Skip to main content
Advertising

Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia: Sunday, October 18, 2020

(Opening Statement) "I am really proud of our players. I thought they came out and played extremely hard. [We] handled a lot of adversity on the field. We definitely had some things that came up in the game that we had to change and adjust. I thought our guys did a phenomenal job of that. They played hard. They came out and executed the game plan. We knew we were going to have a big challenge in front of us, but just give credit to our guys. I thought our guys handled the last two weeks really well. They ignored everything and went out and played aggressive. It was great to see. I am just happy for our players."

(On the offensive line changes) "I don't know if I have ever been in a game where we have played all eight offensive linemen – that was a little bit unique. I thought it was great of those guys just being prepared. It was a great lesson for us. I think our guys do a phenomenal job of this every single week of just being ready to go. You never know when your number is going to be called and when it gets called, you have to go out there and perform really well and I thought they did. Just give credit to the offensive line. They did a good job of communicating and helping each other on the sideline being ready to go. I am proud of that crew and everybody got out there and played. That was awesome to see. Quite honestly, you are looking at the different [players] going in and out, you are trying to evaluate it, but I really thought everyone gelled and communicated really well, which is the biggest thing and I thought it was great."

(On the ability to stop the run today) "I thought the front did a good job with the linebackers and the d-line and some of the DBs down in the box. We have a couple of different looks which I thought was good. The guys played aggressive. They did a good job. Jacksonville has a good run game. We know that, we talked about it all week. It was a big challenge for us, so I am just happy. Credit to the players because they put it on the field, which was great."

(On blocking out the noise today) "It's something we talk about all the time. We have talked about this before. I am not really a social media guy and up to date with that stuff, but I know that our guys are on it and it's something I am always conscience of. A couple of years of ago, I had a great conversation with a young player on how important that is to him. I think for us, it's just a reminder of what we have to focus on [and] what we do in this building. We have to do our jobs. We have to focus on what we need to do each week, which is try to get better and improve. It's what we really mean when we say that. Put the binders on and let's go to work and I thought our guys did a good job of that."

(On D'Andre Swift's performance and the role he had today) "Obviously, give him credit. He did a phenomenal job behind our o-line. I think he ran really hard. I think he ran physical, which is great to see. We know what a great player he is and we have been talking about it for a while. There are things he can do that will give opponents problems. It was brought up to me to take the bye week to really look at some plays we had and how they all fit together. I thought Coach [Darrell] Bevell and his staff did a great job of getting a good run-game plan to the offense. They went out and executed it really well."

(On if Swift did enough to earn more carries moving forward) "We have a great running back room with all of those guys. If we can hand off the ball three times at the same time, that would be great. We will give it to all of them. We'll also give one to [linebacker/fullback Jason] Cabinda. We have a big room so we will give it to all of them."

(On if Swift's emergence will give them more flexibility with Adrian Peterson) "I think for us, we will go back and look at the tape. I am proud of the guys for winning today. I am proud of the guys for doing a great job in the game. We are not going to go bigger than that right now. I think we all had a long conversation, probably a couple years ago, with Kerryon [Johnson] earlier in the year and what he was doing well. I tried to explain that it's a long season. It's a long season for rookie running backs and the looks they get. From that standpoint, we are going to keep trying to do what we can do to get the run game going. When you talk about the run game, you can talk about the running backs and obviously they are the ones that carry the ball. There is a lot of work being done up front. There is a lot of work being done by the tight end group. There is a lot of work being done by the o-line group, the wide receivers and those guys coming in blocking down the floor so that is what is fun about the run game. It's just a great team effort. I am proud of those guys. I am proud of those players."

(On going back to rotating on the offensive line) "There are guys that we like and want out there. I am thankful that we did roll everybody through. We played eight offensive linemen today and it was great for everyone to get out there and play."

(On if he plans to rotate more moving forward or if it's because of Dahl's injury) "Again, I think it was what we were trying to get done for today."

(On getting his guys to play fast and if he pulled that from past experience) "Through my coaching career, I have been in that situation when you get to the end of September and you take evaluation of where you are at and what you are doing well. I think the guys played fast. I can't necessarily say that everything was simplified from a game [plan] standpoint, but from coaching schedule standpoint, maybe from the responsibility standpoint, maybe some packages with less rotation that way. We felt whatever bricks we could take off their plate and do that. Again, you have to give credit to the players. I thought they played hard. You know I am going to see the film and there will a lot to correct. There were some penalties in there I didn't really like, but we will have to do a better job of that and critique and correct them. We will try to do a better job next week and get ready to go."

(On the pass rush today) "They are complementary in the run and the pass game. That is true. Give [Gardner] Minshew credit. That guy got out of some tough looks. He is a great player. He is really difficult to play against. He made some really phenomenal escapes and extended some plays. We have to do a better job and we missed some opportunities there. We missed some, but give him some credit for the athlete that he is."

(On if sending more blitzes in the pass rush was a game-specific plan) "I think some of them came clean and some of them came again the pass game, which is some run pressures, you really can't tell. Sometimes we had them based on looks. We got a couple of the looks that we thought we would get, and we got some pressure off those certain looks. That all changes week in and week out. Apparently, we understand when we have the ability to pressure how much that will help us open up with the coverage and everything behind it. We don't have to give up those big plays. I think some were good and I think there were some that weren't so good."

(On how humid it was due to two players leaving for hydration) "It was pretty humid down here. It was pretty hot. We might have more than just two that will have to get IV's and stuff like that. Sometimes that happens. I have to do a better job of being ready to go with that stuff. Florida in October is still warm. Again, I am proud of everybody stepping up and being ready to go when they had to."

Advertising