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Week 11 Lions Postgame Quotes

Posted Nov 18, 2012

Head Coach Jim Schwartz

On the passing game today being off today:
“Yeah, we weren’t clicking. I mean, we had a couple times where we misfired on passes. A couple times we had chances (and we) dropped balls and a couple times we had miscommunication of route adjustments. We didn’t do a good enough job of pass protecting, either. So, yeah, our passing game definitely wasn’t clicking. I’ll give some credit to the Packers – they play a lot of tight match coverage.”
On offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson’s exchange on the sideline:
“I’d rather not go into it. Everybody was disappointed in not being able to score a touchdown on that last drive.”
On the missed tackles on TE Jermichael Finley and WR Randall Cobb’s touchdown:
“I thought our defense had done a really good job the whole game up until that drive. We played poor on that drive – started off with a draw play for 11 or 12 yards and then the play to Finley. It really is a pass play, but those guys were blocking. We’ve got to be able to get off a block and be able to make a tackle right there and force them to go the whole field. A field goal doesn’t beat us there. Then get another chunk and then get a touchdown where we don’t find the ball in the endzone. We had chances to be able to stop them right there. Even though our offense wasn’t able to get a touchdown to ice the game, make it a two-score game, we still had a great opportunity on defense to be able to get a stop and we didn’t get it done.”
On it seeming on the sideline that the offense is in disarray and if it needs to be addressed now:
“Anytime you’re not successful, nothing’s going to look good. I thought there were times where we hit on things really well, but we didn’t do enough to win. Anytime you don’t do enough to win, it’s going to look that way.”
On if pressure was sent toward T Riley Reiff after he had to replace T Jeff Backus at left tackle:
“He’s a rookie going into a game; I think any team is going to do the same thing. They blitzed to his side an awful lot. (He) got a holding penalty; he’s got to be able to hold up. Every player’s the same way. Riley’s a first-round draft pick – he’s a good player. We don’t expect any drop off in the game, but it was his first time playing left tackle. We can always do better.”
On QB Matthew Stafford ‘not looking like the same quarterback’ as he did last season:
“I don’t think the leg is an issue at all. We were just off just a little bit today. I think we’d feel no different right now if we could have made one more play – if we’d had a chance to get one more down the end, but we’ve got to do a good job helping out in all different situations. Calvin helped out, made a great play on a play down the seam to be able to get that one touchdown. We’ve got to make more plays for our quarterback. Not every pass is going to be 100-percent perfect, but we’ve got to make the other plays. We had a couple times today that we had balls go off our hands as receivers. We’ve got to be able to come down with those and when they do get a play, we’ve got to be able to make it. But that’s not just Matt, that’s the whole offense. Matt can be sharper, our whole offense can be sharper. We can run the ball better, we can get a stop at the end of the game better. It’s a team game.”

QB Matthew Stafford

On things being off all day:
“Yeah, I didn’t play my best. We didn’t play our best as an offense. Getting too many opportunities, turning the ball over too many times, didn’t make enough plays.”
On why WR Titus Young was not on the field in the last series:
“It’s not my decision. I have no idea.”
On not being on the same page with route adjustments:
“Yeah, a little bit. A little bit of everything.”
On several things looking way off:
“Yeah, I didn’t play my best. Didn’t put enough throws on guys.”
On why he didn’t play his best:
“Just not making good enough throws.”
On the two interceptions:
“First one, guy made a good play. I was trying to throw a zero route to Titus. Guys sloughed off and made the play. Second one just threw it a little bit behind (TE) Tony (Scheffler); guy made a good play.”
On being 4-6 and 0-4 in the NFC North:
“Obviously I have to play better to give us a chance to win.”
On the lack of consistency on offense:
“Yeah, it’s frustrating. Obviously to have spurts of playing good and then just not being able to be consistent enough with it. That’s the biggest thing. Gave them seven points on our offense, which isn’t good ever. Lose the turnover battle against a good team like that it’s going to be tough.”
On Linehan and Jefferson getting into it on the sideline:
“I don’t know.”
On the offense being in disarray:
“Disarray is probably not the right word. Coming into this week we were the No. 2 offense in the League so if that’s disarray then okay. But obviously just didn’t play our best against a good football team and didn’t come out with a win.”
On having a reverse of your normal fourth quarter success and if it didn’t kick in today:
“I don’t think so. We had a chance to go put the game away down there earlier in the fourth quarter there. Score a touchdown and try to throw a ball to Titus and we were unsuccessful for whatever reason. We score seven there it’s a whole different ball game."
On the main thing to be worked on during the short week:
“Put a loss behind you and move on. Got a good Houston team coming in and obviously a team we’re unfamiliar with so we have to get ready. Take a look at it.”

WR Calvin Johnson

On the offense not being in sync and missing opportunities:
“We were moving the ball. Just like you said, missed opportunities here and there.”
On where the communication breakdowns were on certain routes:
“I don’t know. I’m trying to see what you’re talking about. I mean, if there was anything it would probably be post-snap.”
On not being able to finish against a good Packers team:
“It’s tough to swallow because we were up. Yeah we were up and had a chance to win the game, you know, and letting go of a divisional game, so it kind of would have counted for two for us, you know? It sucks in multiple ways but we’ll keep on fighting.”
On the reasons for the miscommunication on offense:
“I wouldn’t call them miscues. Maybe, if anything, I would just say it’s just a matter of timing. Other than that, got to pull in those passes that I left out there, you know? But other than that, we’ve just got to find a way to make those plays.”
On the frustration of losing the game:
“It’s very frustrating because we lost. Then like you said, we had a chance to win.”
On not getting the ball on first-and-goal late in the game:
“It’s not unusual. I mean, the coverage kind of dictates what happens a lot of times. They were playing a little two-trap so it made it tough.”
On whether the season is over:
"The season is not over, man. We’ve got six games left.”
On if the Lions can still make the playoffs:
“I don’t know what the picture looks like, you know, but that’s what we’re fighting for. We’re fighting for our lives.”
On keeping the team together despite losing two straight games and frustration from the coaching staff:
“Everybody, I mean, we’ve all been there. We’ve seen all of this happen so we should be able to bounce back from that. It shouldn’t be a problem. As far whatever happened on the sidelines, as far as coaches arguing. I don’t know. You’ll have to ask those guys that question.”

DE Cliff Avril

On bottling up the Green Bay offense:
“Yeah, we did a decent job, you know, early in the game. But towards the end we let it get away from us. But, you know, that’s all part of the game. You’ve got to be able to play all four quarters, all 60 minutes, and we weren’t able to do that today.”
On if not playing all 60 minutes is what hurts most:
“Most definitely, most definitely. As a team, though, we played good ball except for five minutes of that whole game that basically cost us. We can’t divide each other. We’ve just got to keep building and keep fighting.”
On if it is good to play a game so soon after the loss:
“Body-wise you would prefer a couple more days, you know, physically or whatever. But that’s part of the game, you’ve got to play. But it does get the taste out of your mouth pretty quick. We don’t have the 24 hour rule this week, it’s more like a 12 hour rule. So you have to put it behind you, look at film on your own and try to make those corrections and then got to worry about Houston.”

LB Justin Durant

On the feeling of the team after a tough game:
“It hurts. To play as well as we did for basically the first 57 minutes of the game, then to lose it like that, it hurts. Just got to finish and that’s something that we didn’t do.”
On the last scoring drive for Green Bay:
“They just made some palys. They made more plays than we did at the end of the day. We have to, like I said, finish. It’s tough; I’m kind of hurt right now. But at the end of the day we’ve got to make those plays. Wasn’t anything that we didn’t really see. We just (need to) execute.”
On if this is one of the tougher losses:
“Yeah, you know, every loss hurts. But especially to lose it like this, it definitely hits home a little harder. But we’ve got a game on Thursday so we’ve got to get back.”
On if the expectations were skewed and created a shadow for the team early on:
“I don’t think so. I just don’t think we played as well as we wanted to. People can expect whatever, but we have to know what type of team we have within ourselves. We can’t pay attention to what anybody says, what the media expects. We just have to go out and play.”
On the biggest key to keeping the team on the same focus:
“Everybody just has to come back and work harder. Everybody has to be mature enough to look in the mirror and see what they’re doing wrong and try to correct it and come in next week, be a professional and be ready to play.”

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch

On the loss to the Packers and moving forward the rest of the season:
“(Aaron) Rodgers is a good quarterback. I felt like we had a good game-plan for the most part. It’s hard to keep that offense in check the whole game. But, you know, our front and linebackers did a great job. We made sure we kept extra guys in coverage and didn’t always have a lot of guys in the box. Our linebackers were in the two-gap a lot. I felt like they played a really good game. We just came up and played short. Games like this against a good team, there are so many plays that you go back and look at that could have swung our way. It’s frustrating. This team, what we have to do now is we have to bounce back quickly in a short week.”
On the play of the Lions defensive line:
“Our d-tackles played a great game. There was a lot of pressure put on the defensive line. We didn’t blitz a lot and put the pressure on our rush. Again, you know, we had to stop the run with not a lot of guys up in the box and, you know, (Ndamukong) Suh continues to play great. Nick (Fairley) seems like he’s taking big steps every week. That’s going to help us. Those guys are playing really good football right now and it’s coming at the right time because we’re going to need it.”
On keeping the team together despite losing two-straight games:
“We have our regular coaching staff, our good veteran leadership. This team, we’re going to keep battling. We’ll put this one behind us and we’ll move on. The ball hasn’t bounced our way at times this year but we’re resilient. This team has shown resiliency with our backs against the wall. We’ve battled and battled and battled and that’s what I expect right now.”