to run it. If it’s over 50, I’m going to throw it. If it’s right on 50, it’s dealer’s choice. I get to pick. Yeah, it’s just luck of the draw. No, I mean it is a feel. It is a feel, and we take a lot of pride in being able to mix it up, and guys not getting a beat on us, but I think sometimes when you run it six times in a row, they’re not exactly expecting that either. So no, it felt good to be able to do that and come away with points that drive.” On the tight ends stepping up and producing impact plays: “Yeah, they stepped up, and they did a great job in the run game too for the most part. They’ll continue to make strides here over the next – the second half of the season as they’re getting more reps, more practice, opportunities as well. So, really looking forward to seeing them grow. But they answered the bell for what was given to them last week, and you never know. Is it going to be 10 receptions? Is it going to be maybe just one target for the game? You just never know how it unfolds, but I have confidence in them. That is a good thing, and the more we get them out there, I think the more that’ll grow for the whole unit.” On how the Bears defense is adjusting after trading former Bears LB Roquan Smith and former Bears DE Robert Quinn and what the Bears defense excels at: “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of respect for their coaching staff. I think I was in Miami a few years ago when we played Indy, and I remember thinking that defense – because it’s the same style defense that he was running in Indy, I was like, ‘Holy cow, they’re really well coached.’ You can tell just by playing them what they’re being taught to do because all of the defensive players were doing it, so I have a lot of respect for them as a coaching staff and what they do schematically and technique-wise. In terms of their personnel, you’re right, they did trade away a couple really good players, but they are young, they are hungry, they fly around. So, it’s one of those games where it is a high-effort game. It’s the team that finishes through the whistle will have success. We’re aware of that. They could make some mistakes. I think that’s showing up a little bit on tape, but they get better every week. So even though they’ve given up some points and some yards, this will be a good challenge for us on the road. They do a great job mixing up their defenses as well. There’s a number of different coverages, and when you look at it, ‘OK, it’s cover one, cover two, cover three.’ But there’s a lot of variety, and it’s rarely the same call twice, so got to stay on top of our game.” On Bears S Eddie Jackson stepping up after several key defensive Bears players were traded: “Shoot, he’s been a great player for a number of years, and really, he’s the one guy on their backend because they’ve got the two rookies. They’ve got (Bears DB Kyler Gordon) 6 and (Bears DB Jaquan Brisker) 9, so Eddie really, in my mind, carries that role of being a leader on defense, and you can see he’s making calls, they’re making adjustments based on the formation. He’s leading that charge, and he finds a way to be around the football. He’s equally effective playing the middle of the field as a post safety as well as he is down in the box, which that’s about as good as you can be as a safety if you can do both roles really well. He’s a guy that we have to be aware of at all times.” On if the lack of explosiveness on offense is because of Lions RB D’Andre Swift’s absence or other injuries to skill players: “Yeah, I mean the last two games we haven’t been nearly as explosive. I want to say just by our metrics there were five explosives two weeks ago and then only four last week, which really we’ve been averaging over eight early in the season there. So, the explosive game hasn’t been there and that’s not just throwing the ball down the field or getting the big runs. It’s also some of these opportunities we have to get the ball in our hands short and making a tackler miss and creating something that way. So, we’re always on the search to be – get those explosive – when we do those explosive plays it typically generates more points for us. But, like I said if we’re not quite as explosive, it was encouraging to see that second touchdown drive. OK, well shoot we’ll just methodically – take it on down and that can still result in points. It’s just when you play ball that way, the margin of error gets a little bit smaller, and you’ve got to be great on third down which we haven’t been. So, to me that’s the difference between early in the season and the last few games is the explosive plays haven’t quite been there.” On how the offense plans to generate more explosive plays in games: “Yeah, it’s certainly player-driven. I think the most explosive teams in the League have the best skill players. That’s why teams are going after all these receivers in free agency and the Draft right now. So, that plays a big part of it, but also I think scheme can help that and if you can get the right play against the right coverage generally speaking that can be a good thing. But you watch it – sometimes – I look back at the first eight games here, I’ve had some of my best calls in my opinion have resulted in zero yards. And we’ve just been that close to – and then some of my worst calls in my – have been some big plays for us because the players make it right. And that’s kind of the give and take of play-calling. So, generally speaking it’s on these guys if we can get the ball in their hands to make something happen. But we’re trying to create as much separation schematically to help them.” On an example of an explosive play: “For us upstairs, we go a run play of 12-or-more and a pass play of 16-or-more. And I think different places do it a little bit different, but that’s what we typically stick to.” On Lions C Evan Brown getting into the groove at playing guard this season: “Yeah, he gives us that ability – really, it’s not we need to be right-handed or left-handed, I think we can function either way. It’s a great feeling that you’re not having to call the game off of somebody upfront. How do we help this player? Really, we don’t do that for the most part unless we have a particularly war daddy on the other side that we’re trying to account for. But he is – he’s really helped us. He’s been a shot in the arm just like you said and I mean, the best thing about it he’s so smart. Because he’s a center, really at his core that he knows exactly what we’re trying to get done. And so, the smarter we are upfront, the more multiple we can be and make it a little bit harder for defenses to defend.” On Lions RB D’Andre Swift trying to get back into the game last Sunday against the Packers: “I think he got pissed off a little bit. He caught that third down and he was just a little bit short, and we took him out. But that’s good, that’s good. That means he’s going the right direction for us. No, it’s a balance right now for him because once again he hasn’t felt 100 percent and that’s been a big part of it is when he’s feeling good and it’s going to show up on Sunday in a positive way for us. So, we’ll see. We’ll see as the week goes on in practice. We’ll see on Sunday as we get into the game just how much or how little we use him.” On how hard it is to get players to be honest about their injuries: “I think you’ve got to know the player. Yeah, I think you’ve got to know the player. I mean, I’ll tell you right now the whole offensive line, they’re dealing with something and they won’t say a word about it. And honestly, I think we have a tough group overall on offense, so majority of them are that way and they’re battling through it. And I won’t forget, one of (Lions Head) Coach (Dan) Campbell’s first days here he just talked about this League, particularly at this point of the season throughout the end of the season is, ‘How well can you function at 85 percent?’ Because that’s where everyone is, everyone that’s been playing ball. So, those guys have adhere to that message and I think it’s shown up for the most part with our group.” On if the team uses tracking data to monitor the strength and conditioning of players: “Yeah, I mean we have a whole department with (Lions Director of Sports Performance) Mike Clark that every single day we hear the volume, the intensity, the guys who we need to keep a look at just out on the practice field, maybe limit the number of practice reps they’re getting just because they’re fatigued. But yeah, we’re on the cutting edge I think of all that stuff.” On if the coaching staff goes over players they need to pay close attention to injury-wise: “That’s right. Oh, yeah. That’s every day, staff meeting, we go over, ‘Hey, here are three or four guys we need to watch. Here are the guys that are really doing well. So, keep working them.’” LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET November 10, 2022 On if it feels good coming off a win where the defense performs well: “Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, but yeah, obviously excited about the win that we had. Really excited about the way the defense played, but I guess more excited of the fact that our defense was on the field at a critical time at the end of the game to put the game away, and that was something that our guys needed because belief starts to stick. And I’ve said this to you guys before, belief is a powerful drug, so that’s something that we’ve got to continue to do, and I’m proud of the way our guys fought. I’m proud of the energy, the execution, just overall, the sideline, it was outstanding. And this has got to be one of the better games we’ve had since I’ve been here, so I’m looking forward to more games like that. And then just continue to look forward to practice, so we can continue to get just get better.” On the Bears having success in the run game despite opposing teams knowing they want to run the ball: “Yeah, I think the one thing that’s really impressive about how they operate is because they went through the season the first couple of games, and I don’t know if things were going were going as well as they wanted it to, but just like any other team, I think they adjusted. I think over the past three weeks, they adjusted on how they operate with this (Bears QB Justin Fields) quarterback, and he’s playing at a high level right now. And I would say in the run and really in the pass game when you think about it, man, he’s not getting the yards that you’d want, but he’s being efficient with what he’s doing. And I’ll tell you what, these two backs they have, I mean they’re really good now. They’re really, really good, and the thing is they break tackles, they can find the seam, so we really have to be disciplined. That’s the one thing that I’ve talked to our guys about yesterday for a while is just our discipline because this is what this type of game is. It’s a discipline game, especially when you’re playing the option football against a really good quarterback that can run so. Man, that has to be something that we focus in on a daily basis just being disciplined in our approach.” On what Lions CB Jerry Jacobs’ demeanor and competitiveness brings to the defense: “Well, first of all, God made him that way. That’s just who he is as a person, and I think it’s a really good trait to have as a corner. Regardless of what happens with that player, he gets beat, he makes a play, he has the same demeanor. He’s going to get up in your face, and he’s going to challenge you. But it’s always good to have a guy like that on your defense because he builds up the morale of everybody else because it doesn’t matter what happens to him. Like I said before, man, he’s always going to challenge, and he did that in the game. That’s what he brings to this defense, so we look forward to him continuing to get better. We look forward to him continuing to get better as far as his ACL is concerned, and you’ll just continue to see him play more and more.” On the importance of players stepping up when injuries occur: “Yeah, yeah, we really did. We really did, and man, I’m hoping that that sparks the same type of energy and execution with our group in totality, so you saw it yesterday in practice. I’m sure you’re going to see it today in practice, and I’m sure it’s going to carry over to Sunday within the game. So regardless of who we have out there, man, listen, we have injuries just like everybody else, but I think the guys that’s behind us coming in and playing are really understanding that and understanding that they have a job to do. We’re expecting them to do their job as best they can.” On if he notices the defense being more confident and prouder: “I don’t think it’s that. You can just tell by the body language. You just watch on the field, and body language tells you a lot, players and coaches. And that permeates throughout the defense when you have the body language, and you have that swagger within yourself, you have that look in your eye when you go out there and play defense, so regardless of what happens, turnover, big play, it doesn’t matter. And that’s one thing that I’ve taught our guys, anytime we have a turnover, that’s just more TV time for us, alright? So, we get on the field, we get ready to play, and you saw that happen with our guys. Any situation that happened, they went out there and they played their butts off.” On preparing for Bears WR Chase Claypool despite limited tape of him in the Bears’ offense: “Well, the thing is we know who he is, his traits as far as a player, size, speed, some of the things that he did when he was in Pittsburgh. He was a pretty good deep-ball catcher, but man, that’s damn near everybody in this League now, so we understand that. I mean (Packers WR Allen) Lazard was a deep-ball guy, which he made some plays, so we operate as normal. Understand what we have to do to cover this guy, and our guys do their best to make sure that they minimize their weaknesses and don’t allow him to show his strong points.” On the difficulties of teaching young players not to rush too deep against a mobile quarterback like Bears QB Justin Fields: “Obviously, you saw last week it was very difficult. But I will say this, you have to emphasize that as much as possible, and sometimes it comes with a loud voice and a demanding demeanor behind you to make sure guys understand that because I get it. Once you get a chance to try beat someone on the edge, man, you’re going continue to go, but I’ve talked to our guys about this this morning. We have to play the type of game we need to play to win, and that changes. So, in saying that, we have to make sure that we condense the pocket, make sure we push the pocket, and that we equate to getting sacks for the most part. I think Green Bay did a pretty good job of doing that. Even though they weren’t speeding rushing around the edge, they really condense the pocket, and they kept him in this cage, and they were able to make plays and get sacks.” On if the pre-snap execution is the most important part of containing a mobile quarterback: “Well, that’s why your eyes are important in that situation, that once you feel yourself about to get ahead of the quarterback, you have to retrace and make sure you keep him that cage and understand that quarterbacks drop too. That’s some things we talk about quite a bit, and our guys understand that. So, within getting into the rush, those are things you just have to understand, and I think our guys will do a good job of that.” On how he felt getting the game ball after the win against the Packers: “It was shocking to be honest with you, and I guess shocking because for a defensive coordinator to get a game ball, I was very appreciative, but I’ll tell you what, I was really more appreciative of the players than anything else because it shows the belief that they have, in not only me, but us as a defensive staff. But man, all the credit goes to those guys. I mean it was a number of guys that made some great plays in that game. To see our young guys the way that they’re coming out, the way they’re playing, it’s good to see because they can only get better. We have a really good group of – good nucleus of young guys that you can build around here and really try to change the mindset of how they go about doing things, and you continue to see it happen with all those guys, so this is a process. No one said this was going be easy. I know everyone on the outside thinks that we should be going to the Super Bowl right now. We think that too, but the thing is we understand that man, we’ve got to build this team. We’ve got to build it the right way, and that’s where our focus is. It’s not focused on what everybody else is thinking. We have a plan, and we’re going to execute that plan. And as we continue to grow, these young guys are going to grow with us.” On if he feels he has brushed off some criticism towards him after the defensive performance in the Packers win: “Man, listen, I told you last week nothing surprises me. That’s you guys’ job though. The negative part is what sells in this business, and I get that. So, AG’s going to keep on rolling.” On what the win against the Packers meant to him personally: “What does that win – first off, it means a lot anytime you win, but the expectation is we’ve got to win more. And I don’t want to say I’m a nonchalant type of guy, but man, it’s time to move on and get to the next one because we have a really good opponent coming in that’s playing really good on offense. So that was quickly to put that behind me and go on to Chicago right immediately after the game, and this is just something I do. After we go to dinner, I come right to the facility and start on Chicago. So, man, I’m looking forward to this one. I really am because it’s a different dynamic as far as quarterback, as far as team that we have to show. I’m excited about showing what we can do against this team.” On his thoughts about the offense going for fourth down and potentially giving up a shorter field: “Man, I coach defense. I coach defense and regardless, if we’ve got to be out there whatever down, we go play. That’s all we think about. And I don’t know if you’re asking about our team going for it on fourth down, I mean.” On if his job is easier if the offense chooses to punt the ball rather than give up a shorter field on a failed fourth down conversion: “I coach defense. We go play.” On his assessment of Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson through eight games: “You know what, I think the one that Aidan has done a really good job of is buying into some of the things that we want to get done. That can be technically, that can be scheme-wise and also being able to listen to him on some things that he likes also. And I think you do that with every player, and I think that’s the new way, that’s the new age of listen to the player, and let them have input. Now, do we install all of those things? No, we don’t, but it’s good to hear them out. But man, you just talk about the discipline part. Now, he messed up on some couple plays last week. I mean when (Packers QB Aaron) Rodgers got on that scramble, that was Aidan made a mistake on that one, but there aren’t too many times when he makes the same mistake. And that’s a trait that he has, no one coached him on that. That’s just what he’s good at doing, but his pass rush on the edge, we’re starting to put him on the interior quite a bit. We didn’t get to as much as we wanted to in this past game, but you’ll start to see that. But that ‘want to’ as far as him being inside because I know he likes being on the edge but now, I think you’ll see him do some pretty good things on the inside also. So those are things that he says improving on, and I’m excited to see him in those situations.” LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET November 10, 2022 On if there is a way to take advantage of mistakes the Bears may make on special teams: “Yeah, I would say, yeah some of them are – some of them you control, some of them you don’t control. I guess you’re a part of all of them indirectly, but maybe the punter hits a ball that’s coming down weird and hard to catch, maybe you can’t control something like that. But I think they’ve had some fielding troubles or whatever, I mean a lot of that we don’t control, that’s kind of on them. They’ve obviously flipped their returners around, they’ve gone to (Bears WR Dante) Pettis in the last game and he’s handled more of that. I think he looks a little bit more comfortable catching the ball, so that part we don’t control. Sometimes if a guy carries a ball loose, then we would control that and maybe make more of an emphasis of trying to get the ball off that guy’s body, something like that. But I would say, more of that is probably on them than it is on us.” On if he has a book on the weather conditions in different stadiums in the League and if he has a good sense of it: “Yeah, good question. I would say – do I have a book? I don’t physically have a book, but I do feel like I have a pretty good idea on most of these stadiums. I know obviously a few weeks back we talked about New England. I’ve been to this place a handful of times early in the year, late in the year, preseason games, playoff games. Obviously, this is a place where there’s wind and weather and all that. I think it’s going to be a pretty nice day, but there is some wind. That’s obviously different than indoors. So, it’ll be a factor in the game, you have to account for it. But yeah, I think like the north end in this stadium is typically a little bit less than the south end in terms of accuracy on field goals if you look at that. Our building generates the report for us on that, so, I see that from them. But I think more than anything is it just takes a little bit of common sense on gameday. What are the actual conditions? And typically whatever – there’s some places that are unique. Philadelphia’s got one end of the stadium that’s a little bit more open than the other end. That end’s traditionally a little bit harder to kick into, but anyways every game is a little bit different. It’ll definitely be a factor. We can’t kick 50-yarders.” On if certain sides of a stadium are harder to kick into at every NFL stadium: “No, no, so I should say that’s more particular to Soldier Field and that would be more like New England deal. Like one end’s a little bit less accurate than the other end. You know what I’m saying? So, yeah I mean those numbers are just from straight numbers, like 1,000 field goals on this end. What’s the percentage a 1,000 from the other end over the last three years or however they wanted it.” On if he has any concerns about Lions LS Scott Daly after a couple bad snaps this season: “Yeah, obviously in the last game he had – Dallas I think there was a punt and then in the last game he rolled the ball back there. I would say, it was definitely a bad snap, but there’s a little bit more to it. He thought he was being triggered to snap the ball and he wasn’t. He tried to kind of hold it back, and so he ended up rolling it back there. I would say, I would be more concerned if he truly – it was like that was what he thought the snap was. You know what I mean? So, there’s a little bit more to it. It doesn’t make it better. We obviously were fortunate getting out of that thing and in good shape. I guess sometimes it’s better to be lucky than get – but, no I don’t really have any concerns about him. I think he’s been really good for us for the last year and a half. Not every snap’s perfect, but he’s definitely not my biggest worry.” |
