Pressers and Scrums: Lions' coaches, players talk communication woes, double teams, Ben Johnson's trick plays & more

Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, wide receivers and assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery, offensive tackle Taylor Decker, quarterback Jared Goff and defensive tackle Aidan Hutchinson met with the media on Wednesday.

Here are the highlights from those media sessions.

Only motivation needed

From the sky-is-falling department, Campbell was asked how much the flood of outside criticism this week has affected the team and whether he intends to use any of it as motivation ahead of the Week 2 matchup with Chicago.

“What fuels my tank is losing,” Campbell said. “That fuels me because I don’t like losing. Our players don’t like it, and you go back to work, man. And you get back to the basics of what you, man, and you hit it head on. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, we’re all accountable. And if we want to win, we have to do the little things right and prepare that way. And then we have to play that way, so that’s what gets me going.”

That tracks. It’s been a couple of years since the Lions have lost back-to-back games, so there’s little question about the franchise’s ability to rebound after a loss under Campbell.

As for some of the harsh reactions to last weekend’s loss to Green Bay, Campbell said he understands it, and frankly, welcomes it.

“That’s where the standards are at now,” Campbell said. “That’s the nature of what we’re in right now. That’s a good thing. That means we’ve risen above what we were at one time. That’s our world, man. That’s our world. But I know that if we felt that way and acted that way, we’d be in trouble. So, we can’t worry about all that. I mentioned this the other day, all you worry about is getting better. You really do. We have to get much better about our fundamentals and communication, just those two things alone. And if improve that, a whole other step above what we did last week, we’re going to be much better.”

Speaking from experience

If you’re looking for inspiration about bouncing back from a rough season opener, Montgomery has you covered.

Coming off a Super Bowl appearance while working as Pittsburgh’s receiver coach, the Steelers traveled to Baltimore to play the Ravens in the season opener of the following season.

Even more than Detroit last Sunday, Pittsburgh got trucked in the divisional matchup, 35-7. On the plus side, the Steelers rebounded in a big way, winning 12 of their final 15 games.

The downside, not mentioned by Montgomery, is that Pittsburgh lost both games to Baltimore that season and the tie-breaker for the AFC North crown. And with the Wild Card berth that season, the Steelers suffered an infamous overtime loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos.

Don’t forget about Allen

A lot is understandably being made about the Lions’ first head-to-head matchup with former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. However, Campbell’s ties to the Bears staff run deeper than Chicago’s first-year head coach. In New Orleans, he was on staff with Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for multiple years.

Here’s what Campbell said he’s come to expect from an Allen-led defense.

“Very detailed,” Campbell said. “He’s very detailed. His guys always play hard. Man, that’s the essence of defense: They run, they hit, they challenge. They make it hard on you. Nothing comes easy.

“He covers himself a lot, man,” Campbell continued. “He’s kind of been through it all. He knows where people are trying to expose that defense and so he’s got answers for everything. Like I say, when you accompany that with the way they play, that’s why he’s always had really good defenses. He’s an excellent communicator, knows how to teach, energetic, passionate. So, all of those things are always going to rub off on your players.”

The Bears’ defense played well at times in the season opener, surrendering just 254 yards, but was undone by allowing three fourth-quarter touchdowns to Minnesota in the 27-24 loss.

Chicago was missing three key starters for the game — cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, as well as linebacker T.J. Edwards. Campbell doesn’t expect the Lions to be blessed with the same good fortunes as the Vikings, in regard to those absences.

“Those are three really good players for them,” Campbell said. “I think at least two of them will be back. Getting any two of those three is going to significantly raise the bar and help those guys a lot, just the type of player and the communication. But what you see is a sound defense that plays hard. And if they get those pieces back, it just gives them more flexibility to do more things.”

Tricks of no concern

During his time with the Lions, Johnson was known for his affinity for trick plays, meeting weekly with the offensive staff for unique ideas on how to attack the upcoming opponent.

Campbell was asked how he plans to protect against that element of Johnson’s game-planning.

“I don’t really care about trick plays,” Campbell said. “Let’s just handle the meat and potatoes of an offense, a defense, what we think they’re going to hang their hat on. Let’s stop that first. Let’s worry about that. Let’s make sure we’re all on point, and we’ll handle the other stuff with our rules. You have to have proper eyes, man. We give you those rules for a reason. And look, they may hit us on one. That’s all right. That happens. You get back in the huddle and let’s go to the next play.”

"You can’t sit there and paralyze yourself with what if, what if, what if,” Campbell said. “The most important thing is you’ll get in trouble if you don’t handle the nuts and bolts of an offense. If you can’t stop the run, we bleed out explosives, then that’s where you can get in trouble. I’m not worried about the other stuff.”

Within the meat and potatoes of Chicago’s offense, they’re still working on integrating rookies Colston Loveland and Luther Burden, the team’s first two draft picks. The pair combined for three catches in the season opener, for a paltry 9 yards. Regardless, both of their roles will inevitably grow as the season progresses.

“Both of those guys are good players,” Campbell said. “We like both of them. Loveland, he’s a mismatch piece. Look, he’ll mix it up in the run game, but he’s a pretty dynamic receiver, has dynamic ability. He can stretch the field. He’s big, he’s long, he’s got really good hands. There’s no secret they’ll try to use him.”

Time to step up

Good football players draw double-teams. The Lions saw that on both sides of the ball against Green Bay, with defensive end Aidan Hutchinson facing a steady stream of blocking help that limited his effectiveness rushing the passer, and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown drawing extra attention, particularly on third down. That schematic decision generated an interception for the Packers in the red zone.

With Hutchinson, Campbell said it’s the same approach he’d take as a coach.

“I always think, what would I do?” Campbell said. “I would not let Hutch wreck a game. There’s no way. So, they will have answers. They’re not going to let him — particularly on passing downs — they’re not going to let him ever have a one-on-one. And if they do, it would be rare or ball’s out really quick.

“He knows that,” Campbell said. “We know that. It’s understood. That’s the game he has to play. That’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. But it also means other guys have to step up and win. It’ll be about it putting other guys in positions to where we think we’ll draw some of those (one-on-one matchups), and they have to win and win quickly.”

Detroit got next to nothing from its interior rush against the Packers. Regardless, Campbell expects the collective to provide more as the season progresses.

“Look, there’s more to give everywhere,” Campbell said. “I mean, that’s the most obvious. The coaches, the players, what we do fundamentally, technique-wise, how we set it up a little bit. And so, I would anticipate us being much better this week.”

As for St. Brown, Montgomery acknowledged that knowing opponents are skewing coverage the All-Pro receiver’s way can be a schematic advantage. However, like Campbell said about Detroit’s defenders working in conjunction with Hutchinson, the team’s other pass-game weapons have to be able to capitalize.

And once that happens, some of that attention should shift back off St. Brown.

“As soon as we can start making those plays at the (No.) two position, at the (No.) three position, at the (No.) four position, out of the backfield, now the brackets start to go to other people, now we can pick and choose how we want to go use Saint,” Montgomery said. “We know exactly what we have with Saint. “…So we do need to use that schematic advantage, and I know people understand it. Our weapons are starting to develop. So in the near future here, you’ll start to see a little bit more of that.”

Communication woes

Regarding communication issues in the loss to Green Bay, offensive tackle Taylor Decker said the offense didn’t have any problems getting in and out of the huddle. Most of the issues cropped up at the line of scrimmage.

Quarterback Jared Goff acknowledged he has to do a better job getting the unit on the same page before the ball is snapped.

“Just sloppy,” Goff said. “Just have to be better in the details and communicate better. I mentioned this after the game, it starts with me. I’ve got to communicate better and take a little bit of stress off of those guys from a communication aspect. …Just clearer and making sure everyone’s on the same page. Very often we’ll have two or three plays that are called in my headset, that are called in the huddle and making sure that we all know which one of those two or three that we’re going to run.”

There was one play, in particular, that’s been frequently referenced as a demonstration of the team’s communication woes. Backed up against their own goal line, rookie guard Tate Ratledge appeared to bail on a blocking assignment, nearly causing a safety.

Decker explained Ratledge wasn’t alone in having the wrong call at the line.

“I ran the same play that Tate was running,” Decker said. “Everybody else, the other three, ran a different play. So, no, it’s not on the two (young) guards. It’s everybody. It’s all of us together. There was just miscommunication. It’s not any one person or two people’s fault.”

Dropping the drop

When Hutchinson struggles to pressure the pocket, it’s disappointing. When he isn't even afforded the opportunity, because the team occasionally chooses to drop him into coverage, it's enough to have fans pulling out their own hair.

From the sounds of it, the Lions didn't think much of their own strategy after deploying it early in the game against the Packers.

“Yeah, I think we adjusted as the game moved on, and got out of that a little bit more,” Hutchinson said. “Just happened to be in those positions in that game, which is, obviouisly, not the most ideal situation. Bu the important thing is we adjusted and we evolved.”

So, it's something we should expect to see as a core part of Detroit’s defensive scheme moving forward?

“No, I don’t think so,” Hutchinson said with a smile.