What Lions coach Matt Patricia said about the Falcons

A: Diving into Atlanta’s defense, they don’t let you run the ball. They’ve been phenomenal all year with it. So, we do understand what a challenge that is. For us, it’s going to be about execution whatever it is for that particular play because this defense is playing at such a high level.

Q: With guys like Grady Jarrett, Aaron Donald and Geno Atkins are those guys good reminders to not have positional prototypes? They buck the trends?

A: Yeah, obviously, Grady Jarrett is unbelievable. This guy has just come along and just exploded onto the scene. It’s funny, I was just going through all of the plays of what he just does on the field and how impactful he is in all of the situations. He’s got a tremendous mix of power, explosion, speed and just great instincts. When you look at the tape, start with the run game, if you run to him, he’s going to make guys miss. He’s going to get in the backfield and make a play. If you run away from him, especially with some of the movement stuff that they do defensively, he’s just in the backfield. You can’t cut him off. It’s an unbelievable quick twitch off the ball. He’s a problem there. Then you get into the passing game and he’s just in the middle of the pocket. For him, he’s been majorly productive in some of the games. ... Atlanta has done a phenomenal job of using some of their stunts and movements with him. I think that’s where he’s really thrived. But he does have power and strength to move the line of scrimmage back. I think those guys like you mentioned, it’s that conversation of what can the guy do and let’s not just put him into a mold of what it should look like. He’s a productive, productive player.

Q: When you have a guy like Calvin Ridley on the opposite side (of Julio Jones), what kind of challenge is that where you can’t really choose to take one away because the other will beat you?

A: I think you’re exactly right and that’s where they’ve done an outstanding job of balancing off their weapons and their skill players. (Russell) Gage in the slot, he’s does a great job of being productive. I think both of those players have just taken their opportunity to grow when Julio was not out there. You can see how dynamic those guys are. (Tight end Hayden) Hurst is the hidden guy in there that you fall asleep on. He has really come along to be productive in those situations. There are some outstanding shots on third down where you are doing the best you can to take away those two guys and he just gets open. He can win the one-on-ones against the safeties and linebackers. I think it becomes very difficult at that point to maybe just play one particular way, I think that’s really hard to do when you have so many different guys that you have to deal with.

Q: Alex Mack in the trenches there, he’s been doing it for a long time at a high level. You’ve got a young center coming up in Frank Ragnow, who I’m sure you’d like to have be a 12-, 13-year Pro Bowl guy. How do you have a young guy take that leap from where Frank is now to being an established, consistent player like Alex Mack has been all these years?

A: Obviously, you’re talking about a long journey here going to a 12-year (veteran) , a guy that ... you know of my affinity for the offensive line, the offensive line play and certainly the center position. I just think he is phenomenal in what he’s been able to do through his career. One of the things about him that is so amazing and I have the utmost respect is for how tough that he is. This guy is a tough, tough guy. He’s played through so many different things. Even the last time when we (the Patriots, his former team) played them (in Super Bowl LI) he was on the injury report for two weeks and we weren’t really sure if he was going to play. He went out there and played phenomenal. He played strong. He played powerful. He wasn’t hampered at all. He has a (veteran) savvy about him. He knows how to work different things in the middle with whatever is going on around him and you never miss a beat. I think his communication at the line of scrimmage, I think you can see where he and Matt Ryan have really grown from that...When you look at a player like that, who’s been doing it for so long and you talk to Frank ... skill-sets are maybe a little bit different from the strength and weaknesses standpoint, but I think it’s all of those other things that you can really look at. Frank’s a tough guy. He’s smart guy. He’s going to have all of those tools, and he’s just kind of continuing to build on that. ... Those intangibles are what you look for especially at that position.

Q: Do you like playing in these newer stadiums?

A: The new stadiums are cool and they’ve got different features. I always just think it’s fun to travel and play in a new stadium. I think that’s really neat. For us this week, it’s is the roof going to be open or is it going to be closed.

Q: If Trey Flowers can’t play on Sunday, what does that effect the Lions at defensive end?

A: I think for us ... this is where the multiplicity and flexibility of our defense comes into play. That’s where we like to cross-train some of those guys. Whether if they are defensive tackles that can play end or linebacker that go outside. We have some versatility there. We are always trying to back that up.

Q: To start the season, there were three Black head coaches in the NFL and obviously two more interims after some firings. Is it striking that there are so few Black coaches in the league?

A: You know what, I think that’s a great question and certainly I think that we have to do a better job to make sure that everybody has an opportunity. Certainly, that we are doing our due diligence with that and making sure that we are developing coaches. Obviously, (Miami Dolphins head coach) Brian Flores is close personal friend of mine’s. He’s so qualified to be where he is and he’s earned that. I think that we need to make sure that we are developing coaches, minority coaches. When I got here to the Lions, we started a different program to help develop minority coaches and really commit more to that. Through the two years of our program, we’ve been able to elevate coaches that maybe didn’t have that opportunity or maybe guys that played in the league that didn’t maybe get that early 20s sort of coaching experience because they were playing, which is whole different level of experience that you can’t get as a coach. Then how do you really look at that to put that together to make sure that guy learns everything he needs to, maybe in a shorter window, maybe he already knows some stuff and will be able to be promoted and pushed through the ranks. I think we have to do that stuff. It’s really, honestly something that we’ve been pushing through the league and the league actually adopted a model of our program...we have to make sure that we are getting that equality with it because it’s so important.

Q: How difficult is it to evaluate an interim coach when the season is over? You have Romeo (Crennel) and Raheem (Morris) in that situation. Both have head coaching experience, but you still might have a new (general manager) and you have so many other things that factor into that decision, too?

A: I totally agree, obviously knowing both of those guys. I’ve known Raheem for a long time. He’s a great coach. He’s organized. Played against him when he was the head coach at Tampa and (was impressed) with how hard and how phenomenal his guys played for him. Certainly, Romeo Crennel, I absolutely love Romeo Crennel. He’s a guy I’ve known for a long time. He took great care of me when I was a young coach and educated me and helped me along the way. He can certainly do whatever Romeo wants to do. I don’t know his particular situation. ... He’s forgotten more football than I’ll ever know. ... I can’t probably answer for the people that are above them and kind of what their thoughts are, but I think anybody, in any profession, when you have an opportunity, you try to make the most it and go forward from there.

Q: How has D’Andre Swift developed for the Lions early in the season?

A: Swift has been unbelievable since Day 1 that we got him. Very consistent guy. Very steady. Even keeled type of guy, which is great for us because we can just … we’ve seen his improvement every single day that he’s been in the building. He’s obviously a very talented player. A tremendous person. Very humble. He just works extremely hard. I think you’ve just seen his skill-set continue to develop and fit into some of the different things that we’ve done offensively and certainly, the growth that he’s had in the mental part of the game in the NFL and some of the different assignments that you have to do as a running back, may be a little bit different for him. He’s really just accepted all of those challenges and continues to get better.

Q: How does Dante Fowler fit into the Falcons' defense?

A: I think that obviously on the edge, his ability to rush, his ability to get off the ball, as I mentioned earlier about some of the games and stuff they run with Grady Jarrett on the inside, I think those guys have really worked well with each other. Fowler is fast, he’s quick, he’s long. He can get off the ball and he can turn the corner. I think he’s someone that you have to make sure that you have accounted for.

Falcons' next four games

Lions at Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25

Falcons at Panthers at 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29

Broncos at Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8

Falcons at Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22

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