LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN QUOTE SHEET

October 17, 2024

Opening Statement: “Proud of the way that the guys went out and played this last game. I’m actually more proud of the way we came out as a team and played. That was a – you’re talking about a collaborative effort. That was a team unit going out there and playing the way that they had to play to go win a game. Obviously, it’s tough – and I’m going to go ahead and knock this out – it’s tough to lose a player like (Lions DL) Aidan (Hutchinson). We all know the type of player he was, we all know the type of season he was having. But here’s what we don’t do. We don’t ask guys to replace Aidan because everybody is his own man, and everybody has different traits and abilities. And we ask those guys to be them. We try to put them in positions to be the best player that they can be. The one thing that I’m not going to do and the one thing that I don’t want you guys to do is disrespect the guys that’s been playing behind him or playing with him because those guys go out in training camp, OTAs during the season, they bust their ass too to get an opportunity to come out here and play, and they’re going to do a good job for us. The one thing I do know is that Aidan doesn’t play every play, and we have guys that go out there and play when he’s out and they do a good job for us, and we expect them to continue to do a good job. The other thing that I want to point out, we had two guys that I want you guys to know that played their butts off in this game and that was (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA and (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac. I think you guys go back and watch how they played, I thought they battled their butts off. And before I get you guys to start asking questions, we had another guy that we lost in (Lions DL Kyle) Peko that was a huge, huge loss. I actually talked to him this morning because he actually went into his surgery and just told him how much that we were going to miss him, and I don’t take him for granted at all for what he did. So, that was a tough one also. So, again, proud of the way the guys played, looking forward to this game that we’re about to play, this will be a dog fight. There’s a ton of implications that go into this game. We know that, they know that, and we’re looking forward to this game.”

On how much he will modify the defense to work through Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson’s absence: “Every week we put a plan together and the plan is about players. It’s not just about this scheme that we have. And I say this every week, we do everything we can to put the players in the best position that we can to where it shows their strengths, and it limits their weaknesses. So, that’s what we plan to do and that’s my job. Even when we had Aidan. We moved Aidan around to put him in position so he can be successful too. So, that’s my job and that’s the fun part about being a coordinator is being able to do that week in and week out. It’s also a tough job because you also have guys on the other side of the ball that you have to make sure you take care of. But I’m excited about the guys that we have. Those guys are going to go out there and play well. The coaching staff that I have do a really good job of giving me the information I need also, to help me go out there and build a plan that’s going to help these guys go out there and play.”

On what Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell means when he said that sometimes you have to play differently when injuries happen: “Well I’m not going to tell you that. Listen, we’re playing every week and gameplans change every week. You guys said before that we play a lot of base against 11-personnel and I think last week we played a lot of nickel against 11-personnel, so each week can be different. And I tell my guys that we have to be like a chameleon. One week we are brown, other week we can be yellow, other week we could be orange, but the guys that we have are smart enough to be able to do that. And that’s the reason why I love being in this position because you have to figure out ways to be able to stop an offense and the way that offenses are now, that’s hard to do but our guys do a good job of understanding exactly what we’re trying to bring to the table. They go out there and fight their ass off to try to limit points and that’s one of our philosophies is limit points.”

On why the safety position is critical to the success of his defense: “Well this is something that actually started in New Orleans, my first year there, of understanding exactly the type of defense that we were trying to play, and that’s a multitude of different coverages in the backend, and that requires safeties that can communicate at a high level. That’s the first thing. The second thing is it requires safeties that can play man coverage and that’s across the board on our defense. And thirdly, safeties are highly instinctive that can understand where the ball is going to go make plays on the ball, and as you can see, our guys are doing a really good job of that. And that’s just how the system is built and that’s – I love safeties that can play that way. I think it allows you to allow your corners to play with leverage, they allow your safeties to have a little freedom within the defense to go make plays, and man we have one of the better ones in (Lions DB) Brian Branch that’s highly instinctive, that can play down, that can play back, and then (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph)’s in the middle of the field and he can do a lot. And his range to be able to go find the ball is unbelievable. It kind of reminds me of when I had (former Saints S) Malcolm Jenkins and (Ravens S) Marcus Williams when I was in New Orleans. So, those guys are somewhat similar, but there are differences between those guys also.”

On the combination of instincts and film study that goes into Lions DB Brian Branch getting the interception in the end zone in Week 6: “Well instincts are a part of who they are. That’s hard to explain to be honest with you because everybody has their own instincts to how they see things and can go make plays. But we knew that there were a ton of 7 routes that were ran by this team and I give a lot of credit to the DB coaches because they talked about that quite a bit. And they give presentations in front of the players, in front of the whole defense, and they talked about that quite a bit. So, when you do that, it allows your players to understand exactly what’s going on and be able to anticipate, go make those plays, and that’s what BB did.”

On why Lions DL Isaiah Thomas has not had an impact in the League yet with the measurables he has: “Well he hasn’t been here so I can’t answer that. The only thing I do know is he has the measurables like you just said. And listen, we just got the player. So, we have to figure out what the player can do well, and once we figure that out, we’ll be able to put him in spots to go in and help us on defense.”

On how he evaluates new players when they arrive during the regular season: “It’s always hard to do, but that’s why we practice the way that we practice. Now, we’re not one of these teams that are going to sit without pads on, we’re going to play. The only way you can practice football is to play, but the only way you can play football is to practice football. So, he’s going to have a chance to go out there and practice against one of the best O-lines in the League and see exactly what he can do, and then that’s going to tell us how we can play him.”

On how they build upon the turnovers they have been forcing: “Continue to do it. That’s an easy one. Continue to do it. We practice it all the time.”

On some of the changes he sees in the Vikings offense: “Listen I think (Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell) KO, the head coach, does a really good job of identifying exactly what (Vikings QB) Sam (Darnold) does well. Similar to what you see how the Rams kind of transformed themselves into this power run team, they went and got their running back, (Vikings RB) Aaron (Jones), and he’s tough to deal with. I don’t know what his situation is, but you can tell when he’s in there, this O-line has a different mentality as far as blocking downhill. They run this crunch play which is really power to create these doubles, and that’s a team that wants to be physical when they do that. So that’s another added element that they really didn’t have early before he got there or when he was there that they’re trying to implement into their offense. And when you have that, the play-action game shows up and I think that’s what Sam Darnold does a really good job of, the play-action. Now you don’t have as many receivers out in the routes, but you create a lot of space between the second and the third levels of your defense to where you can hit those 20-yard comebacks, you can hit those 20-yard dig routes. And he’s doing a good job of that, and the reason why is because of what Aaron brings to the table in this hard, physical, crunch play that they’re trying to run now.”

On the evolution of the linebackers as pass rushers and how they can help fill the absence of Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson: “Well this is something that I talk about every week, about the versatility of that linebacker room. We expect all of our guys to be able to create some type of pressure on the quarterback in some way, shape or form. We blitz (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone), we blitz (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell), we blitz (Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez) Rodrigo, we used to blitz (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes like crazy. Then we’re going to continue to do that because those guys have the ability to do that. The bigger man, I think that’s a tough matchup on backs. So, as much as we can do that, we’re going to do it.”

On what makes Vikings WR Justin Jefferson different than other receivers in the League: “Listen, here’s the – and that’s a really good question, because in my opinion, I think he’s the best receiver in the League. And that’s no disrespect to any of the other receivers. Listen, (Bengals WR) Ja'Marr Chase – it’s a ton of really, really good receivers in this League. I think the one thing that sets him apart is his toughness. This guy here has taken some shots going across the middle and he’s not afraid to go across the middle and he’s going to reach, grab and do whatever he can to catch the ball, and he takes some shots, he gets right back up. He has a swagger about himself, he gets right back to the huddle, he’s ready to go play. And I think that inspires his teammates. You’re talking about a great player that elevates his teammates, that’s one of the reasons why his teammates are elevated because of the way that he plays the game.”

On if they cannot have a singular gameplan against Vikings WR Justin Jefferson’s ability to adjust quickly: “Well it shows his ability of who he is and I think the coaching staff did a really good job of trying to get him in positions to where you just can’t press him and things like that, because they move him around quite a bit against us, and we have to do a really good job with our coverage responsibility to make sure that we’re on point, our alignments are right, understanding exactly what we’re trying to do in certain situations, man or zone, to make sure that we’re not out of position, and they do a good job of that.”