LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOHN MORTON QUOTE SHEET
September 25, 2025
Opening Statement: “I’ve moved on from the last game, we’ve got a tough opponent this week. (Browns Defensive Coordinator Jim) Schwartz, he does a great job. I’ve respected him over the years, and we’ve got a tough task at hand.”
On themes of the Browns defense: “A lot of man to man. And when you’ve got a front like that, you can pretty much do anything you want. So, that’s where they get after it. So it’s going to be about protection in this gameplan.”
On what is challenging about handling pressure from the interior: “Well, if you get pressure up in the middle, and now you get the quarterback off his spot. So, that’s important how we set up our protection rules-wise. We don’t want that to happen. So, when you get somebody in your face as a quarterback, now you’re moving, now the timing’s off and it’s man to man. There are things we’re going to do to help that out.”
On the impact Browns DT Mason Graham has had on the Browns defense: “Yeah, I think he’s a solid player. I mean, the whole front. And everybody on defense, I mean, they’re solid. They’re really good. They get after it, they’re relentless. That’s the biggest thing that you see. I mean, it’s speed coming off the ball. They’re great technicians. We’ve got to be on top of our game. First time practicing live this week, we’re going to make sure from scout team, we’re getting those certain looks.”
On the Browns performance versus the Packers and how much that reemphasizes to the players how talented their defense is: “Our guys, they’re going to be ready. We’re going to be ready for anything. I don’t care who it is. I mean the most important thing is us taking care of what we need to do technique wise, the details. When we do that, we play pretty good as you saw last week. So, we take care of ourself and stop (Browns DE Myles Garrett) 95, or at least control him, can’t let him wreck this game. Cannot.”
On his experience through the first three weeks as offensive coordinator: “It’s not about me, it’s about the players. I mean, we’ve got great players. All the stuff that we do, I mean, they’re so smart. The quarterback is phenomenal. He got us in the right plays, the right checks. Guys don’t blink. Even when we don’t rep a lot of stuff. I mean, it’s just fun watching these guys. I’ve told you all along, it’s not about me. It’s just me calling the play and they go make it work. It’s good when you have a veteran group like this. They make my job a lot easier.”
On the Browns’ ability to stop the run game and what makes them so good at it: “I think this, I’m going back to us the last few weeks. I mean our front, right now we’re moving guys. I don’t think they’ve seen a run game like ours yet. We have patience. We stick with it. I think that’s the biggest thing. Let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve got to do that so we can stay manageable. We have to stay manageable on third down. And third down and two to six, we’ve got to be in that area. So, first and second down is going to be crucial.”
On the confidence the tight end and wide receiver room gives him in the run game and the play-action game because of their blocking efforts: “A lot. I mean, it’s the best I’ve ever seen. My 28 years of coaching, the way these wide receivers block, the way (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers) Scottie (Montgomery) gets these guys to play, I don’t think there’s too many teams – now the Rams, when (Seahawks WR) Cooper Kupp and those guys, they do the same thing. I mean, they get after it, they take pride in it. That’s just like – I always told the wideouts, man, when the tight ends and the O-line and backs, they’re blocking for us, when the time comes our turn to block for them, we’ve got to do the same thing. That’s the beauty about this team. It’s so team oriented. Nobody cares about how many balls this and that. It’s just about winning. And when we do that, man, we’re pretty good.”
On Lions TE Sam LaPorta’s growth as a blocker and how much Lions Tight Ends Coach Tyler Roehl has contributed to that: “No question. I think it has. Tyler’s background, he’s an O-line type of guy. And just getting after it and watching these guys in training camp, the technique, it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool. Because we run a lot of different schemes, especially for the tight ends and even for the wideouts how they have to block and see MIKE points and things like that. I think it’s pretty impressive the way Tyler gets these guys ready to play. I mean, it started in training camp. I mean, you could see it.”
On the faith it takes in a quarterback and a receiver to make a fourth-and-2 call like in Baltimore: “Well, the head coach makes the call. But, been doing this play for years and we work on it all the time. So, it was a no-brainer. No brainer because knowing the look that you’re going to get and having faith in (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint and the quarterback to make the throw. It’s just like I said, these guys are awesome, man. The way they prepare, the way we get them ready to play. They don’t think twice. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s pretty cool. It’s a pretty cool thing.”
On Lions T Taylor Decker and Lions T Penei Sewell’s growth and leadership throughout the first three weeks of the season: “I mean, looks pretty good. I mean, we’re winning. I mean, the quarterback didn’t really get hit. It’s pretty special when you’ve got two tackles like that and the quarterback feeling good about that. And the other guys are coming along, too. It’s not just them, it’s everybody. But those two guys, when you don’t have to do a lot of chips and there and that, or even in the run game, it’s pretty special when you’ve got two guys like that. It’s a comfort zone for everybody.”
On the inspiration for the pitch play thrown to Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs in Week 3 and Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell running the same play when he was a player: “They’ve been doing this play here for years. I’ve always loved it. When I first saw it, I saw it when the Saints did it. I think the Saints did it when I saw that play, but it was the right look. It was the right defense. It was the time to run it. Dan was just getting ready to call it, so it happened.”
On the origin of the Maryland-I play: “Well you don’t need to know that. We’ve got run game guys who come up with that stuff. It’s unbelievable. You thought I was crazy coming up with stuff, these guys are insane how they come up with things. But you know what, that helped us win. They struggled with that, they’d never seen it. I thought it was really cool.”
On the versatility of the offense: “I’ve told you guys before. The personnel that we have, we can pretty much do anything we want. There’s a lot of weapons. I mean, you saw the different personnel groupings and all the different formations and this and that. We’re all trying to create mismatches. That’s the way I was taught. How do I create a mismatch? Get this guy on that guy. Different formations and things, I mean they change week to week to get guys open, to keep the defense off their toes. But again, can’t do all this stuff if we’re not really smart. So, it’s cool when you’ve got all these weapons.”
On what has impressed him about Lions RB David Montgomery: “Man, he’s just a stud how he works. A true professional. He reminds me of a lot of guys I’ve coached. Man, they just take everything. It’s like I come into work, I’ve got my lunch pail, I’ve got my hard hat, every day he brings it. No matter what. And when he gets his rep, he goes full steam. It’s pretty cool. Both those backs, it’s pretty cool watching those guys. And it carries over to the game, and it’s contagious. The young guys see how all these veteran guys work, it’s pretty cool.”
On who Lions RB David Montgomery reminds him of: “(Former NFL WR) Anquan Boldin, it was the same for him every day. No matter win or loss, just worked. Just worked. There’s been other guys, but he’s the main guy that I always think of. He’s one of my favorite guys I’ve ever been around.”
On how it works with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell and calling fourth-down plays: “Yeah, when he wants a certain play, he gives it to me. We’re doing this all together, no question.”
On if he gets into a groove calling plays: “Oh yeah. I mean, I’m calling it, I’m calling it, I’m calling it until (Lions Head Coach) Dan (Campbell) interjects or somebody else, you know what I mean? I’ve got the green light just to go, and then Dan helps when he wants certain things. We talk about that in between series, ‘Give me this, give me that. OK, what do you want?’ So, I’m ready to go.”
On what it is like to be able to get into that groove: “Oh, it’s great. I’ve been a part of when there’s other guys helping out with certain plays, it’s easy. It’s easy for me.”
On players messing with him online: “I didn’t even know until – I told you, I’m not on social media. I don’t hear what you guys say or anything. And my girlfriend sends me this – I don’t know what that was.”
On how he has come in and connected with the players: “Listen, I was a player. I know what they’re going through. I coached the wideouts. You’ve got to have a certain vibe about you. I just think when you’re like a player’s type of coach – at the same time, we’re working. We’re getting things done. You’ve got to have fun every once in a while. When I saw it, I’m like, ‘Oh, that was cool. I don’t take it as they were making fun of me. I thought it was pretty positive, made me feel good. But I don’t get into all that stuff, you guys know that. But it was good.”
On what his girlfriend sent him regarding players messing with him on social media: “Well, it was (Lions RB David Montgomery) D-Mo and (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown on whatever he’s on. I don’t know.”
On Lions RB David Montgomery’s impersonation of him and if it was accurate: “Pretty good. I was taught, (former NFL Coach Jon) Gruden installed plays, he was the best install I’ve ever seen, he goes, ‘You’ve got to be a car salesman.’ You’ve got to make that play the best play in the world. So, if it takes a little noises and this and that, you’ve got to talk to somebody, you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to sell it. You can’t just go up there and be, ‘Blah, blah.’ You can’t do that. Who wants to be around a guy like that? So, you’ve got to have energy.”
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR KELVIN SHEPPARD QUOTE SHEET
September 25, 2025
Opening Statement: “We’ll start off recapping Baltimore, get that out the way because we have a short week trying to get ahead to Cleveland, as you all well know. But, first and foremost, I’ll share with you guys the same thing I told the room. The first thing we talked about yesterday when we met to recap the game a little bit for a brief period was a plan means nothing without execution. And you can say what you want, you can do what you want, this goes back to everything I’ve always believed in as a player and then for sure now into coaching. If the players don’t understand what you’re preaching and what you want, it means nothing. So, like there’s a lot of narratives right now, all these ‘guru gameplan’ and all that stuff. Yeah, it was a plan, it was a collective effort plan from the entire staff. It was a lot of hands in the cookie jar when it came to how we were going to defend last week, but that meant nothing without the players believing in it, number one, and then going out and executing and executing it at a high level. But, in my opinion, in certain categories of the game it was a lot of things there that I didn’t like from the game that I also expressed and shared with them. I’m not pleased giving up 30 points, that’s not OK, that’s not the standard of who we are as a defense here. And I looked at three different drives really. I continue to stand up here, hopefully these guys hear this message – if nothing else that I say – I want to start the game with a three-and-out. Hopefully we could kind of eventually get that done. Now credit to those guys for bouncing back after that early touchdown. It should’ve never happened, that’s lead power – they run that play at high school level. That should never happen, inexcusable, it was the longest run of the day. We were dominant outside of that run. Then you go before the half, can’t happen. Going into half, first series of the game, then coming out of half. That’s everything I believe and those guys know that. We allowed a touchdown going into half and then the end of game, just totally inexcusable. Third-and-27, we’re in zone coverage, we make that tackle, it’s fourth-and-15 maybe a kid gets 10, 12 yards and they probably punt in that scenario. So, that’s three touchdowns that obviously you can’t just wipe off the board, but two of those are inexcusable, should’ve never happened. The one before the half, credit to them (Ravens), they did a good job going into half. But we must be better and we will be better. And then the elephant in the room, Justin (Rogers) finally got to me guys, if anybody was wondering. It took him four years. Took him four years, but he finally convinced me. So yeah, I knew that was coming, but Justin (Rogers) gave me a call last week and said, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ So we did it, so that’s out (of) the way. Alright, let’s move forward to Cleveland.”
On how excited he was about the defense executing the gameplan on Monday night in terms of the pass rush: “Yeah, these guys hear you all, that’s what I would say. This isn’t the old school days of, ‘Oh, block out the noise.’ That sounds good – these guys hear you all. They’re on their phones all day, there’s constant – and they hear you loud and clear that we only have one pass rusher here. They hear you loud and clear when you say we only got close to (Packers QB) Jordan Love two times. And these guys take pride in their profession. It’s why it’s a joy to coach these guys. It’s a joy to be able to do what I do every day because these guys take pride in what they do. The level of detail they’ve shown just week to week and wanting to know the why’s. ‘Why are we doing this? Why are we setting this up this way?’ And then being able as a coach to give them the complete vision, so then they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool.’ And then you’re buying that belief and these guys are all in. You see the effort these guys play with – I told you from day one. Look at (Lions EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad) number 96, take away ability, take away everything, let’s talk about effort, now that’s a collective unit now all playing like that. So now, if you don’t play like that, you’re the anomaly and you’re the odd man out. So, if we can continue to build on the things that we’ve done, I think we can continue to play up to the standard of our defense. Which, let me remind you all, we still have yet to play up to. We still have yet to play up to – I told the unit, the last thing I addressed moving forward to Cleveland was, ‘Can we please come in on Monday and say we made them earn everything?’ Because I want to see what that looks like. I want to see what it looks like when we make the other opponent have to earn their keep because we’ve yet to do that. So, these guys understand that and I believe we’ll have that moving forward.”
On if he made a QB spy joke at the end of his opening statement: “No, I’m serious. You finally got to me.”
On how his opinion of using a QB spy has evolved: “When it comes to schematics, if you guys haven’t figured out, I rarely give that information out. So, I wouldn’t believe much that I ever say about schematic things in public. And I’m serious about that. I’ve had that folder built for three years. And a lot of the examples are (Bills LB) Matt Milano three years ago at Kansas City and the things he did to (Chiefs QB) Patrick Mahomes. So, it was a fine line of trying to incorporate some of that, but within what we do here. That’s why it was so hard on them. It’s not because of a spy guys, it’s because we’re making everything look the same. And when you do that, it’s impossible to know who’s coming, who’s the spy, who’s in coverage. So, we were able, collective effort – credit to (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line) Kacy Rodgers, he did some of this stuff down in Tampa and it married really well with our gameplan. And when I say that, I mean rush and coverage, so when you’re sending pressure from the same looks that you’re dropping out of and now you incorporate a spy within all of this, it’s very hard on the offense. It’s something kind of trying to get the pen back. It’s something that the offense has been doing to defenses the last two, three years – motions, getting you in certain formations, dictating the coverages. So that’s all we try to do. And again, it’s nothing without the players. These guys are making it really hard on the opposing quarterbacks right now.”
On how crucial Lions LB Jack Campbell was for getting the defense on the same page Monday night and doing it with blood running down his face: “Jack’s unbelievable. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t even know that happened. (Lions Director of Player Health and Performance Brett Fischer) Fisch came to me, he’s like, ‘We’re stitching up Jack.’ I’m like, ‘What? What happened?’ He’s like, ‘You didn’t see him?’ And then (Lions DL) Tyleik (Williams) and all the guys started telling me about the huddle interactions and how Tyleik was like, ‘Man, are you alright?’ And they said Jack’s just trying to cover so he doesn’t spit blood on anybody. It’s amazing, that dude, when I tell you, he is all ball and he embodies everything that this program is built on. I mean the man hours – everybody knows Jack’s history, I don’t have to sit up here and give you a soliloquy about Jack Campbell. But he’s unbelievable and I’m very fortunate to be able to have that player running this defense.”
On if he would have liked to have played with Lions LB Jack Campbell: “How would I have liked to play with Jack? He probably would’ve taken my job. So I wouldn’t have been playing with him, I would’ve been watching him. But he’s a great teammate, but I wouldn’t have liked him as a teammate because he would’ve been above me on the depth chart.”
On what Lions LB Derrick Barnes means to the defense and how he has assessed his first three games back: “Yeah, you ask (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) what he means to my defense. I said that was a player I had to have. I did. And everybody said, ‘Well the stats are just average.’ I told him, ‘That’s a player I have to have.’ That is literally my little brother, on and off the field. I know he looks up to me and that means a lot to me. But outside of that, I believe this kid can play four, five spots on the football field and do it at a high level. He can play all three stack backer spots, he can play defensive end. So when you’re able to have a player like that, you see them out in the apex in 11-personnel, which is really a nickel spot. So when you have a player like that, it allows you that ability to present the same looks pre-snap and then post-snap be able to play a different variety of coverages, different variety of pressure packages and things like that. (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske’s kind of the same. These guys, when you’re able to deploy four and five linebacker sets and formations and play any of your defenses, that’s a different ball game. I mean, you see a lot of people get in these faster groupings, but it’s pretty much X, Y, Z. We’re getting into these groupings and still playing first, second down football or we could play the third-and-long game with you with all the same groupings. It would be shameful to stand up here and say, ‘That’s scheme.’ That’s players because they’re the ones that have to understand conceptually, ‘When I’m at this spot, I do this. That spot, I do this.’ That takes man hours, it takes detail and it takes a level of dedication that these guys are all in on.”
On when he saw Lions LB Derrick Barnes master the four or five spots and when he reached that level of command in the defense: “I thought he was there last year. It was a shame what happened in Arizona. It was a shame. Those swap turbo blocks are a very dangerous thing in our game that’s still there. And that’s all good and we understand that. But that was a shame because I believe that kid was about to have an unbelievable season last year. Which it’s all good, he’s back and he’s trending in the direction that we want him to right now.”
On his plans for Lions CB Amik Robertson to see a bigger role this week at outside corner and what has held Lions CB Terrion Arnold back to this point: “Amik has been – let me first start with Amik. Has nothing to do with Terrion’s player performance, let me start there. Amik has always earned his keep with me. I saw it last year, that’s a player that’s earned the right to be on the field. And just with the frequency of base defense that we’re playing right now, he’s losing snaps. And to be honest, he’s earned more than what he’s gotten so far. So we were doing this regardless. Now let’s get to (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) T.A., it’s the same thing I stood in front of the unit and said. Everybody could point the finger at T.A., but you know why we were able to knock out the run game? Because he was playing with no help behind him for probably 50 percent of that game. Now, it’s no excuse, it’s just the job you signed up for when you signed that contract as a corner in the NFL. You’re expected to do that. But let’s make no mistake about it – I told the D-line, ‘How would you like to go out there on that island while you guys are having fun in here in the box knowing there’s nobody back there.’ So, I want that to be said. It’s not like I’m down on T.A. or T.A.’s having a bad year, that’s not it. We’re talking a few plays, but when you play out there, those few plays get exposed and highlighted a lot more than it does an interior D-line – might’ve gotten reached five, six, seven times, the same amount of times he’s gotten beat on the perimeter, but nobody’s putting that in the tabloids because it’s not seen and exposed like a corner. So, it’s just growing pains. This kid’s very young. I don’t know – what is he, 22? He’s very young and he’s still in the developmental stages. All we have to do right now is find a way to bring that confidence that we saw when you were out there against (Lions WR) Jameson Williams and (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown all camp to game day. That’s all we’ve got to do and it’s our jobs as coaches to help the player and find a way to get that done.”
On how taking a step back or seeing fewer snaps could help Lions CB Terrion Arnold reset: “Not only that, just time on task. Just keep going, just go out there, believe in yourself and understand. I tell him all the time, ‘You’re on an island. You may get beat, but it just can’t be busts. It can’t be big games and things like that.’ It’s the NFL, corners are going to get beat, it is what it is. It’s our job as coaches to find a way to help this player continue to develop and do the things we saw him do all training camp.”
LIONS SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE FIPP QUOTE SHEET
September 25, 2025
On if he gave Lions K Jake Bates advice or encouragement before the 67-yard field goal attempt: “No, man, let it rip. That’s really the same thing every time. He knew what the opportunity had in front of him. Obviously, man, we want to make that. I thought he hit a good ball, just came on top of it just a tick too much. But, had some leg strength, showed what he could do. I’m excited for the next time he gets that chance.”
On if Lions K Jake Bates had enough distance on the 67-yard field goal attempt: “I think he had enough distance from what I understand. I can’t guarantee that, but it looked to me like I thought he did.”
On the blocked field goal attempts across the League and if there is a theme to what teams are doing on special teams that he needs to be aware of: “No. I think sometimes stuff like that happens on special teams, especially early in the season. Like, if you look at kind of just the history in the first few weeks, there’s kind of an uptick on blocks and returns and then it kind of goes down. I think guys get better and better at playing at it, players have been out there a little bit longer and have more experiences as the season goes. And then I feel like late in the year, you see another uptick. That’s probably teams are rolling through guys late in the year. Guys are getting hurt, maybe they’re playing some younger – some teams in different situations playing younger guys, stuff like that. And then all of a sudden, those guys are learning again. But a day like that was obviously different. The only thing I can tell you is like, from the week before, we knew our field goal protection was not good enough going into that Baltimore game. And so we put a huge emphasis on it, and then that happened the day before we played, so it’s kind of like, ‘See, I told you.’ So, it kind of helped me out, gave me some credibility I guess.”
On a lot of field goal blocks coming in the fourth quarter and if it is because teams take more chances: “I would say no doubt about that. You look at those big kicks and those teams know, ‘Hey man, the game’s on the line in this one.’ And you would love to say that they play all those plays the same way throughout all four quarters of the game. We certainly coach that way and try to get that out of these guys all the time. But when the game’s on the line, sometimes you see a little bit more come out.”
On Lions K Jake Bates and his touchdown-saving tackle and if he has been coached on that: “God-given. We’d prefer him not making the tackle, but I would say that anytime we’re in coverage, we do talk about covering with 11 guys. I told you guys earlier in the year, the challenge with the play is you’re short numbers unless you’re counting on the kicker. So, we like to keep him out of it, but part of that play is going to be those guys making some plays at some point and help minimize the damage. He obviously did a great job of that. Like I said, we’d like to cover a little bit better.”
On if Lions K Jake Bates has practiced tackling: “No, we don’t really work much on it. I did think he did a good job, he kept his head out of it. That’s the first thing you worry about. He went low on the guy, didn’t stay up high, he wasn’t awkward. He just did a nice cut tackle really. So, well done by him. I’d like to take credit for it, but no.”
On how he feels about the play of special teams through the first three weeks of the season: “Yeah, I feel like we’ve had some ups and downs throughout the first three games of the year. We definitely haven’t been playing as consistently as I would like to play or our goal is. I think the bottom line is – I said it in the very first meeting I think in (media), as a team you’re trying to get a little bit better each week and improve. Now when I look at the film, I see these guys. I feel like we’ve gotten better considerably every week this season so far. I think sometimes, number one, if you look at statistics this early in the year, not necessarily a great barometer. Sometimes you play different teams, you’ve been in different situations, different situations in games, you have a big lead, you’re not trying to press to get a return maybe as much. More making sure they punt the ball back to you, be a little bit safer. So, there could be numerous things that happen. Statistically, some of that stuff don’t worry about too much. But I would say just in general to me, if you’re looking for results, man, don’t focus on the result, focus on the process, what guys are doing, and the results will end up coming. I think that’s kind of what we’ve done. The kickoff, we had a kickoff return come back on us in the last game further than we want. I think we’ve learned a lot from that play. The very next play was really the exact same play. They ran the same play, we ran the same play and we tackled the guy at the 27. First one, we had two guys miss a little bit, we could’ve been in a better position, and I could’ve helped them get in a little bit better spot. But really, you hope to learn all these lessons early in the year and then late in the year be playing your best football. I feel great about the group, the direction they’re headed, who we’ve got out there doing it. We’ve got a lot of guys learning. We’ve got guys – great story for you guys is (Lions LB) Zach Cunningham. Zach Cunningham’s going into his ninth year. I think the last time he played on kickoff return was 2018, he had six reps. And before that I think he had 30. Even if we have experienced guys, Zach, (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes, none of these guys have been full time players on punt team in their career. Zach has, but not Barnes, not (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske, not (Lions RB Jacob) Saylors. So, we’ve got a lot of guys, even if they have experience, (Lions TE) Brock Wright, (Lions TE Shane) Zylstra, we played 17 guys on our punt team already in three games. So, there’s a lot going on out there I would say, not to make excuses at all. I mean, I really pride myself in developing and teaching and getting guys to play. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer than others, I would say that’s kind of where we’re at.”
On Lions S Daniel Thomas and how he plans on replacing him at gunner if he is out for an extended period of time: “Like I said, with those two gunners (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey and Daniel Thomas, those guys started to show up in the last game. That would go with the rest of the group, it felt like we were starting to get more active in coverage with the punt time and all that. We still have to punt the ball a little bit better, but those guys were a little bit more active. I thought Daniel Thomas showed up a little bit, you could feel him in that game a little bit more, same with Dorsey on the outside there. Come along, hopefully we can get him back. We’ll see.”
On the addition of Lions TE Ross Dwelley and what he can bring to special teams: “Yeah, he’s a big guy, he’s got experience. He’s played more than some of these guys, actually. In San Fran, I think he was kind of thrown in the mix there. He’s got a good skillset, he went in there and played on kickoff return for us in this last game and did a good job blocking. He was mostly on a double team, him and (Lions TE) Brock Wright. But I thought those guys did a good job blocking for us in the return game. He does have experience which helps. At least the guy, if he has to go in there and play a certain position, he’s done a lot of it before, which definitely helps.”
On how Lions LB Trevor Nowaske has developed: “It’s funny you talk about him, I was actually going through all his film from his past two. I thought he did a nice job in the game. He showed up for us, he made a big tackle on the kickoff, the second one they had returned. Just a great play, took on two guys, shed two blocks and made the tackle. He played in all four for us, he’ll continue to do that. I think he played a little bit of defense, too, he got a few snaps there. Which, it sounds like he did a good job for them too from listening to the other coaches talk. Yeah, it’s good to have him. That’s the one thing about him, we had him early and then he left, he went to Arizona, he played a little bit for them. Really, in his first two years he didn’t play a ton. He played more for us last year, we had him really the whole year last year which was good. He was on our punt team for I think half the year, so he’s got some good experience there. And he’s really coming along. Hopefully he can settle into his role and stick around and obviously be here and get better and better. But year, I’m excited about him. He’s a talented guy.”
On Lions RB Sione Vaki returning kicks in Week 3 and if he plans on putting Lions LB Grant Stuard back there due to Vaki’s injury: “So we obviously got Vaki in that last game, so then we were able to slide Stuard up and let Stuard block. I mean, I think I’ve always said that we’re just trying to put the best 11 out there, and whatever that combination ends up being. So, with Vaki, that helped us out. Those guys put the ball on the ground. I thought our kickoff return team did a great job in the last game. Every play was positive. A big challenge going into that game was those guys kicking the ball on the ground. I think maybe some of you guys saw that Philadelphia game where the Rams got the ball on the ground rolling around and never fielded it cleanly. They were getting tackled way back there. Baltimore did some of the same things going into the game. So, we wanted two guys who could definitely field those balls. That was kind of more their skillset. Two offensive players, so that factored into it a little bit. Vaki factored into it definitely a good chunk also. So, we’ll see who we have available this week and do the same thing. (Lions WR) Kalif (Raymond) came in and ended up playing for us, which has kind of been our goal to keep him out of there, early on anyway. He’s playing 30-plus snaps of offense and just trying to balance that, he’s our punt returner. But ultimately if we need him, we’ll play him.”
