October 18, 2023

On what he attributes to him playing at a high level right now: “Yeah, it’s a lot of hard work, obviously. But typically, when the team’s playing well, it makes my job a hell of a lot easier and defense is giving us short fields, O-line’s protecting really well and I’ve got receivers downfield making plays. So, all that comes together, and I do my part and it makes it a lot easier for me.”

On his touchdown pass to Lions WR Jameson Williams on Sunday not being his best throw and if it was due to adjusting to Williams’s speed: “No, it just didn’t come out of my hand great. Yeah, he just – and he made a great play, again that’s kind of what I’m referring to is I’m not always perfect and these guys are making catches down the field, making plays after the catch, like (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint did on the route underneath and makes me feel good when I’m able to do that.”

On the Ravens’ defense being among the best in the League and why he thinks their pass defense has been successful: “Yeah, it’s kind of similar to last week and how good they are defensively and two elite linebackers again. Really good backend and obviously good pass rush leading the League in sacks, or however many they have, they’ve got a bunch. So yeah, it’s a challenge on every level. I wish I could tell you what a weakness was, but I don’t know if there is one. We’ve got to come ready to play. It’ll be a challenge.”

On if he considers himself a perfectionist in the way he studies the playbook and executes plays on the field: “Yeah, you try to be. It’s never perfect. Our game is not a perfect game, but you strive for perfection and you probably try to land somewhere close to it, you never will, really. But yeah, that’s kind of my daily every day. I think a lot of us are. You strive for that and land somewhere hopefully close to it.”

On if taking less of a gunslinger approach to minimize turnovers was a mindset he adopted early in his career: “No, I’ve gone through many streaks of a lot of interceptions throughout my career and right now I’m playing better than I did then, so just trying to take care of the ball and keep it in our hands.”

On if he appreciates the level of success he has now because of the adversity he has overcome to achieve it: “Yeah, you’re always working towards this. It’s always a lot of hard work in the offseason to get to a place where we can sit here at 5-1 and say we’ve done some good things. And yeah, I think that’s what you always strive for. I don’t know if it is any different than any other time that I’ve been on a good team playing well, but it’s certainly a good feeling.”

On what Lions Passing Game Coordinator Tanner Engstrand contributes to the pass game: “Yeah, Tanner’s been awesome, man. He’s pass game coordinator, PGC is what we call him, and he’s been great and brings different ideas to (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson), brings different thoughts. I’m able to ask him questions that he can answer instead of bogging Ben down with more. I can kind of go to Tanner with some of that stuff and he’s been extremely helpful for me. I had him in the quarterback room my first year and he’s bounced around this building a couple times, but he’s doing a hell of a job.”

On the Ravens creating different gameplans for each opponent and how unique this week is because they have to play a guessing game with their defense compared to others: “Yeah, it’s – they do mix it up weekly and so we’ll see what they want for us and as time goes, when you’re a good offense, you typically get a wrinkle every week no matter what type of defense they are and right now we are a good offense and expect something that they haven’t shown yet, or some certain type of coverage or blitz or wrinkle for us and yeah, we’ll react to it and be ready when it comes.”

On how difficult it will be to compete against a defense that is strong in middle of the field where he is currently having a lot of his success: “Yeah, like I said, they’re two elite linebackers and (Ravens S Kyle) Hamilton’s playing really well. We’ll see if (Ravens S) Marcus Williams’s able to play, but yeah, they’re really good in the middle, so it’ll be a challenge, no doubt on multiple levels, but yeah. We’ll be ready for it.”

On if he has met the expectations he has set for himself: “Yeah, you’re always working. I think yeah, I’ve done some good things. It’s been six games and how many more do we have? Eleven. So yeah, I’d like to be able to look back 11 games from now and give you a better answer. It’s six games in and I’ve played well, and we’ve played well as a team and like I mentioned at the beginning of this, it’s a lot easier to play well when you’re getting short-field and turnovers and good pass protection, so. But doing my job every day and just trying to continue to get better. I’m not going to change my daily mindset because things are going well, just continue to push it and get better.”

On if he believes he is playing better now compared to when he was with the Rams: “Yeah, yeah, much.”

On if he thinks he has brought Detroit football back to prominence: “Yeah, again, it’s so early. We’ve done some good things, and yeah, we feel the excitement from the city and from the fans and it’s fun. Certainly, home games right now are on a different level than I’ve experienced and now some of the away games have been on a different level than I’ve experienced as well. So yeah, we feel that energy and we certainly feel our fans behind us right now and it gives us that wind in our sails to kind of keep going and hopefully stay on this trajectory, but it’s a lot of work, man. It’s a lot of hard work and we’re so early on and I know everyone’s so excited, as are we, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and another tough challenge this week.”

On how he believes he has evolved since coming to Detroit: “Yeah, it’s another hard question to answer. It’s – every level of the game, I’ve talked about this a handful of times in the last couple years, but I got here after four years of starting and now I’m in my seventh year starting and I wish I could give you something specific other than just reps and just seeing things more than once and being very familiar with what we’re doing on offense and settling in as a player and getting better and maturing and learning and the whole thing. That’s really what it comes down to and I’d still like to think I’m relatively young in the League. I’m, again, in my seventh year starting, still in my twenties. I’m hanging onto that for one more year, so yeah. It’s – hopefully I can look back at this point and say I’ve learned so much more five years from now.”

On starting his rookie year off 0-7 and the impact it had on him: “Yeah, certainly took my lumps and learned – I always say, learned what it took to lose and how easy it is to lose if you don’t do the right things and how good our League is and yeah, learned a lot about myself and grew through that and I was able to overcome it.”

On if getting the game ball from Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell on Sunday in front of his teammates impacts him differently than the accolades he has earned: “Yeah, it’s special. Yeah, it’s definitely cool and appreciate him for that. But, hey again, like I said it’s never me. It’s typically a combination of a lot of things on our team that allows me to play at a high level and distribute the ball.”

 

Lions head to Baltimore to take Harbaugh's Brother's Ravens.

Game kicks off at 1:00pm on WBRN 1460am, 107.7fm, and 96.5fm.

 

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