Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday as they do every week. Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. Glenn is dealing with a lot of criticism for how the Lions’ defense has performed to start the season.
“Even though me and Dan (Campbell) are friends, this is a job and I’ll look at it like that too,” Glenn said. “That I have to perform just like everybody else has to perform, he has to perform, the players have to perform. When things are not going well, you have to answer to that and I’m not blind to the fact of that.”
Glenn said he’s fallen back on his playing experience in New York and dealing with that media environment and fan base to put this current criticism in perspective. He feels like this situation is a good opportunity to respond to the criticism and show people the type of person and coach he is.
2. The offense took a hard look at themselves this week and what they’ve put on tape through four games because they are facing Bill Belichick and a Patriots’ defense that is really good at taking away what an opposing offense does well. “Whenever you think they’ll zig, they’ll zag,” Johnson said. But he also hopes to have a few wrinkles the Patriots haven’t seen yet.
