Offensive coordinator John Morton, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday ahead of Detroit's matchup Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. Morton supports head coach Dan Campbell's decision to take over offensive play calling duties. He said there are things he must learn with some of the sequencing and rhythm Campbell wants on offense, and he's approaching it as a learning opportunity.
"I totally support it," Morton said Thursday. "Listen, man, I've been doing this for a while. I've been with head coaches who are offensive guys and play callers. So, I'm used to that. I feel very prideful of the things I was doing. There's some things I got to learn, no doubt, just like everyone else.
"Listen, I want to do whatever it takes to win. As soon as he said it, I'm like, 'Alright, let's go. What do we have to do?' That's the way I've always been in this business. You just march on because it's always about the team."
2. Sheppard left Sunday's game in Washington feeling like his unit should have played a more dominant brand of football. One area coming out of that contest where Sheppard wants to see improvement moving forward is limiting some of the explosive plays in the passing game. He said too many 50-50 balls were completed by Washington. If a ball travels more than 30 yards down the field, Sheppard told his players on defense it must be their ball. He also talked about having to be better on fourth down with all three Commanders touchdowns Sunday coming on fourth down.
3. One area of concern that's popped up the last couple weeks for Fipp is Jake Bates kicking some low balls on kick attempts. Bates had a low ball blocked a couple weeks ago in the loss to Minnesota. Fipp said it's something they're working on correcting in practice this week.
4. We talk a lot about how players and coaches must evolve in this league to stay current, but Morton said Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has bucked that trend. Morton said Fangio's defenses have been the same for years and it still works.
He said the Eagles' defense focuses on being stout upfront. They play straight up in the backend and don't allow big plays over the top. Fangio will put in a wrinkle or two in here and there, per Morton, but overall it's been the same successful scheme for his 40-plus years in the NFL.
5. Defensive lineman Roy Lopez had a nice game in Washington Sunday with five tackles and a sack. Sheppard admitted he didn't know much about Lopez before the Lions played Arizona last year with Lopez starting at nose tackle for the Cardinals.
Sheppard overheard retired Lions center Frank Ragnow talking about how Lopez was the toughest nose tackle he faced last season and that got Sheppard wanting to get Lopez in Detroit as a rotational player in the center of his defense.
6. Fipp spent eight years as the special teams coordinator in Philadelphia before joining Campbell's staff in Detroit in the same role in 2021. He loved his time with the Eagles, and he and his family still have a lot of friends in Philadelphia.
Fipp knows better than anyone how passionate the Eagles fanbase is and how tough they can be on opposing fans. He said there was no way his family would be in Philadelphia Sunday night wearing Lions gear.
7. Detroit is seeing an uptick of double teams on Amon-Ra St. Brown on third down, and Morton said it's been fun during the week trying to scheme ways to get their best receiver open. He also said they're starting to see an uptick of double teams on Jameson Williams on third down too.
Expect tight end Sam LaPorta to continue to be an important weapon for this offense on third down if defenses are going to continue paying more attention to St. Brown and Williams.
8. What stands out about Philadelphia's offense when Sheppard turns on the tape?
"Yeah, probably one of the most violent units I've seen, as far as the offensive line," Sheppard said.
9. The Lions are inching closer to the return of linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, potentially Sunday in Philadelphia. Rodriguez is one of Detroit's top players on special teams and his return will lessen the load others have to carry on teams.
10. Sheppard really liked the way Terrion Arnold responded to his public criticism of his play against the run.
"He had a play in the tight red - probably my most proudest play," Sheppard said. "His coverage speaks for itself, but I told you the part of the game I was looking for. And you look down in the tight red, they ran a sweep to him, he had a blocker on him. He beats the blocker and goes under to make the play.
"That was probably my most proud play in that game with Terrion. A player that's responding in an adverse situation - coach calling me out. He could take that so wrong and go down in the dumps, but he did the opposite."
