The NFL Scouting Combine is an opportunity for head coaches and general managers to discuss early offseason coaching hires, thoughts on prospects and to discuss the current state of their teams.
Early on Tuesday morning, Lions OnSI had an opportunity to listen in on the media sessions of Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
Here is what is being said early at the combine.
On if tush-push should be banned: “We’re not very successful against it, I know that, but to be honest with you, I haven’t put much thought into it. It’s been around for a while, we’ve used it in different fashions with our tight end. So again, I think there will be a lot of discussions about it. I’ve got to look at some of the information as far as injury rates, things like that, to see. But we’ll see.”
On Packers requesting tush-push rule change: “I’m aware of it, we really haven’t had many discussions about it. I’m sure we will over the next few weeks heading into the owners’ meetings. I’m aware that we did, but we really haven’t had many discussions about it.
On why NFC North is tough division: "Yeah. I think there's, you know, there was some really good football this year. A lot of good quarterback play. You know, really solid organizations. And I think it's going to be competitive for a while."
On former Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams: "He's going to be the defensive coordinator. He's going to call defenses. And you know, he's an aggressive-minded coach that's coached really aggressive defensive linemen. That's what he, that's his background. And so I've enjoyed the process of what he's learned, he's gone to Detroit and what he learned with us in Tennessee to be able to tie the back end together with the stuff that we want to do with the front. And those conversations have been going on in the last couple of weeks since everybody's been together."
Early assessment of EDGE rushers: "I think it's a good draft. I think there's a lot of names. There's a lot of personalities. Some guys we met last night that were serious, some guys had a different personality, was maybe a little bit more engaging. And I think that's fun. I think all we're trying to do through this process is get the players to be as authentic as possible, to figure out where the fit is and how they can add to our roster and our team. And the vision that we have for them. And I would say that last night was a great start, going through that process with the players that came in there, and it just happened to be the D-line and a lot of the EDGE players and the inside linebackers."
