Detroit Lions: Jim Caldwell’s Quotes as OTAs Wrap Up
By Zac Snyder
The Detroit Lions wrapped up OTAs today, here is what head coach had to say when meeting with the media after practice.
On what he saw from CB Nevin Lawson last season that gives him confidence: “Obviously, I think he’s one of those guys that improved. Every single day that he’s out he works extremely hard. He’s got really good focus and he’s a competitor. He was placed in some pretty tough situations last year, and he was able to hang in there and answer the bell and I do think that the way in which he goes about it in terms of his work habits, his study habits, that he’s going to continue to get better.”
On Lawson’s physicality and avoiding penalties: “It’s really better to have to back them up than to speed them up, try to make them more aggressive. He’s aggressive by nature, and as a result of that, you know, you always have to certainly be mindful of what the rules allow you to do, and with him in particular, I think he does a good job in that area. Even though just naturally, instinctively you know, he wants to flat get after you most of the time.”
On if he expects a natural progression with the offense: “I think, you know, you should see improvement all the time, I mean, throughout the entire process. Not just the fact of last season, but then also prior to the year we should see some daily progression. We’re adding more and more things. It’s not a real easy operation to run and it takes some thought and it puts a lot of pressure on your ability to study, learn and grasp, but also puts the same kind of pressure on the defenses that you face as well. It has a lot of potential and a lot of variables to it.”
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On characterizing Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter’s offense: “Probably wouldn’t use any terms but, you know, it’s like most offenses that we’ve certainly been involved with. You want to be efficient. You want to be extremely aggressive. You want to play smart not scared, but we also want to have the ability to run the ball when the opportunity is given to us.”
On if WR Corey Fuller broke his foot: “He had surgery yesterday actually. He had an issue with his foot, so he went through the surgery process. Everything went well. How long he’s going to be out I’m not certain, but he’s been known as a quick healer.”
On if Fuller came out of surgery OK: “Yes.”
On if he expects the league to have trouble adjusting to Cooter’s offense: “I don’t think so. I think that it doesn’t take our league very long because most of the guys that are in this league that have been coaching awhile they’ve seen everything. So, I think it will be a little bit different than what they saw last year because there’s a lot more to it and those kinds of things, but I think more so than anything else it really depends on how effective we are. We have to be more effective. We have to do better in every single phase of that operation. Throwing, catching the ball, running the ball, etc. and I think that has a lot to do with what we work on a lot. All the fundamentals, along with trying to work off of the other situations as well.”
On if the team has the ability to adjust more quickly now that they have some familiarity with one another: “I think the obvious part of it is that the more familiar you are anything you do you become a little bit more efficient at it. All around, looking at all the parameters, knowing what the answers are to different problems that you’re given. I’d answer that in the affirmative.”
On why he thinks the league has gone away from bigger tight ends such as TE Matthew Mulligan: “I don’t know if they’ve completely gone away, but they’re always looking for guys like that, but there just aren’t very many of them coming from the college ranks because everybody’s in spread offenses. You find a lot more guys that are more pass-oriented tight ends than guys that can handle in-line blocking. So, I think they’re rare guys at this point in time. They’re just tough to find, but I know there would probably be more teams with them if there were more of them out there that can do what he does.”
On TE Cole Wick making big plays in practice: “He’s got length. He’s working extremely hard. He’s young. He’s learning but he’s getting better and he does have some pretty distinct qualities that he’s been able to look pretty good out here without any pads on. You got to wait until the pads come on. So we’ll see.”
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On his impressions of RB Dwayne Washington in his first week of practice: “This is the first time I’ve seen him in a long time too, so we’re all about in the same boat, but he’s certainly been studying and working at it. Seems like he’s got some fresh legs, but he’s a guy that’s got size and dimensions. So, we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to learn and learn quickly. He’s missing a lot of their valuable work. That’s hard to catch up on, but he’s doing his best to do so, but I think he’s promising.”
On when his focus starts to sharpen for the season: “I’m hoping that my focus is already crystalized and sharpened, but it just depends if you’re working with a few more guys than you ordinarily would once the season gets started, but in terms of what we’re trying to get done, the focus in terms of what we’re trying to improve upon, that never changes. That’s got to be crystal clear in terms of your goals and aims. It may seem a little bit of more of a broad perspective to you, but for us it’s not. We know the guys. We kind of have a pretty good idea, but there’s stories that are told a little differently when pads are on than when pads are not on. When a guy is catching the ball and he’s running through and he know he’s not going to get hit he acts a little bit differently. When the leather starts flying a little bit, then you kind of get a little bit better picture of what you really have.”
On the difference between players’ performance in pads versus not in pads: “Typically, on the first portion of your question, our scouting department, the personnel office, our coaches do a great job of looking at these guys. We know what we’re dealing with before they get here, but what does indeed happen is them in comparison to the guys that are peers. Sometimes, that changes the picture just a little bit. Sometimes, it’s even well above how you evaluated and sometimes you say he’s just not quite where he should be. I think those are the times, depending on the situation, sometimes there’s a bit of a shuffling at those positons.”
On why the team canceled practice yesterday: “We changed it a little bit because of the fact that we wanted to emphasize a little bit more just in terms of their recovery and those kinds of things. We think we’ve been getting real good, solid work. So, we took a day with a little different slant to it.”
On QB Dan Orlovsky’s longevity in the league: “He’s a great, I think, what I’ll say just in terms of his study habits and his ability to adapt to different systems. He’s extremely versatile in that area because he’s extremely bright. Not only that, he performs well within this setting, and I think does a tremendous job. We’ve been with him awhile, a couple different places and Dan’s always been a good performer and so he’s always in the middle of competing. Guys like that don’t hang around because they’re good looking. You know, there’s a reason why he’s here. He still controls the ball. He still, obviously, has skills and ability. He still commands the huddle. He does all the things that you require him to do. It’s just a matter of he provides, obviously, some great competition for you, but we believe he’s a great performer.”
On what he likes about LB Jon Bostic and how he fits: “You could see that he runs and has good size. Few guys have had experience with him before. Teryl (Austin) had him when he was in college. Plus, maybe his dad played here too, but he has ability. He can run. He’s strong. He’s tough. He’s smart, and he has a lot of versatility. He can play special teams as well, but he also can play a number of linebacker positions. He can be MIKE. He can be SAM. He can do a number of different things. He’s big. He’s got some physicality.”
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On Muhammad Ali’s passing: “All of us that kind of grew up during that era, it probably takes on a little different emotional sort of feeling for those of us that were around during that time to kind of watch. You know, you have to think about it was the early 60’s and during that time it was a lot of racial tension all across the country and he was kind of one of those guys that kind of stood up and really was contrary to the system in some ways, but then backed it up in the ring because he did indeed sort of draw a crowd, but I was going to kind of allow me to tell a story. Joe Paterno, they were doing a book signing. I think it was in Harrisburg, somewhere in Pennsylvania, but Muhammad Ali was there and Joe was there. Joe was signing books, I think, and Muhammad Ali had some books to sign and Joe’s line was decently long. Obviously, with his history there at Penn State, but Muhammad Ali’s line was about four or five times longer than Joe’s. So in Paterno’s way of speaking, you know his voice, he looks up and he says, ‘Hey Muhammad, how come your line is about four times longer than my line?’ And Muhammad Ali looked over and said, ‘Joe, that’s because you ain’t whooped nobody.’ But you know, he’s one of those guys that you follow early on, you admire and maybe one of the greatest athletes of all time and obviously, quite a philanthropist and not only that, an activist as well.”
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On S Glover Quin’s absence from practice: “Yes. He has personal issues that he’s dealing with.”
*All quotes provided by the Detroit Lions.