Lions Head coach Jim Caldwell on Lions 16-15 Loss to Tennessee
On his team’s performance in today’s game: “Once again, obviously, you know this is the way the league is, it’s just going to be tight games that are tough. It just depends on the team that makes plays at the end and obviously we didn’t make enough plays, they did. Obviously, we’ve got to play better, we didn’t play very well. They played well, they did some things well. They ran the ball well, we ran the ball OK. I think we were fairly close in that area, it might’ve been fairly close in yardage overall, but just kind of playmakers at the end. They made a big catch there at the end. We couldn’t get it done, so we’ve got a lot to work on. Too many penalties, without question. I mean, time and time again we take it into the end zone, it’ll get called back out for one infraction or another and some pretty sizeable gains as well. Obviously, we let them off the hook a couple times with a couple defensive penalties, so that’s something we’ve got to get straightened out. Seventeen penalties is disappointing, we’ve got to get that straightened away and get it straightened away quickly.”
On why his team was so undisciplined: “I’m not certain it was discipline. There were a variety of penalties that happened out there and maybe just guys that were trying a little bit too hard in certain situations, but there were enough to go around, there’s no question about that.”
On who QB Matthew Stafford was looking for on the last play: “I’m not sure exactly. When you say what he was looking for, I’m not sure exactly what happened and all the details of it at this point. Obviously, the guy did a nice job sinking the zone. The guy made a play and we didn’t.
On why Stafford was so animated after not getting a roughing the passer call early: “Yeah, no it was a discussion whether or not that was a low hit, whether it was a forcible low hit or not, or the guy was just taking him down. The official felt he was taking him down, therefore it did not warrant a flag. Matthew thought that it was, so he has a right to voice his opinion.”
On if he thought it should have been a roughing the passer call against Tennessee: “Doesn’t matter what I think. Like I always tell you, what he called is what happened, so we don’t make any excuses or anything of that nature. We’re going to play football, alright?”
On the tough position the injuries put the team in: “That’s why you’ve got guys that play second and third team, you know? That’s why they’re there. They’ve got to be able to step up and play. Some guys, young guys, went in there and did an admirable job. We’ll take a look at it and see the details of it, but you know, we’ve just got to play better, doesn’t matter who’s in there. That’s what pro football is all about, you’re going to have some attrition sometimes. More than you’d like in some games.”
On if he has any update on DE Ezekiel Ansah’s or RB Ameer Abdullah’s injury statuses: “I don’t.”
On how serious both injuries looked: “You know I don’t talk about injuries. We’ll see what happens.”
On what the Titans did differently on their two scoring drives: “Can’t take anything away from them now. I mean, let’s be honest, they made plays there at the end. They had a couple nice runs there. They made some plays and we didn’t make enough, that’s the key.”
On if players lose track of what is a penalty and what is not in a game such as today’s: “All I know is there were way too many. Whether or not it’s a composure issue, a composure issue is when you get personal fouls and guys are out of control and there are fights and things of that nature. These were technical issues, I think, that we had a bunch of issues with a lot of different guys.”
On how pleased he was with DE Devin Taylor’s performance: “Yeah, you know, Devin did a nice job and certainly was able to collapse the pocket some there. We were able to get a little bit of pressure on the quarterback. I think overall he played pretty well it seems. Like I said, we’ll take a look at the film and see. Some of the guys stepped in there I thought and did a decent job. Really the bottom line is winning, you know, that’s the key. I think we had a lot of men that gave it their best, but you know, we’ve got to win.”
On in-game adjustments when penalties are being called on both teams: “I just think that, in certain situations that, guys just have to be able to understand exactly what’s being called, and they’ll let you know pretty early, matter of fact, even before the game. Obviously, you can look at the stats for that particular group and see they were fairly high. We’ve just got to do our job, don’t worry about all that stuff. We’ve just got to do a better job, 17 penalties is ridiculous.”
On if there was any specific penalty he thought the officials were over-calling: “No, I don’t ever complain about it. All I know is we need to stop with the infractions, plain and simple. That’s my job. I’ll get those guys straightened out in that area.”
On red zone penalties: “I’ve talked about that situation where we’ve had it in the end zone a couple times and come back. Obviously, any time that happens, that’s going to put you in a little bit different point differentials, going to make it a little bit more difficult for you. Particularly a team that plays good defense the way they play, it’s a good front and they do a heck of a job. Your opportunity is going to be limited. You’ve got to take advantage of them, we had a 17-play drive, didn’t put it in the end zone, things like that. When they keep you out, I think that’s a plus for the defense.”
On if it was frustrating seeing receivers drop passes: “Sure, yeah. It’s unusual for us. We had none last week and an abundance this week. There’s no question about it, those guys have good hands, all the guys that are involved in those.”
On if he would like QB Matthew Stafford to avoid blocking downfield: “We try to keep him as healthy as we possibly can, obviously. He’s a competitor as well.”
On if there is a common thread to losing a 10-point lead two weeks in a row: “Common thread this week was too many penalties. Every week is a little different. Every week is a little bit different, we have to do a better job.”
On if Tennessee scoring on their final drive was due to the Lions’ defense being tired: “No, that’s not an excuse. We had good field position, I think, in terms of Sam (Martin) punting the ball well. We had them pinned back in a number of different situations, we just didn’t make plays when we needed. Sometimes we didn’t tackle well enough, sometimes we didn’t fit well enough, sometimes we didn’t knock the ball down in situations where we had. Other times, we were penalized, gave them first downs after first downs. We had all those things in, and certainly that doesn’t make for a very good performance.”
On if he is disappointed in a 1-1 record: “I’m not worried about that. I’m just disappointed in the fact that we didn’t play well. The record will take care of itself as you play it out. We just didn’t play well enough, we didn’t play well enough to win. Right where we should be, we played just like right where we should be. You don’t get lucky in this game.”
On if he thinks DE Brandon Copeland was targeted by Tennessee after moving over mid-game to linebacker: “Just like I said a little earlier, I don’t care who it is we line up out there. I don’t care if we have a defensive back who normally plays in that position, or whoever it might be lined up. He’s expected to play, and play well. We expect that from all of them. That’s how we treat them, next man up. We get ready and we get going. You either get the job done or you don’t, plain and simple.”
On how close LB DeAndre Levy was to playing today: “We don’t talk about injuries or anything of that nature.”
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