LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET

December 26, 2023

 

On Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell saying the team needs to stay focused and not prolong celebrating the NFC North division title: “Yeah, I think he’s exactly right. We’ve got to move forward now. It was a fun 24 hours enjoying that, having a good Christmas, being able to enjoy the fanfare of all that was winning the division, but that’s over. That’s behind us now and now we’ve got another game to win in Dallas.”

On if he thinks complacency caused them to lose any of their earlier games this season and what lessons were learned from it: “I don’t think complacency caused us to lose any games. I think that’s what you get fearful of when you do win a division. And certainly, in our situation, won one for the first time in a long time and think the job’s done, and by no means is it. We’ve got a ton more goals ahead of us and everything is in our control, and we can go out there and do whatever we want to this year, just have to go execute.”

On Cowboys CB DaRon Bland’s ability to intercept and return passes: “Yeah, he’s very opportunistic. He makes those plays when they come his way and has seemed to take them all back to the house. It’s a good thing to do as a defensive back. But yeah, he’s played well, he’s made plays on the ball, he’s got great ball skills. And I think he’s got the NFL record, right, for most taken back? It’s incredible. It’s a good testament to what type of player he is and yeah, has great ball skills.”

On the value of having two running backs like Lions RBs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs that both add high levels of production: “Yeah, they’re both starting backs in this League for really any team and to have them both on the same team and have them both be able to complement each other so well, it makes us dangerous. And we try to use it to our advantage as well as possible. I think one of the biggest things I’ve noticed is how we’re able to keep them both pretty fresh throughout the game. It doesn’t feel like either of them get too tired because they’re able to rotate in and out, and when you can do that, it’s hard on a defense. And those two guys are special and we’re lucky to have them.”

On the challenges Cowboys LB Micah Parsons’s varying alignments presents: “Yeah, moves around quite a bit. I think that’s kind of their advantage with him is they can move him around. They can put him off the ball, they can put him on the ball, stand him over the middle. So, yeah, they do a bunch of stuff with him. He’s a dangerous player, he’s a great player, he can do a hell of a lot and we’ve got to be aware of where he’s at.”

On if playing well the past two weeks against two good defenses carries confidence over into this week: “Yeah, sure. I think it seems like every week for the last handful of weeks we’re just looking at every team’s defense’s turnover stats and how good they are on the ball and then we come in and we’ve had two games in a row now with taking care of the ball pretty well. And so, yeah, it’ll carry into this one certainly, but yeah, it’s something we’re always conscious of is taking care of the ball and giving our team the best chance to win. But this defense is good, and we’ve got our work cut out.”

On if Lions WR Jameson Williams is considered to be ‘one of the guys now’: “Yeah, no doubt. He’s worked himself into that role and trust him on really everything he’s doing now. And he’s done a hell of a job, man, getting himself there. And again, it’s just reps, just time and he’s still a young player and still learning and growing, but just keeps doing this every week. And it’s exciting for me, it’s exciting for our offense.”

On what caused the number of delay of game penalties in the game against Minnesota: “It’s a handful of things. It’s mostly us to just getting up out of the huddle and getting set and snapping the ball. Typically, that’s the issue with those and it was this week. I think I spoke it after the game, but that end of game sequence wasn’t our best and defense bailed us out. It was nice to have that, but we’d like to finish with the ball on the field in one of those last two drives and weren’t able to. But yeah, it was just poor communication.”

On if there is anything particularly challenging as a quarterback about playing at AT&T Stadium compared to other stadiums: “It’ll get loud. It’ll get loud like other places, but I just think they’re very comfortable there, right? That’s what it seems, and we’ve got to find a way to go in there and be comfortable as well and find a way to win. And they’re a great team. They’re really good at home like you mentioned and we’ll have our work cut out.”

On if they feel equally as comfortable playing on the road as they do at home: “Yeah, I think so. Yeah, we’ve won games on the road, and we’ve won games at home. And we’re a good road team and we feel good about in about pretty much anywhere. We went to Arrowhead earlier this year and won there and are much harder atmospheres to play in than that. So, yeah, we feel good about going in anywhere and find a way to win.”

On what the last 36 hours have been like since winning the NFC North division: “Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s been cool. You try to soak it in, you try to enjoy it. The old 24-hour rule, win or lose and try to treat it that way, and yeah, it’s been exciting. I think the city’s excited. We’re excited. I know the fans are thrilled we get a home playoff game at the very least, but with that being said, like I said earlier, we’ve got so much more in front of us that we want to accomplish and we’re very, very happy with winning the division, but by no means satisfied or content. Have got a lot to do still and it’ll be fun.”

On how valuable it is to play a playoff-caliber team like Dallas late in the season: “Yeah, it’s always good late in the year. You get teams – I mean you have Minnesota, Denver, those teams are playoff bound potentially, and Dallas obviously as well. You get teams like that you can kind of stack up with and see where you’re at. And yeah, these are the fun ones, man. Late in the year, another good team, at their place, can’t draw it up much better. It’ll be fun. It’ll be a good atmosphere. They’ll be ready to go, we’ll be ready to go. It’ll be a good game.”

On if the goal now is to get a better seed for playoffs: “Well, yeah, we’d like to win this game first, and if we win this game and then we win the next one, we would have the two seed I believe. But yeah, what we can control is winning this week and again, obviously a big one. They’re a great team. They’re fighting for their division as well, so it’ll be a tough one. But yeah, we’d like to win this one and continue our chance at a higher seed.”

On if they as players believe in the Cowboys’ mystic of being ‘America’s Team’: “Well, that’s certainly their nickname, right? I don’t know if that means anything. They’re a good team. Yeah, I don’t know. I didn’t play them in the ‘90s when they got that nickname, but they’re a great team and have been a great team for a long time and have a lot of really good players and are really well coached. Yeah, they’ll be a tough challenge for us.”