Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images A collection of the best quotes from the Detroit Lions coordinators in Week 16 of the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at the seven best Detroit Lions coordinator quotes from this week as they put the loss to the Bills behind them and look forward to their Week 16 matchup against the Chicago Bears. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson Note: We wrote a separate article on Ben Johnson talking about his aspirations to be a head coach. You can read the full quotes here. On his assessment of the offensive line: “It’s up and down, it hasn’t been consistent throughout the year. We’ve had glimpses of being a dominant unit and then there are other times, like last week, that we just weren’t ourselves. I will say, in regards to last game, the protection was—for throwing it 59 times—was pretty good. I know (Lions QB) Jared [Goff] had some pressure and he got hit a little bit, but when you drop back and you don’t move the pocket as much as we did in that game, we felt like our guys really answered the bell in that regard. It’s not necessarily always rushing statistics, it’s not always sacks, it’s looking at everybody individually and we’ve had some pretty consistent performances across the board. It’s just collectively, it hasn’t come together for an entire 60 minutes in a while.” I thought this was a very honest (and very true) assessment of the offensive line. We’ve long praised the unit for potentially being the best in football, but they haven’t really played like it lately, and that’s highlighted most by their recent rushing struggles: um... do we need to have a conversation about the Lions run game? pic.twitter.com/HVr9p0OgRZ— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) December 19, 2024 On Jermar Jefferson: “He is a guy that has matured so much from the moment he got in the building, and he’s taken some lumps and been cut and brought back and this, that and the other. He’s really deserving of a chance here this week to show what he’s made out of. He’s almost like a silent assassin, he goes about his business, he’s coming in, he’s working, don’t even hear a peep from him in the unit meetings, but you know when you’re watching him on scout team and how he’s going about his job, he’s taking it very seriously, he’s very professional and I’m looking forward to him getting a chance this week.” Jefferson has gotten a significant amount of hype from the coaching staff this week, and it’s clear from their language that he’s getting the call up from the practice squad this week with David Montgomery down. It’s not clear if he’ll have an offensive role with Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds, and Sione Vaki ahead of him, but coaches seem pleased with his development since Detroit drafted him in 2021. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn On the in-game frustration during a game like the Bills game: “That’s a damn good player, MVP-type player that we went against. One of the best offenses in the league and we know that player is going to make some plays. I said that last week and they did a really good job. He threw some balls up and they came down with them. When you go back and watch the film, look at the passing game, the passing game was him moving around and just finding guys open and that’s pretty hard to do as a defense when you have your guys covering for that long against a guy like that. We had him wrapped up a couple of times, didn’t make the tackle, but our guys understand that. So, as you go back and look at it, obviously you want to do some things different, I think that happens on both sides, but again, that’s a pretty good player, pretty good player.” Glenn deflected a few questions about the defense’s performance against the Bills. Instead, he chose to praise Josh Allen above, and Bills running back James Cook later in the presser (“We never underestimated him going in at all, but he ran a whole that harder than I thought that he would run.”) It was mildly surprising to see Glenn distract from the defense’s performance, but it was also abundantly clear he’d rather focus on the Bears ahead. On the “sky is falling” attitude outside of the building: “We’re 12-2. We’re 12-2 and the sky is falling? We’re going to the playoffs, we in the tournament. Why in the hell is the sky falling for us? What, do we have to sit back and be sad? We leave that up to you guys, we let you guys do that. Our job is to go play football and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. We lost one game, well two games. We lost two games, we have a chance to win out and accomplish everything that we want to accomplish. So why should we sit back and wallow and think that the sky is falling? It’s dumb.” Not surprising to see Glenn dismiss the panic. He knows the team is injured, but he has a message for those disrespecting the team’s depth, too... On replacing injured players like Alim McNeill: “I’m not going to disrespect any of the players that we have here because they work their ass off just like everybody else, and I hope that you guys don’t do that also because they deserve a chance to go out there and play whenever their time is to go play. Our personnel department does a really good job of finding guys that fit who we are and we’re going to put them on the field and we’re going to play.” While it’s understandable to be concerned about Detroit having to play several players who were on practice squads a few weeks ago, I think this is a proper attitude to take with the defense right now. Let’s see how the Lions adapt to all the personnel changes over the last three weeks. Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp On getting Anthony Pittman back: “It’s great. It’s great knowing that you have a good player who’s obviously played in your system and can go in there and play right away, that’s obviously very comforting. But, for me, personally, honestly, more than anything it’s just seeing the guy’s face in the building and the smile and his energy, I mean, it gives me energy. He’s a great player, he’s a total pro, he’s totally committed to this game, he’s come a long way, we got to see him grow up and develop.” I love Fipp’s answer here, because his focus is more on getting the person back, not the player. Fipp has never shied away from the brotherhood of football, and Pittman is undeniably a positive presence in the locker room. On the Lions’ execution of onside kicks: “I obviously hated the result, and at the end of the day what we’re trying to get done is we’re trying to get the ball back, so we came up short on it. But in terms of the kick, I did think that we gave ourselves a chance. I mean, there are a number of things to that, number one is being onside, if you’re offside, you’re in essence just handing the ball to the other team in that situation, so you can’t be that, but you’ve also got to play on the edge, if you don’t, you’re not going to get it. And so, I thought both balls gave us a chance, I mean, all you can really hope for is to get one-on-one with the guy catching the ball right around the time he’s catching it, and if you get that, you’ve done a pretty good job with the kick, I think. And so, I felt like he gave us two great chances on both kicks. Ultimately, we would’ve loved to come down with the ball, obviously we didn’t want the guy to return it that far down the field, and that’s another – I mean, are you trying to get the ball back, are you trying to prevent the return? And it’s hard to do both those things.” Thought it was both interesting that Fipp admitted both onside kicks were executed fairly well, and said that it’s hard to both go for the recovery and guard against the return. It more-or-less implies you’ve just got to tip your hat to Bills’ Mack Hollins for making a great play on the recovery and return.