LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET

September 26, 2024

On how tough the challenge of Seattle’s pass defense is: “Yeah, it’s tough. They’ve got good players, they’ve got good schemes. (Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon) 21, Witherspoon, just flies around, he’s a great player. I think (Seahawks CB Riq) Woolen’s been a great player for a long time. They’ve got a lot of good players over there, man. They’re really well-coached, you can tell, and they play hard.”

On how different Seattle’s defense looks from last season: “A ton different. Completely different staff, so it’s going to change entirely what they’re doing, and he does a good job.”

On if Seattle’s pressure on quarterbacks will force them to get the ball out early: “No, I don’t think so. We’ve got to diagnose the pressures and try to pick them up and, like I said, I think (Seahawks Head Coach Mike) MacDonald’s as good as it gets at generating that pressure and finding a way to get free rushers and we’ve got to find a way to not have free rushers.”

On how nice it is to have a veteran like Lions OL Graham Glasgow who can fill in for Lions C Frank Ragnow: “Yeah, he’s the Swiss army knife. He can kind of do it all. He’s played right guard, he’s played left guard this year, and now he’s playing center and it’s a luxury for us to have him, for sure.”

On if Seattle not having a lot of change in personnel can help in his preparation for the game or if it is completely different: “It’s a completely different scheme. I’m sure there’s a couple players that are still there, but as far as what you’re looking at schematically, it’s entirely different.”

On his scrambling and if he has been hiding his speed: “That’s right, I’ve been hiding it for eight years and now in my ninth I’ve decided to pull it out. No, we do joke about it, but I do think if I can get one a game, one first down with my legs a game, maybe it’s two, that’s kind of a big thing for us on third down if I can scramble and pick one up. I’ve gotten one in the first three games, so I try to do that every game, find a way to get one. It certainly helps us.”

On if he tried to work on his mobility in the offseason: “Yeah, I think so. I think just speed in general, if you don’t run, you’ll lose it. I’m not getting any younger and as time goes on, you’re fighting that battle of making sure you’re still running, especially as a quarterback, running and actively running and doing it in the offseason, doing it in-season because at practice I really don’t, so I have to actively put myself into some drills that make me run and get those fibers and those fast-twitch muscles going, as many as I have.”

On what his running drills look like: “Just running. Running out there and doing something that’s somewhat football-related, but just opening it up and, like I said, getting those two fast-twitch muscles going and feeling good.”

On what his 40-yard dash time was at the NFL Combine: “4.82.”

On if he thinks he is faster now than he was at the NFL Combine: “You train for that for so long, so I was at my peak speed at that point. I don’t know, I know (former QB Tom) Brady ended up running his faster, right? Maybe when I’m – 10 years from now, it’ll be faster, like he is, but I don’t know, maybe.”

On the plays at Arizona where they dropped defensive linemen into coverage and if he has to tip his hat to the defense: “No, I got – I mean, if you’re talking about the interception, I’ve got to see out in front of that and notice that guy’s there. I did kind of get a bit tunnel visioned on that and just saw (Lions TE) Brock (Wright) and was trying to hit him and never saw him. But that’s entirely on me, that’s not a pressure or scheme that’s unique to Arizona, a lot of teams do that, so it’s something I need to be aware of.”

On his throw to Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown that was disrupted at Arizona: “That was completely different. Different type of situation.”

On how much time of possession is important to the gameplan given the injuries the Lions have: “I’m not really concerned about that. I’m sure the coaching staff may be thinking about ways to control the clock, but that’s not any different for this week or any other week. I think you always would love to win kind of the possession battle, and if we play our game, stay on the field and convert on third downs, it’ll usually take care of itself.”