LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET

November 15, 2023        

Opening Statement: “Obviously, first day getting ready for Chicago. This is a physical, tough team. They play hard, they finish, they’ve got weapons, they’ve got skill players. Sounds like (Bears QB Justin) Fields will be back, so he’s a dangerous – he’s dangerous, he’s very dangerous. So, I’d say they’re at full force and this is a formidable opponent. So, we’ve got our hands full. We’ve got to be ready to go. And so, this is day one of it.”

On if Bears QB Justin Fields’s explosive throws are the element Chicago has been missing the last couple years: “Yeah, look, he’s stretching the ball down the field. They’re asking him to do some things in that pass game that they weren’t necessarily doing before, but they also – they’ve got (Bears WR DJ) Moore now. This number two is – he’s one of these premier guys now. He’s dangerous, he’s versatile, he’s strong, he’s got run after catch, vast route tree, he’s a weapon. (Bears TE) Cole Kmet, his game is elevated. He’s dangerous, big red zone target for them. Shoot, (Bears WR Darnell) Mooney’s still dangerous. I mean they’ve got weapons across the board. Sounds like (Bears RB Khalil) Herbert will be back, (Bears RB D'Onta) Foreman’s running hard. He fits that offense, what they ask him to do. We got a dose of him last year at Carolina, so we know what he is, so. And Fields, with his ability to run under duress makes him extremely dangerous.”

On the point of emphasis to the team on winning divisional games: “Man, it’s – look, if you aspire to win the division, you have to win your division games. That’s the bottom line and we’ve only – we’ve got one under our belt and this is number two. So, it’s as simple as that. You don’t know how these games are going to unfold. You don’t know how the season’s going to entirely unfold at the end, but certainly, you better have a majority of the division wins if that’s what you plan on doing. So, it’s that – I always say they count for two. This is like winning two games a little bit when you play these division games. So, it’s important, it’s important. It’s a conference game and more importantly, it’s a division game.”

On how to ensure the team avoids a ‘trap game’ after an emotional win over the Chargers: “Yeah, look, I told them today, I said, ‘You know what, go watch the tape. That’s it and put all your focus on this tape and you tell me what the tape says.’ And the tape validates everything I just opened up with. This team plays hard, they finish and they’ve got some dudes, on offense and defense, they’ve got some players now. This is not the same team we played last year. It’s not. So, I keep it as simple as that and tell them exactly how it is. You don’t know what it’s going to take, but I mean for us, we’ve got to play a clean game, we’ve got to be steady and you don’t know, it make take the fourth quarter to finally get this one, but so be it. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to win this game, but you just tell them exactly what it is, man. And it is as simple as that. Go watch the tape. The tape doesn’t lie, so.”

On signing Lions DL Bruce Irvin to the practice squad and what he can add at this stage of his career: “Well, I think it’s no different than adding (Lions OL Michael) Schofield (III). Let’s get some veteran guys that we feel like – it’s hard to find players as the season goes on here that you may need. So, we added both those guys to the vet squad. We got (Lions CB) Kindle Vildor as well. So, that gives us some veteran guys that have played some football that we have interest in. They have versatility and that’s really what it is right now. Let’s see where it is. For a guy like Bruce for example, he came in, gave us a little workout yesterday, enough to see where he’s at. He’s got superhuman genes by the way. I mean this guy, he takes great care of himself, but he’s not in football shape. He’s in shape, but he’s not in football shape. So, we’ve got to get him there first and then we’ll see where it goes.”

On the pass rush so far and what they could gain from bringing in a pass rusher from outside the building: “Well, look, you can never have too many rushers in your building. So, it brings a guy who – we’ll just see what it is. He still certainly shows that he’s got a quick first step, he’s got power and he can bend. We’ll see where it is. I would say man, there’s been most of the games we’ve played this year, our pressure has been very good. We’re getting to the quarterback. And then we’ve had a couple games where it doesn’t. And I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t – we’re judging everything off of one or two times here. But I’ll start with what I just said, you can never have too many guys that you feel like can affect the quarterback.”

On if he expects Lions G Halapoulivaati Vaitai to return this season from the Reserve/Injured list: “That’s hard to say. I think it’s probably unlikely, but I don’t want to ever – never say never. But I would say it’s probably unlikely.”

On if Lions G Halapoulivaati Vaitai’s injury is related to his back injury from last season: “It is, it is. Just a little bit of a residual effect of it. And look, V’s been a – he’s unbelievable. He really is. I mean there’s nothing easy about the injury he’s had to come back from, then he had the knee and he’s been rehabbing this thing for a long time, he’s put in a ton of work and that’s not easy. It’s not easy at all. But he’s the type of guy you ask him how he’s doing, he always says he’s fine. That’s just him. And so, no matter what, I told him, we want him around here, he wants to be around and he’s still very much a part of us and what we are here.”

On the challenge presented by the Bears’ run defense: “Yeah, I think it’s what I said. They – man, they’ve got length, they’ve got size, they’ve got quickness, they move a ton. This is a stunning defense. They’ve got a ton of different looks coverage-wise, and I think when you’re able to play multiple coverages, you have length, you play with speed and you move, it creates problems. It can create problems. If we can’t handle their movement upfront, it’ll be one of those long days for us, so. And why? Because they play so hard. This team plays hard and they finish on the football. So, this’ll be a test. This is going to be a test for us, but it’s a test that we accept.”

On Bears DL Montez Sweat bringing a new element to their defense: “Oh absolutely. Yes, he does. Sweat’s a good player. I mean I think he’s already got 10 pressures since he’s just been with them. His power and length shows up. I mean it’s there. I just go back to this again, he’s a heck of a player, but we’ve got two pretty good tackles too.”

On if the Minnesota Vikings continuing to win helps motivate the team to stay locked in: “I think it’s always good to have somebody. I mean look man, we’re all about competition and I’ve said it before, we’ve got to assume they’re not going to lose out until we see them again. So, this is – they’ve won three or four in a row, I don’t know what that is. They keep getting better and we’ve got to keep winning. We just have to. We can’t worry about them until the time shows up, but yeah, I mean let’s go. It reminds me a little bit of when I was at the Giants in 2000 and the Eagles were just coming into their own with Andy Reid and (Donovan) McNabb was in his second year. And man, we were winning. We went 12-4 that year. And we’d win, they’d win, we’d win, they’d win, we’d win and they’d win, we’d win – and I think they were 11-5, but I mean it was just back and forth. We played them three times that year, played them in the playoffs too, but man, it was just nonstop. It was back and forth. So, it's going to come down to playing those games. You’ve got to keep winning and then when the time comes and you play that opponent, man, you’ve got to win those games.”

On if he sees Chicago utilizing Bears QB Justin Fields as more of a passer this year: “I think they would like to throw it more than they have is the best way to say it, but we’re planning on getting a lot of what we got last year, particularly the first game, use him more as a weapon. That’s the way we see it. But yes, they are, but the guy’s too dangerous. So, we’re going to kind of prepare that way.”

On what Lions WR Jameson Williams has done to earn the trust to be a part of the gameplan: “Yeah, look, he’s improving, and I think I said this the other day, he feels like he’s one of the guys now. Man, he’s part of the team, he’s one of the guys, he’s putting in a good day’s work, he’s physical, he’s tough. And so, the more that he earns his stripes here, the more opportunities he gets because every time he makes a block like he does or he runs the routes he’s running, he makes some catches, you just gain the trust of everybody around you and it just keeps going and going. And his comfort level, his confidence level is going up. So, he’s in a good place right now. He’s improving. It’s a good thing, man. We’re proud of the way he went after it the other day.”

 

LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET

November 15, 2023

On how seriously he takes competing against the Bears no matter what their record is: “Oh yeah, very seriously. And I think they’re a whole lot better than their record shows. They’ve been banged up a little bit throughout the year and getting their quarterback back now and have done some really good things on defense, so we’ll have our hands full.”

On if he sees the Bears as in a similar position the Lions were in last year around this time and how dangerous he thinks the Bears can be later on in the season: “Yeah, that’s so hard to compare, contrast, but I do think, like I just mentioned, they’re better than their record may say they are and we know they’re going to come to play.”

On what Bears DE Montez Sweat brings to their defense: “Yeah, he’s a good player. They traded for him for a reason, they extended him for a reason and he’s been a good player for a handful of years now and will – again, will be a challenge for us.”

On if he has confidence that Lions Ts Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell can stop the Bears’ pass rush: “Of course, yeah, of course. A ton of confidence in those guys. I think two weeks in a row now, no sacks, is pretty impressive.”

On how valuable Lions Ts Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell are in allowing the offense to succeed: “I mean, so valuable. We feel like, we don’t like to, but we can leave them on an island and those guys go to work and do their thing and it allows us to get guys out a little bit faster into routes and a whole bunch of other things in the run game that we can do because they’re so good on the edge. But yeah, Deck and Penei kind of have anchored us for a handful of years now and it feels good.”

On how different the Bears defense is from last year with the new personnel they added in the offseason: “Yeah, I think it’s much different. It’s much more coverages they’re calling, for sure, much more blitzes they’re calling, a different guy who’s calling the defense now than last year and so yeah, much different and obviously, the personnel has changed as well and added some things in the offseason. And I think they’ve improved greatly.”

On if there are moments during shootout games like against the Chargers where it hits him that they need to score points every drive: “I think you just know you’re going to need points. I don’t think you change how you’re playing or anything. I think about halftime, when they scored pretty quickly there before half to tie it up, I believe, it would be right after the half, is when you go, ‘OK, we may need a few more touchdown drives here.’ And yeah, they were able to do some good things offensively, but so were we.”

On if it starts to feel like a divisional race in the second half of a season with the Vikings winning their past few games: “Yeah, it always will be and they’re a good team and again, Chicago is, I think, a good team and so is Green Bay, so we’ve got our hands full with all three of those teams and this is another one for us to hopefully get a W with.”

 

Lions host the Bears this Sunday at 1:00pm.

All Detroit Lion football games air on WBRN 1460am, 107.7fm, & 96.5fm.

 

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