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00:00Ben, a minute since we've had Coach on following a loss like three months, Dan, good morning.
00:06How are you?
00:07Good.
00:08How are y'all doing?
00:09Good.
00:10Good.
00:11Let's start with the mood in the building, right?
00:12I mean, losing is not something you guys have had a lot of this season, and now the injury
00:15is on top of it.
00:16Just where are you guys at in the room right now?
00:19Yeah, I mean, we're good.
00:22We're trying to get ready for Chicago, you know, after last night, you know, just trying
00:28to get up on this tape since that was a late one, you know, and that'll be really two games
00:37since we played them last, you know, with kind of the new system in place, new coach,
00:44all that defensively, the head coach, so anyway, that's where we're at.
00:50Is it like preparing for a brand new team?
00:52Obviously, the players aren't changing, but the system may be a little bit different,
00:56the way they're operating different is, and we'll get back to what happened this weekend,
01:00but is it like almost preparing for a brand new team?
01:03Yeah, a little bit it is, because you're trying to get their tendencies, you know, it's not
01:10Ibraflu's fingerprint on it anymore, I mean, there's still enough of that that's there
01:16because you're not going to go away from what was built, the team was built around, or the
01:21style they play, or the scheme, things of that nature, however the way they do it, you know,
01:26like we know last night, they're going to try to be aggressive, you know, they're going to use
01:32four downs, they got nothing to lose, and so we got to be prepared for that, and then just
01:37defensively, what they're calling, Eric Washington's calling it on defense now, so just
01:42getting up to that, but, and we'll get it, you know, we'll have a beat on this team, and be
01:51ready to go out there and play those guys.
01:53Dan, I know you don't dwell on the injuries, you've said it's not really worth spending the energy on,
01:59but we've had spirited discussions on the show today about, some fans are going, hey, we're
02:03grit, we're defiant, we're going to get this done, for those that are questioning it, or maybe
02:08have some doubts, what would you say to those fans?
02:12Well, let me say this first, man, you know, any time you lose players, man, it's hard,
02:19and it's, you know, the obvious that everybody sees is, you know, you lose, you lose the
02:25player, and that production, and what he's done on the field, but it's more than that to us,
02:31it's more to that, you know, the coaches and his teammates, I mean, they bring so much more to
02:36the table than just out there running around, and trying to make plays, you know, what they
02:42bring to the locker room, the laughs you have, the bond you have with those guys, so when you
02:46lose a guy like Eileen McNeil, it's a big part of what we do, and Dave Montgomery, and Khalil
02:53Dorsey, and Carlton Davis, you know, man, those hurt, those hurt, man, and you hate losing guys
03:00like that, but at the same time, we got an opportunity, and you know, I told those guys, and
03:08with anybody that's been hurt, no matter to Hutch, to Kaminsky, to all of them, man, I don't
03:14want, this can't be in vain, these injuries that these guys, which all of our guys lay it on the
03:20line, but we can't let these injuries be in vain, man, all of those players helped us get to the
03:25point we're at, they helped us get, these last four helped us get to 12 wins, and we owe it to
03:30them to finish this thing out, and that's how I view it, and so it means there's another
03:36opportunity for other guys, you know, and, and look, I don't, I don't, you know, what happens is, you
03:45know, you win 11 in a row, you know, and you lose, and then the sky falls, and I hate to say it, but
03:51we're not going to be able to win 11 in a row again for the rest of this season, we're just not
03:56going to be able to do it, and you know, what happens is, you get used to eating filet, and I'm
04:02talking to all of us, and well, everything's good, life's good, you know, and, but you forgot what it
04:07was like when you had nothing, and you ate your fucking molded bread, you know, and it was just
04:12fine, and it gave you everything you needed, and sometimes you got to get punched in the mouth, and
04:17remember what it used to be like to really appreciate where you are, and we'll do that, and so
04:22we got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys, and you
04:28know what, it's exactly what we needed, this is exactly what we needed, so we're going to bounce
04:32back, we're going to respond, we got guys that are about to have an unbelievable opportunity here, and
04:37we will play the game any way needed to win, we still got a good offense, we got plenty of
04:43defensive players, I can go rattle them off right now, we're going to put the best 11 on the field,
04:47we're going to freaking cut it loose, we're going to play with our special teams, and I don't give a
04:51crap if we got to win by one point for the rest of the year, that's what we're going to do, and I'm
04:56going to be happy about it, we come out of the game with 50 yards of total offense, and we win by
05:02one, you're going to see smiles on my face, I promise you, all right, if it's the other way
05:07defensively, we give up 700 yards, and we win by one point, you're going to see a fucking smile from
05:13my ear to ear, all right, I can promise you, so we're going to find a way, and we're going to get
05:18it done.
05:19So let's talk a little bit more about Sunday, and you said after the Tampa game, 55 passes,
05:26that's not a recipe to win, 59 against Buffalo, not a recipe to win, what were the challenges you
05:33guys faced in the run game, why didn't it work?
05:38Yeah, you know, oddly enough, it was one person here, one person there, and man, the scheme was
05:44pretty good, we felt like there was a couple of things we didn't like how we designed them, we put
05:49our guys in tough positions, but then after that, it was, man, we've got everything we need on the
05:55front side, and then we're, you know, we don't get the backside block, or we're, you know, we're late,
06:01we don't get up on the snap count, or it's a receiver here, it's the tight end here, it's the guard
06:04here, it's front side here, and it literally, we took turns, you know, one by one making those errors,
06:11and before you know it, you know, the game kind of gets to where it's at, and now you're out of the
06:16run game completely, you know, because we ended up down, I mean, we only had 15 rushes, and certainly
06:22when you don't rush it good early in those, you're not going to continue to go back to them, it's just
06:26hard to do that, you know, so we'll get all that cleaned up, I'm telling you, I don't, I'm really not
06:34losing sleep over that, I know we'll get those things corrected, those guys will bounce back, and, you
06:40know, there again, for the way that thing turned out, we protected well, we really did, we did a solid
06:46job protection, golf played really well, you know, guys made plays, it's just, we can't put ourselves
06:51in that type of hole.
06:52Talking to Lions head coach Dan Campbell today, the onside kick, 12 minutes left, you're not getting
06:59enough stops, you want to steal a possession, there was a debate on the show about it, I understand
07:03it, you're trying to get an extra possession, why not an onside kick again, at the eight minute mark,
07:08like, were you second guessing yourself?
07:11Okay, no, probably should have, I mean, what it, you know, here's what puts a stink on it is when it
07:19gets returned down to the five. And that's not the reality. I mean, that's such a rare, it's not why
07:24you're kicking onside kicks for it's like, okay, worst case scenario, they're going to take it all
07:28the way down to the five. Well, that's, that's, that's a whole different variable you don't think
07:32about, you know, and you shouldn't have to think about it was just that he made a hell of a play,
07:35he got it down there. But hindsight, I wish I would have gone ahead and done it on the next one.
07:41Obviously, Gibbs workload touches probably going to have to go up. Greg Reynolds, we'll probably see
07:46more of him. How do you fill the void the production left by David Montgomery?
07:53Yeah, look, Gibbs is going to take on a bigger, bigger role here. And he's ready for that. He knows
07:59that he understands that we'll use him. And the trick is really, you know, maximizing the reps that
08:04we use him, but yet not not killing him, you know, I mean, he's needed. And he understands that, but
08:10we're still going to need some help out of Reynolds and Vaki and those guys. And that'll be the big
08:17thing here. But But yeah, he's he's about to go up and look, he's ready for this, man. He's gotten
08:22better and better all season. And and now he's our he's our lead horse. He's got to be ready to roll.
08:28Replacing Carlton Davis. Is there a consideration to putting branch back out at corner or you just
08:34don't want to do that? Because he means so much to you guys as kind of a rover or safety? Is he
08:39someone you'd consider playing more at corner?
08:42Yeah, we, you know, we're really looking at everything. And this has been this an ongoing
08:52discussion right now. And I'm actually when I get done here, I'm, I'm going to go down there. And
08:56we're gonna talk a little bit more about it. But I mean, we've, as of last night, we started to feel
09:02pretty good about what we think we may do. And we're, you know, really, the whole idea is
09:09everything that we've got on the roster, from practice squad to you guys. So we brought Pittman
09:14back, you know, he knows our system. We know what he's about. We know he can play special teams and
09:21and help us on defense in some capacity. But it's really, man, how do we how do we maximize the
09:28guys that we have? And where do we put them? And that's always going to be a discussion with
09:32branches, man, you know, okay, where is he going to be most productive? All right. And then where
09:39are we going to be helped most defensively with where he's at versus everybody else. And so and
09:45then they may not be the same answers. And that's, that's where it gets tough. So we're still
09:51tinkering with a little bit, but I mean, I feel good with with where we're going to go. I really
09:56do. And I know it's doom and gloom. We got plenty of weapons. Now we got plenty of good defensive
10:02players left here. And like I say, we'll play any way we need to. And we'll put our best 11 out
10:08there and let them go.
10:09And I know that you mentioned it already in terms of you just got to score one more than the
10:14opponent. And if they if they run for 500 yards, if they get 700 yards of offense, it doesn't
10:18matter. You just got to score one more point. How do you get your offense to fixate on what they're
10:24doing is enough. And Jared Goff throws for five touchdowns, nearly 500 yards, and it's a loss. How
10:31do you prevent them from trying to go outside of their role of their skill set? Because players want
10:38to make plays, they want to win games. But you got to make sure that they're not trying to do more
10:42than they're asked to do. How do you prevent against that?
10:45Yeah, you keep telling them that, John, you know, it's a great point. And it's even last week, you
10:51know, at the end of that game, at one point, we were down 21 points. And, you know, I just I
10:55continue to tell golf, hey, man, don't press it, just stay the course, take what's there. This
11:01thing will come back around. And you have to play that way. Now you get the ball in your hands,
11:06protect it, all of that, you got to do something with it. But as far as the way we execute, man, we
11:12need everybody on point, do exactly what your coach to do. And then once you get the ball in the
11:17hands, you protect it. Now, let's go, let's see if we can do something. And we need guys rallying to
11:21the football, finish downfield block for your teammate. But but it's it's just another emphasis
11:28on man, the first down is the most important thing. First down, then touchdown, first down, then
11:32touchdown. And if we do that, man, we can execute at a very high level. And, and I mentioned before,
11:39we can we can alleviate pressure where needed, we can add a little bit tinker a little bit. But
11:45that's why you play with three phases.
11:48Last thing I was gonna ask you about was how you get how you address the urgency gap from last week to
11:54this week. But I feel like you've kind of already answered that it sounds like you guys are going to
11:57be raring to go when you play Chicago on Sunday.
12:00Urgency will not be an issue this week, I can promise you that we're gonna be ready to roll man,
12:05our guys are gonna walk in the door, and they're gonna be hot tomorrow. And they're gonna be ready
12:09to practice, we're gonna get that bad taste out of her mouth. And we're gonna go out to Chicago and
12:15we're gonna play much better.
12:17Lions head coach Dan Campbell, we appreciate your time. Thanks, coach.