LIONS QB JARED GOFF QUOTE SHEET

December 26, 2024

On the present that he got the offensive linemen for Christmas: “See, it’s hard when you have guys giving out Toyota trucks to try to keep up with that, but I got them a nice Yeti package with a ton of wagyu and steaks and beef and a bunch of stuff. I hope they like it.”

On where he feels like the team has grown from going through the loss at the NFC Championship together: “Yeah, a ton. Anytime you go deep in the playoffs, and you go through a game like that, you learn, you grow, you get better, you get closer, all that stuff comes into play. We felt so close to winning that game and we came up short, but yeah, it served us well this season and hopefully as we go into the postseason.”

On how different the 49ers defense is compared to last season: “Yeah, there’s differences, there’s slight difference but a lot of it’s the same and we’re slightly different and a lot of what we do is the same, so we’ll see if we change much or add some things and I’m sure they will as well. You always expect a little bit of a wrinkle when the game comes.”

On signing Lions QB Teddy Bridgewater: “Yeah, it’s fun, it’s cool. I’m glad I have him back here, state champ Teddy Bridgewater is what we call him now, but yeah, he’s a valuable asset to our team and I love having him in the quarterback room and he’s great to have around.”

On how the other quarterbacks on the roster help prepare him for a game: “They all do a ton, whether it’s breaking down the stuff early percentage wise, like getting the percentages and (Lions QB) Jake (Fromm) does a lot of that weekly of, what’s the percentages of what they play on certain downs, and then through the week, just little quizzes here and there, making sure we’re on our stuff. The night before the game, we’ll go through the whole thing, and they’ll keep me on my toes. Now, (Lions QB) Teddy (Bridgewater) is a guy that I mentioned last year, a guy who’s played, a guy who’s played in big games, he’s had that experience, and I can kind of lean on him for some of those things as well. He’s a veteran and he’s got great insight.”

On facing 49ers DL Nick Bosa and 49ers LB Fred Warner: “Of course, yeah, those two guys are great players, All-Pro players, played them for a long time now. They’re great players, they’re tough to beat every week you play them and those two guys in particular, you have to be aware of where they are and as well as a bunch of the other guys on defense.”

On if there is anything different with 49ers Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen’s scheme: “Yeah, slightly, there’s some different things just like anyone else after a year of tape, there’s some differences but a lot of it’s the same as well. But yeah, there are some slight things.”

On if there is any closure they can get from beating the 49ers this season: “No, not really. If it was NFC Championship, maybe, but no this is a regular season game, one we need to win, one we want to win. They’re a good team, I don’t care that they’re eliminated, they have a lot of great players on that team that have played in big games and they’re going to want to beat us, so we have to come out ready to go. It’ll be hard on the road, good atmosphere, I get a lot of family there which will be nice, but it’ll be a good one.”

On if it will be tough to root for the Packers when they play the Vikings this Sunday: “Yeah, I don’t know. Whatever happens in that game, it doesn’t dictate much for us. We want to win this one just because it is the next one. We'll get there to next one when it comes, but we want to beat these guys.”

On if it is nice to know that if the Vikings lose to the Packers they can clinch the number one seed in the playoffs if they beat the 49ers: “We know the scenario, but we certainly don’t want to overlook anything or try to hope something happens. Whatever happens, happens, so we’ll see.”

On if this week is where standing on an even keel becomes more important: “Sure, yeah, yes and that’s every week. At this point in the season, we’re going to play San Francisco and then after that we play Minnesota and then after that the playoffs start. So, those two teams right there, there’s no breaks. We have a lot of tough teams ahead of us. (Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben (Johnson) said it great, ‘It’s now, playoffs kind of start now.’ It’s a bunch of good teams we’re going to play and go on the road again this week to a hard atmosphere and have to try to find a way to win.”

On how important Lions WR Jameson Williams has been this season: “Tremendously. He’s provided an element to our offense that we hadn’t really had previously. Last year, we had him, but we missed him for part of that. It’s nice, it’s really good what he’s done and being able to get better every week and improve and like you said, his maturity has grown and he pushes himself really hard, he really does, and he holds himself to a high standard and he wants to get better and he wants to improve. He’s constantly communicating with me, it’s a lot of fun to work with him and when he makes plays like that, you see all the work pay off and he’ll just continue to get better.”

On seeing Lions WR Kalif Raymond return to practice: “Yeah, it was good, I told him, ‘Man I thought you were going to shut it down this year?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh I could never.’ It was good to see him out there and we love him and love to have him back and as soon as he can get back, I know we’ll be able to use him and yeah, he’s a hell of a teammate, hell of a player and I’m happy he’s back out there.”

On watching Lions K Jake Bates grow throughout the season: “Yeah, it’s been great. He’s grown up as well and it’s fun to see him make those plays, it’s fun to see him make those kicks and make them in big spots this year, he really has. He’s got such an even keel about him that you can’t seem to rattle him and that’s what you want in your kicker. You don’t want a guy that’s high or low and I know he’s very confident in himself and we’re confident in him and expect him to make some big kicks as we go on.”

On if Lions WR Jameson Williams can run a 4.1 40-yard dash: “Yeah, I guess if he says so, I don’t know. We’ll have to go measure it sometime. He’s hard to track down if we want to measure his 40, but he says 4.1, we have to hold him accountable.”