In returning from the bye week, Dan Campbell said the Lions need to be playing their best football by December and that was a sentiment his coaching staff reiterated Thursday ahead of their game in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn was the first to touch on improvements and explaining how much higher the standards have gotten for the Lions, as a winning team with bigger goals ahead.
“I’ve said this from the beginning, we’re in the business of improvement from myself, the staff and with the players,” said Aaron Glenn. “And when you take that next step as a team, you look at things a look different.”
Glenn said things look different, from what’s acceptable in practice, to games, to meetings. He said the players understand the higher standard: when the stage is bigger, the expectations are bigger. That’s what happens when you are trying to put your team in the elite category in the NFL.
“We’re trying to be one of these organizations that year in and year out, we’re going to be up there in the fight,” explained Glenn. “That’s how we want to be, and I’ve said this before, I want to be a part of one of these organizations that’s every year, when you go 9-8, there’s a chance you can get fired because the expectations are so high. And I’ve been a part of that in New Orleans, and this is where we’re going with this organization.”
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson also said he sees area for improvement and that his offensive life will have a big challenge ahead of them with the Chargers defense. Johnson said that they are exceptional in three main areas: they’re got at stopping the run game, they’re a really good third down team, and they’re one of the ebst in the sack area due to how they generate pressure.
Just as Campbell said earlier in the week, Johnson said turnovers and red zone efficiency are key areas of focus and that the team has been made well aware that their red zone success over the last three games is not where it needs to be. He is confident that they will fix it and thinks the addition of Donovan Peoples-Jones will help.
“He’ll fit in well,” said Johnson. “When he was coming out of Michigan, I really liked his tape. Those guys don’t grow on trees and that’s really what we’re seeing so far. He’s a really fluid route runner, has a big catch radius, really strong hands, can work inside and outside. Everyone talks about how smart he is. That’s something we really need in that room.”
