00:00Good morning. It is a gloomy, rainy Tuesday.
00:05We've got our on-campus college football conversation coming up at 835.
00:10Greg Hargrave will take us through the big storylines.
00:12Michigan, Michigan State, and everything else.
00:16Week three in college football.
00:18It's week two in the NFL and it's a short week for the Detroit Lions.
00:22Yeah, it's a short week to make adjustments.
00:26And we just got done with the conversation about Michigan football, right?
00:30Week one to week two.
00:31Well, you've got a normal week to make those adjustments.
00:33This is a short week.
00:36And what type of adjustments can you make in that length of time defensively?
00:42And the game plan that needs to be tweaked and changed and modified
00:48to prepare for a completely different offense,
00:50but a much different level that you're going to be playing.
00:53And it's on the road.
00:54And how much can you get done in a few days?
00:57Yeah, let's not forget this is, we talk about being on the road.
01:00This is going to be Blake Miller's first time, not playing an away game.
01:03He did that when he was at Clemson, but it's a little bit different.
01:07It's the first game in Highmark Stadium.
01:09Like, it's going to be loud as hell.
01:11The Mafia will be in full effect.
01:12Oh, yeah.
01:13I mean, they always are.
01:14New stadium, they'll be amped up.
01:15And it's also a week to monitor for him.
01:17Did you see Blake Miller popped up on the injury report?
01:20Today's going to be a big day, Campbell said, about making sure he's on track
01:23and getting him out there.
01:25He was a warrior at Clemson.
01:26I'm not panicked.
01:29There's going to be a lot of guys that pop up on the injury report.
01:31Yeah.
01:32Okay.
01:32All right.
01:33Yeah.
01:33Again, the guy hardly missed practice at Clemson.
01:36So a lot to discuss with Dan.
01:40Much, much, much to discuss.
01:42Let's talk to the Lions head coach.
01:511-0 to start the season's short week.
01:54Dan, thanks for getting up and joining us.
01:58Dan, good morning.
01:59Good morning.
02:01Well, hey.
02:02Did you hear me?
02:03Yeah, we got you.
02:03We got you.
02:04Congratulations on week one.
02:06And let's just start offensively.
02:09What did you like about the performance and what needs to be better as you guys approach
02:15Buffalo?
02:17Man, I liked us running off the ball up front.
02:21I thought our old line ran off the ball.
02:23I think we made a conscious effort to try to finish blocks or get on them a little longer
02:30and then let Gibbs do what he does.
02:32You know, and I thought Gibbs, man, just played really a complete game, especially for game
02:39one.
02:39Just the, you know, the vision has been there, but man, the burst, I thought he had some
02:45nice, dirty, hard runs and then he had the electricity that we know he's got.
02:49And, you know, Gibbs is in great shape right now, but those guys up front, I thought really
02:55set the tone and let him do what he did and our receivers blocked downfield.
02:58So that was good.
03:00You know, the discouraging thing was, and really, look, we were good.
03:03We didn't have, I talked about being disciplined.
03:06We all really only had one pre-snap penalty, which we overcame.
03:11It's really more the, man, the fundamentals, the technique, you know, the, man, the things
03:16you do every day in, in individual, you know, that's, that's what I wanted to see out of
03:22that offensive group.
03:23And, you know, there was a couple of these that popped up, man, we had some whiffs, you
03:27know, heads down, feet are out of whack.
03:30Um, that'll get cleaned up, but, but those are the things that, that are a little disappointing.
03:35And really, that's what got us, um, for me offensively, the most disappointing part of
03:40the game was first and goal at the one.
03:42And we, we, uh, shot ourselves in the foot that's self-induced and, uh, and, you know,
03:48it could have cost us a game.
03:49It didn't, but, you know, at game we should have, we should have pulled away right there
03:53and we didn't.
03:54I'm glad you brought up Gibbs because I'm sure you could appreciate, um, the two sides
03:59of the fans where, you know, every year that he has been here, we keep saying, well, we
04:04need more Jameer Gibbs.
04:06We need more touches for Jameer Gibbs.
04:08And now all of a sudden the conversation has shifted to, are they using him too much?
04:14Maybe it's too much Gibbs.
04:15I think we can all laugh about that, but is it a part of the conversation?
04:20Is there a concern for a 17 game season that you need to manage his workload?
04:27Well, I mean, I think we're, we, we keep tabs on all of that.
04:32Um, and it's something that, yeah, it's on our mind.
04:35It's on my mind.
04:36Uh, we talk about going into games, um, you know, to work a guy into a season and how much
04:42you're using him, uh, to know, you know, what, what that job entails.
04:48Um, and so we're, we're mindful of it.
04:51And I think it's, it's like anything, you know, um, most, you know, most of the time
04:56they say in moderation, everything's fine.
04:59Right.
04:59That's when you, you abuse something.
05:02Um, and so now I think Gibbs is more than moderation.
05:07He, he's the drug you need a little bit more of.
05:09You just, you don't want to abuse it, but it's certainly more than moderation.
05:12I can tell you that.
05:13Um, so, you know, we're, we're being mindful of that, but I don't know what's
05:17I do know this, you know, he is, um, he's in phenomenal shape.
05:23He's in the best shape I've seen since he's been here.
05:25I mean, the way he came into camp and the way he looked, um, man, he's built well, he's
05:32stout, he's strong, he's explosive and, uh, and he's got attitude and, and he's ready
05:37for this now.
05:39And, uh, we got a big one coming up Thursday night and then our guys can get three days
05:43off, you know, and then we, we, uh, we get back ready for the jets.
05:48So we're always mindful of it.
05:50I am.
05:51I mean, none of us want injury to any of our players.
05:53And we think about, uh, control of the reps or, you know, those things with everybody.
06:00We, you know, we try to, and nothing's perfect, but we, we don't want to break anybody too
06:05early, but yet you got to win games.
06:07Yeah.
06:08That's what I think you had said after the Saints game is like, Hey, we're, we're in
06:10it, man.
06:11We got to win this game.
06:12Does it have any impact on his workload with a short week or is it still, Hey, young legs
06:16running wild?
06:18Yeah.
06:18I mean, I, I, we're, we're going, man.
06:20We're going to use this guy.
06:21He's a stud.
06:22And, uh, and I mean, he looked pretty good yesterday, even after the workload he had.
06:27And, uh, he's only going to get better and better and re rejuvenated before this game.
06:31And so we will use that as needed, but that's listen, that's the good news about our offense
06:36and what we've got, you know, our old line sets the tone, but we've got some guys that
06:42we can, uh, that golf can get the ball to, and they can, they can do some
06:46things, uh, for us and move the football, get first downs, get explosive, score touchdowns.
06:51And so this isn't a one man show and we'll use all of them.
06:56The secondary, you liked the group, but even with good pressure numbers and less time to
07:00throw, they were converting some third downs, fourth downs, third and fourth and longs.
07:05What was the issue on the back end of the defense?
07:08Yeah, man, I look, I'll be the first to say none of us, you know, the way that ended up
07:14going down in the fourth quarter and overtime up into the point, we got that stop, you
07:19know, that was, um, we all want better than that.
07:23We, we need to be more consistent than that.
07:25And so, you know, a couple of it is, you know, we just got beat on a one-on-one
07:28man hand
07:29placement, you know, we're, we talked about letting a lot of a run clean through our defense.
07:34That's a problem.
07:35And he did that a couple of times and it got on us.
07:38Um, you know, I, I know we had a penalty, you know, um, no, I, I didn't, I thought, man,
07:45we were competing there and sometimes, man, that's the cost of doing business.
07:49And I hate saying that, but that's just the, that's the nature of the beast there.
07:53And you know what, there was a flag and it's a reload.
07:56Um, so be it, we got to play the next play, but, but just some of it is a little
08:01bit of the
08:02communication, um, some of it is our technique on a one-on-one, uh, with, by the way, a really
08:08good player down the field.
08:09And, um, you know, so these are all things that we can clean up.
08:14And as long as we're on the same page, man, and know where your help set, use your help.
08:19And then our, our front seven has got to get there.
08:21Our D lines got to get there.
08:22We applied a lot of pressure the other day.
08:24And so we can tighten this up.
08:26We will tighten it up.
08:27I think our, our DBS are a competitive, smart group overall.
08:31You know, and, uh, and that's what they have to be every play.
08:35That's what they have to be every play.
08:37And they can be.
08:38What type of adjustments or tweaks do you need to make defensively to obviously, you know,
08:43you're playing against Buffalo.
08:44It's going to be there.
08:46Josh Allen's a completely different animal than Tyler Shuck.
08:49What type of adjustments are you looking to make to be competitive and to win the game
08:55defensively against Buffalo?
08:57Yeah, look, this is a tall task.
08:59Uh, everybody knows, uh, what this offense is capable of.
09:04And it starts with Josh Allen.
09:05He is a, uh, he is a phenomenal player, man.
09:09And, uh, he, he can do it all.
09:11Uh, he sees the field.
09:13He can make every throw.
09:14He can take off on you with his legs.
09:16He's strong as a runner, competitive.
09:19Um, he, he is, he's, he's, he's an issue.
09:23He's an issue.
09:24And so, you know, I think the big thing here is as much as you hate said, listen, he going
09:29to make some plays.
09:31Um, they're going to make some plays.
09:33The big thing is, man, we, we cannot let the last play bleed into the next play.
09:38And we've got to eliminate these explosives.
09:40They're going to be hunting for some of these shots.
09:42You know, they're going to want to try to establish the run game and then find some shots.
09:47Um, and so that requires kind of what I said, man, we're going to need to hold on there on
09:51the back end.
09:52We can't let people run through our defense.
09:53And then, man, we got to transition out of play pass and get into, and get into our
09:59rush.
10:00And we've got to keep him in the pocket.
10:02Uh, we have to, we cannot let him out of the pocket.
10:04He is so dangerous.
10:06Um, and he's still dangerous in the pocket, but if we can keep him in there, uh, and reduce
10:11some stress on the back end, that's going to go a long way for us.
10:14Is there anyone harder to game, uh, game plan for than Josh Allen?
10:18You guys have faced Lamar Mahomes.
10:20Is, is Allen at the top of that list?
10:22I mean, I think they're all, they all create their own issues, just in a different way.
10:28I mean, I think all three are a massive headache, but yeah, to your point, I mean, this guy,
10:33he can do it all and he can do it all.
10:36He can see it all.
10:36No down is too big for him or too much.
10:39Um, and he can, he can beat you with his, his brain, with his arm, with his legs.
10:44And, and he's just dangerous.
10:47All right.
10:47What's the level of concern with the drops that, that J-Mo had?
10:52Yeah, I'm not concerned.
10:53I mean, look, I, I, nobody's more frustrated than he is about it.
10:57But what I loved is this just shows his growth, man.
10:59He bounced back.
11:00He gets back in the huddle.
11:01He's not, he's not sulting.
11:02He's not pouting about it.
11:04He's not letting him, you know, go in the tank.
11:07Listen, man, you, all you can do is reload, regroup and go back for more.
11:10And that's what he's done a good job of.
11:13Listen, nobody's had a better camp than J-Mo this year or spring, a camp.
11:17He's going to be fine.
11:19And, uh, uh, we get him a couple of balls here, a couple of throws, let him take off.
11:24He's going to be just fine.
11:26So I'm, I'm not concerned at all.
11:29Uh, I know Isaac Tesla was on the field for, I think I saw it was like about 50 snaps,
11:34but
11:34he only got one target.
11:37Are you, do you want to get him more involved in the offense to get a rhythm going?
11:42I know there's only one football and you've got a lot of playmakers.
11:44Does he need to be a part of that equation?
11:47Yeah.
11:47We'd like to get him going a little bit.
11:49You know, we'd like to get him a couple more, uh, opportunities here, especially man.
11:53He did so much dirty work the other day, like 50 plays and he's blocking his rear off the
11:57whole game.
11:58He doesn't ever complain or bitch about anything.
12:00He doesn't.
12:01Um, and so he's earned that right to get a couple of throws here.
12:05And so, yeah, we, he's on our mind.
12:07We'd like to, we'd like to, uh, have him part of this thing in the past game.
12:11So, um, yeah, we see him.
12:13We, we, we get it.
12:15It's Lions head coach, Dan Campbell.
12:17Dan, thanks for joining us.
12:18Thanks Dan.
12:20All right.
12:20Appreciate it.
12:21Have a good one.
12:21It's 97.
12:22One.
Comments