While other NFL clubs chase team assistants, the Lions want to stay focused on the Buccaneers.
The Detroit Lions’ offensive and defensive coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, must strike a difficult balance.
What the two want to focus on is preparing the Lions to meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Ford Field for a chance to go to the NFC championship game.
“The main thing is, the main thing, just like I said last week, man, we’re trying to beat Tampa Bay,” Glenn said. “This is an opportunity for us as an organization, staff, and players to compete for the Super Bowl.
“So, the thing we’ve got to make sure (of is) we put everything we can into winning this game right here and, for me, that’s the most important thing.”
But that’s easier said than done, with the 37-year-old Johnson allegedly doing virtual interviews with the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers on Friday. He admits the balancing can be difficult, but he doesn’t believe it affects his teaching.
“Well, the truth is, (time) gets taken away from somewhere and so it gets taken away from my family a little bit,” Johnson was quoted as saying. “And so, it’s not the easy things to say, but generally Fridays, get home, I can pick up my daughter from school, and we’re wrestling downstairs and doing whatever, and we’ll have
The Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tennessee Titans have all allegedly wanted interviews with Johnson for empty head coaching positions, but not everyone can be accommodated immediately.
“I’ve left that to other people,” Johnson stated. “I understand it’s still a fluid situation, and to be honest, we’ll find out more once the game plan is finalized. That’s been told to everyone I’ve known. Nothing matters more than the game plan.
Head coach Dan Campbell, who took his first head coaching job in the NFL with the Lions in 2021, has attempted to impart some wisdom to the two on the interview process.
“When you get this opportunity, or when this comes up, think about this,” she urged. “If I could do it again, I would do this.
“So, I think more than anything, I try to give them a piece of situations that I deal with on a daily basis and that they need to be prepared for and I would do different, what I felt like I did right or think about this.”
Glenn, who apparently has requests from Tennessee and Atlanta this weekend, isn’t sweating about the interviews.
“Listen, I’ve been playing this game for a long time (and) coaching it for a long time,” Glenn said, adding that Washington and the Chargers had also expressed interest in him. “So, the questions they ask, there’s a strong possibility I already know the answers.
“So, as I previously stated, I am looking forward to them; nothing has been confirmed, but I am confident you will be aware when they occur.
Lions cut Okwara.
Houston, a sixth-round pick by the Lions last year, recorded eight sacks in seven games as a rookie.
Houston, who stands six feet one and weighs 245 pounds, has been out of action since the second week of the season due to an ankle/femur injury.
The six-foot-four, 239-pound Okwara, a former third-round pick of the Lions, was in the final year of his rookie contract and had been a healthy scratch for much of the season, appearing in four games.
The Detroit Lions have waived defensive end Julian Okwara to make room for edge rusher James Houston, who will return for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.
Houston, a sixth-round
pick by the Lions last year, recorded eight sacks in seven games as a rookie.
Houston, who stands six feet one and weighs 245 pounds, has been out of action since the second week of the season due to an ankle/femur injury.
The six-foot-four, 239-pound Okwara, a former third-round pick of the Lions, was in the final year of his rookie contract and had been a healthy scratch for much of the season, appearing in four games.
