Matt LaFleur on Detroit Lions: ‘They are going to be aggressive’

Matt LaFleur on Detroit Lions: ‘They are going to be aggressive’

happened to to Lucas? No, I I just think um well, yes. Uh he’s been dealing with an injury and so, you know, I think we all were thinking he’d be further along than he is and unfortunately he’s where he’s at and um so it’s kind of, you know, day-to-day type thing. Okay. I guess I ask about I was wondering if you had a setback because he played six snaps and then Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s a setback. Um, I just think it’s just where he’s at and we thought he might be able to go and he tried to go and wasn’t feeling it. So, that’s where he’s at. Is uh Keshan making progress? He went from DMP to limited today. Yeah, all those I mean, a lot of these guys are making progress. Um, unfortunately, you’re you’re kind of up against it when you’re talking about a Thursday night football. Um, so we’ll see where they’re at. Obviously, he’s a guy that we would absolutely give up till game time to to see if he can go. Jacob spoke pretty confidently when he talked to us last week that if he missed a game, it would just be one game and he’d be back for this one. You feel pretty good about him at this point. Well, we’ll see. We’ll see how he responds. I mean, I know we don’t have we didn’t have a a full practice. It was all everything was walked through today and um so we’ll just see kind of how he’s feeling on game day. With Jaden, whenever he comes back, whether that be this week, next, with a guy who’s not coming back from a soft tissue injury, is it easier for them to be back once they’re back and really hit the ground running without that fear of reagating anything? Um, I don’t I don’t necessarily think that. I think it it’s all about time on task and getting the practice reps in and staying in that rhythm. Um, so I’m sure there’s there’s always going to be a little bit of just a reaclamation, I would say, in terms of return to play, but he I mean, he’s a great competitor. Certainly can feed off his playmaking ability and the energy that he brings not only to our offense, but our football team. What’s What changes with Dan Campbell? I mean, have you seen anything play calling wise or offensive scheme wise that’s changed since he’s taken over the offense? I don’t know necessarily changed. Um I think he’s done a heck of a job. Um you know putting his guys in position and then ultimately they got a ton of playmakers. Obviously, it all starts their offensive line, I think, is is really talented. And then I think golf just watching him play and he’s he’s playing the best football these last couple years of his career and he’s he’s playing at extremely high level and then you got a bunch of playmakers to to throw it to. Uh with Aman Rah, with Williams um obviously Gibbs and Montgomery are are two very special backs. So obviously I know I know they’re missing Laaporta which is a big loss for them but they it’s they got a lot of weapons. From your perspective when Jordan has to do the hand off with just the one hand the way he did last week. How much of an how much of a hindrance at all is that when Well I don’t think you necessarily want to see that. Um I I think it it’s not natural and you never want to put the ball in jeopardy and certainly some of our passes will come off our actions and if you if you’re not doing the right action it it can take away from that effect I would say. Is that something you talked about with him last week that you might have to use that back? No, it just kind of happened. But I it’s not the first time I’ve seen it and I think he’s seen other guys that were here before do the same thing. So, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do to feel comfortable and um you know, obviously we’re we’re we feel good with him in there, so it’s whatever it takes. When you’re going against an offense that might go for fourth down every time, but how does that affect you as a play caller? Are you any more or less aggressive? You just got to stay in your lane and and manage the way that you want. I think it’s all about the flow of the game, just the complexion of the game and that how that will impact maybe some decisions a little bit more, but I I do know that they are going to be aggressive and they’re they they show that aggressiveness in all three phases. What did you see from a belt and watching the tape back and are you inclined just to give it to him from the start on Thursday? Well, we’ll see. We’ll see where we’re at. We’ll go through our preparation, but I thought, you know, he came in there and he did a great job. I thought he he showed the physicality and the strength that we’re looking for at that position. Obviously, he’s a big man. Um, first time playing guard, but I thought all in all, I thought he did a pretty good job. I know you said, you know, at the beginning of the year you just wanted him to focus on tackle. How long has he been working inside as well in practice? Well, as you know, we like to cross trainin a lot of these guys. Um, I I do think it’s a little bit more difficult when you’re talking about younger players. you like him to kind of get into a rhythm at at one position, but um you know, he’s such a talented player that, you know, we we just felt like that was best for us. Now, you talked about Kamal’s growth. Um how much does it help if he does have to be the guy uh that he got the opportunity he did last week to kind of get his feet wet playing on defense in the NFL? Yeah. Uh I think that certainly helps. you know, the more experience you get, the more comfortable you typically feel and more confident, especially as you’re making plays. And I thought Kamal did a excellent job stepping in there. Matt, um, you know, when you face a guy like Hutchinson and you obviously have to decide when you’re going to double team him, what goes into, you know, how much you can lose out of a certain play when you have to to double team him or you decide you want to double team him? How does it affect you from the other standpoint from where you want what you want to do in the passing game or particular play? How do you weigh that? Well, typically when if you’re going to double somebody, you got one less eligible that you know you can get out into the concepts and depending upon what coverages they’re playing, that can be a a real problem. If they’re playing some spot drop zone, uh, and you’re only getting four out, then I mean, you got one and it’s less people to cover. So, um, I think every situation’s a little bit different and I think they do a good job of putting him in positions where it they make it hard to to double them situationally. So, I think you just got to pick and choose your spots by how they line them up really. All of the above. Different front structures, different pressures that they can run. Um, it’s a very aggressive style of defense. I mean, they’re they’re we know they’re they’re going to play man. and they’re going to play bring pressure and um they have quick add-ons. So when they do that, it just it makes it a little bit more difficult to double team somebody, especially when you talk situational ball with so much time between week one and where we are now. How do you evaluate that game in terms of what they did recently versus how they defended you so early in the year? I mean, you got you you definitely watch it. you take it into account and um but I think both teams, you know, over the course of a season, you you kind of evolve and um you know, you have different people in there first and foremost. So, you got to account for that as well. How do you think you’ve handled um silent counts on the road this year? I don’t know. How do you think we’ve handled silent counts on the road? How would I know? Well, you’re asking the question. I thought you had something, Mommy Spoon. Well, I’m asking your your impression. I mean, do you think you handled it pretty well or I’m just trying to think back um through all the games. There were some games I would say that we didn’t do a very good job early on in the season. I think that’s one of those things though that we know this is going to be a hostile environment. I mean, it’s their fans do a great job of getting into the action and they truly have a home field advantage. No doubt about it. And I think when you talk about just the outcome of the game, being able to handle the crowd noise on the road is going to be a crit critical aspect to that. Do you have any feel for how Belton might handle that if he’s out there? Well, I mean, we practice it all the time, but ultimately you got to go apply what you practice, and I think our guys have done a nice job with it. Um, certainly I think the Lions do a good job of getting off on the snap count. Um, you know, Hutchinson is as quick as anybody, so we got to do a good job just, you know, trying to keep him as offbalance as possible. Did you have to go silent count in Pittsburgh or just the Steelers that day? No, we we used we used silent count because Aaron said that they had to do it, too. Um, hopefully hopefully we get a bunch of Packer fans and they have to do the same thing. Did you do it against the Giants? Because that would have been Sean’s first. Yes, we did. We did. There was again situationally there were times that we didn’t need to um but on some of the third downs absolutely. What has Canard given you in these recent weeks when he’s been on the field? Yeah, I think DK has done a great job. Uh, talk about a guy that brings a ton of energy and um I love his mentality, how he plays the game and I think he’s he’s done a really nice job in there and kind of unlocking some different aspects of our offense that we may not have utilized without his presence. Hey Matt, going back to Jaden Reed, he’ll need a full week of practice right before he could play. Like there’s no way he could go now, could he? Never know, Rob. Never know. I know. You never know. But I’m trying to I’m trying to find out. You’ll find out at Thursday at noon. How about that? I like how you you phrase that. with the guys who are coming back from stingers, what do they worry about the most, you know, in terms of whether they can function, you know, I mean, is it about whether it’s calmed down enough that they won’t reinjure it or I think that’s I think that is um like we feel confident those guys are, you know, in a a place where they’re not going to there’s nothing longterm. However, to your point, it’s just durability concerns and you you always want to make sure your players are safe going out on the field and so if they don’t pass the proper test in regards to strength, then they won’t be able to play. I know it’s helpful as divisional pump, but at this point, how much hay is already in the barn and and how much do you still have to really kind of cram this next 24 36 hours? I think we cram all the way up until game time when it talk when you’re talking about a Thursday night game. You’re just trying to find whatever nugget you can. Maybe it gives you the winning edge. Um but I they’re doing the same thing. So I think um probably more so from a coaching standpoint just trying to get caught up. There’s a lot of tape out there and you want to make sure you you just see everything. Like are you having meetings on the flight there or like watching TV? Not necessarily. Um, I wouldn’t say meetings, but I’m sure most of the guys will be working and those that aren’t working, I’m sure will be sleeping. Hey Matt, um, I know Parson’s got his two sacks in the third quarter on Sunday, but he’s, you know, half’s calling him a closer. What is it like to have a guy like that on your team for those kind of moments? Oh, it was big time. And I thought, you know, just in regards to I mean, I’m stating the obvious here, but it’s nice to get up two scores and it just changes the complexion of the game and now you you’re putting a team in a little bit more pass uh heavy situations and then you can watch the rush kind of go to work and I think that’s what we saw. I know the goal is to go one and0 every week, but can you sense like a heightened level of intensity when it’s a divisional game? Absolutely. I think anytime you’re talking about um a divisional game, we there’s a big emphasis with us. Um and I think our players believe it. I mean, I think we all believe it how important these games are. And then you’re talking about just I mean, we’re getting towards the end here, so to speak. And um I think every game’s a little bit more magnified. And I I know every injury is different, but um Baker Mayfield got knocked out with the same injury that Jordan has. Wentz had it earlier in the year. How impressed have you been just with his toughness to be able to play through this? Yeah, I think it’s speaks a lot to him and just in regards to his mindset, his mentality, and how tough he is. I mean that that uh it takes a lot of physical and mental toughness to play the quarterback position to be able to stand in there, especially when you are injured knowing that you’re probably going to get hit at some point. So, I thought I thought he exuded that. I thought there were some moments where I was kind of holding my breath at times where he was getting hit and releasing the ball, but and we got to do a better job just collectively as an offense of making sure we had there were a few miscommunications up front where we allowed free runners at in the lap of the quarterback and just um had some mental mistakes. So, we can’t allow that to happen, especially on the road against, you know, a premier football team like the Detroit Lions.

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon as the team prepares to face the Detroit Lions on Thursday.

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