Lions Quotes: Jim Schwartz's Comments From Monday, Sept. 17

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz met with the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Below is a look at what he had to say. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

On if he can see anything new after watching game film: "You see things, maybe a little bit more clear. I don't know that we learned anything new.

On if he thinks the team played better after seeing tape: "We lost the game. That's hollow if you're looking at anything other than wins and losses. We need to do a lot of things better to win the game. We need to run the ball better. We need to defend the run better. It can start with both of those areas. You know, make one more play when we're in scoring range. I think if we do those things then maybe you're looking at a little different game. The things we did well the week before, we didn't give up long plays on defense. This game we gave up a lot of long plays. We missed a couple tackles the first week but we had guys right there to clean it up and they didn't get very many yards after contact and this game that didn't happen. We missed and then the next guy would miss so they had a lot of yards after contact. Last week we ran the ball very efficiently. Didn't run it a whole lot of times but we ran the ball very efficiently, 4.6, 4.8, something like that. This game, we ran the ball more but it wasn't as efficient. So, there's a lot of things we can do better."

On QB Matthew Stafford saying the offense has not reached its stride: "Well, I think you're always a work in progress through the course of 16 games. There's going to be highs and lows in the NFL. Not every game are you going to be able to throw for a bunch of yards, rush for a bunch of yards, score a lot of points. There's going to be different ways each game plays out. We were expecting that based on the way San Fran played Green Bay. We knew that points was going to be at a premium. They gave up 15 to Green Bay, seven of the points was on special teams, a special teams score. So we knew that points were going to be at a premium. We knew we were going to have to work for everything we got. We made some plays, we moved the ball, we just didn't make enough. We need to convert a couple of those goal zones and convert that other field goal, don't turn the ball over. I think we have turned the ball over too much in the first couple weeks. We'll be better in that way."

On reevaluating the offensive game plan: "I'm never going to get up here and evaluate our game plans or our strategies or anything like that. We didn't win the game. We didn't do enough to win the game, both offense, defense and special teams. There were plays to be made in all three phases that we didn't accomplish. And, as a result, we didn't win the game. But, we've got 14 more and we've got to bounce back from that. So, it is what it is."

On the decision to not dictate the game by passing: "We tried to do whatever we think is best to win the game and that is going to change from week to week."

On the difference of the offense in the first and second halves: "I don't know, we only scored a touchdown on one. So, we need to score more touchdowns. I don't want to say there was a big difference. It's just a matter of one play. The first series of the game we don't execute real well on a crossing route, end up going incomplete and have to punt. Later in the game we ran that exact same route and got a big chunk of yards. Just playing better. We didn't play well, and I don't want to say, I don't want to make any consolation of the second half or anything else. We didn't play well enough to win. That's why we didn't win. And, when we do play well enough to win, we'll get victories."

On if he thinks QB Matthew Stafford's completion percentage is down: "His completion percentage is down a little bit. I think Matt's going to be a high-60's type thrower. We're not trying to hit any bench marks as far as stats. We need to throw the ball a little bit better. We need to limit the turnovers and that can start with the quarterback but that goes to every position. That goes to offensive line. That goes to receivers. There's a lot of different places that we need to do better to operate efficiently in the passing game."

On not making it to the red zone before the final touchdown drive: "Well, give credit. That's a really good defense, for sure. But, we're certainly capable. We didn't technically reach the red zone, but we got in scoring range. We need to do something to keep those drives alive. They did a good job of stopping our drives when it counted. It was difficult. We missed a field goal, but it was tough to kick field goals in that game. I think both field goal kickers did a good job. Would have liked to have gotten one more but that wind was blowing pretty good, it was swirling, it was really hard to get a handle on where it was coming from. As long as you hold team to field goals, you're either going to be in the game, which we were able to for the most part hang in the game until the last drive where we gave up that touchdown, or just find a way to get points on offense. Points were at a premium in this game."

On why Broyles did not play: "We never needed a fourth wide receiver. He was the fourth wide receiver. We played out of our two tight end set, played out of our three-wide set. Never ended up in that situation where we needed one."

On if Broyles was only needed in the case of an injury: "Yeah, we had a lot of three wide receiver sets that if you have one injury, you're out of. We didn't want that to be the case. That's no slight on Broyles. Broyles is a good player, but there are game situations that come up. Keiland Williams didn't get any carries, either. I mean, Ryan doesn't play special teams. He's not a returner, so his opportunities are going to be limited if there are not opportunities as a wide receiver."

On what he expects from RB Mikel Leshoure in his return this week: "Well, we've been waiting to see him for a long time. We drafted him in the second round. We had high expectations for him. He was showing us all the things we needed before his rookie year when he got hurt. You know, he flashed in the preseason here, knocking the rust off number, and then number two, doing some of the things where we have some gaps in our offense that I think he can fill. He's a good player. He's healthy and we're looking forward to getting him back on the field."

On WR Titus Young complaining about a holding call: "He lost the ball. The holding was on (Tony) Scheffler. He lost the ball."

On whether Leshoure has been activated yet: "I don't know the logistics of it, but I think there's a 48-hour window for us to (activate him) - I'm not sure on that one. You'll have to check on that."

On the status of S Louis Delmas: "You know, it's hard to say. I think he is trending upward, but how quickly and whether he'll be back, only this week will be able to tell us. You know, he's worked really hard to come back but as of last week he wasn't ready. So he continues to make progress, but you know, we'll just wait and see this week. Again, we don't have a particular timetable other than how he feels, you know. You can't force an issue. You can't say ‘hey look he's going to be back in two weeks, one week, six weeks, whatever it is.' Everybody's body's a little bit different and we just take it day-by-day, week-by-week with him and see how he's doing. You know, we'll get him back on the field sometime."

On working out RBs Ryan Grant and Steve Slaton: "I'm not going to comment on guys that we would potentially bring in or anything like that, but we do need to run the ball a little bit better. I mean, San Fran in particular took an approach that they were going to try to limit the passing game and we need to be able to rush for better than 3.0 a carry or 3.2 a carry. I mean, one of those rushes included our quarterback. So I think that efficiency in our run game, which is something we had the week before with the same players, and again the scheme that was designed to try to take the big play away, not challenge the passing game as much but take the big play away, that is something that we're looking to do. Hopefully, (Mikel) Leshoure can be a big part of that."

On the play of the secondary against the 49ers: "Yeah, I don't even know if it was the second week together for the guys that we had. We gave up too many big plays. We knew they were going to throw the ball to the tight end, particularly when we pressured. Gave up a touchdown there. Had too many missed tackles in our back end. The week before we had played a lot better against a very good running back in Stephen Jackson. This week Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, they made us miss too many times. They broke too many tackles. There was too many plus 12 runs, plus 20 passes. Those are going to equal scoring opportunities."

On the 49ers criticizing the Lions' defensive line: "You win the game, you say whatever you want. I mean, there's a lot of people that have opinions. There's a lot of people that'll listen to those opinions. Our biggest thing is we lost the game and we need to play better. We need to put that one behind us and we need to move on for Tennessee. We can't worry about what anybody else thinks. We need to worry about ourselves. We need to play better than we did last week. If we do that then we'll get wins. Everybody's got an opinion. Ratings don't matter. Wins matter. We didn't get the win, they got the win."

On if he got an explanation from the officials about the clock error: "No, I think I'll keep my conversations with the officials to myself."

On Tennessee QB Jake Locker: "We've just sort of wrapped this last game up, but they drafted him in the first round for a reason. He's a good quarterback, played well at the University of Washington. He has a couple different dimensions not only throwing the ball, but he can run. You know, sat his rookie year behind a veteran player like (Matt) Hasselbeck. But as these next two days get on we'll start delving into him a little bit more. He's a talented player; won the starting job this year. To beat out a guy a like Matt Hasselbeck, that says a lot about what they think of him."

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