Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke to the media Monday following Detroit's impressive 52-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday that pushed their record to 9-1 on the season after their eighth straight victory.
Here are all the key questions from Campbell's Monday presser:
When a team plays as well as the Lions did Sunday, was there that much to clean up from Monday's tape session?
Any football coach will say there's always things to clean up no matter how big the win or how impressive the performance.
"Yeah, there's stuff to clean up," Campbell said. "We had one where if the split is a yard wider it's a touchdown. Or if I block the right guy, it's a touchdown as opposed to a 6-yard gain. Those came up.
"Defensively, we were out of position on some things, but it didn't bite us. We were fortunate."
Campbell said it's important to clean up because they might not be as fortunate against the likes of Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, who Campbell said will expose those issues defensively.
What stood out positively from the tape?
Campbell was really impressed with the way both lines played, but particularly the offensive line.
"When our o-line plays that way, it doesn't matter what we call and what we do," he said. "We can do anything. They played at a really high level, and man, they finished. They started it and they finished."
He loved the way the defensive line showed up and shut down Jacksonville's run game to the tune of just 41 yards on 17 carries for a 2.4-yard average per rush.
How will the defense go about filling Alex Anzalone's role moving forward?
The veteran Anzalone wore a lot of hats for Aaron Glenn's defense and was arguably Detroit's best cover linebacker. Anzalone broke his forearm Sunday and will be out six to eight weeks.
Campbell said they'll ask a lot from Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez moving forward and they will play big roles.
"Then it's a matter of is it by committee if you're using three linebackers," Campbell said. "Are you using a DB? It's just hard to say right now."
The Lions have some depth at linebacker with Trevor Nowaske, Ben Niemann, Al-Quadin Muhammad and others banking good reps in Glenn's defense this season.
What is the injury update on safety Ifeatu Melifonwu?
Unfortunately, it's not good.
After missing all of the season up to this point with an ankle injury, Melifonwu is now dealing with a new finger issue that popped up on the practice report last week and he 'won't be ready for a while,' Campbell said Monday.
What did Campbell think of Za'Darius Smith's Lions debut?
Smith recorded a sack in his debut and set a good edge in the run game most of the afternoon. He played 77 percent of the defensive snaps (37).
"I thought he did some things for us, some good things for us," Campbell said. "It was good to have him out there. Really, like we talked about last week just be a piece to this puzzle. He is instinctive, man. He doesn't stay blocked long. He's good with his hands. He can set an edge in the run game. He's really good at working games with Mac (Alim McNeill) and (DJ) Reader and those guys. He has a knack for those things, I think first outing with him was good and he fits right in with us."
Where has Kerby Joseph taken his biggest leaps in three years?
Joseph was a receiver who switched to safety and hadn't really played a lot of defensive football coming into the NFL. The Lions saw an instinctive player with ball skills and thought there was a lot to work with. Credit Jospeh for making it work. He had another interception Sunday giving him a league-leading seven on the season.
He now has 15 career interceptions through the first three seasons of his career, which ties for the most interceptions a Lions player has logged through the first three seasons of their career since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger.
"Kerb has grown at the safety position," Campbell said. "He was raw. He had not really played too much defensive football. He kind of figured some things out without being coached too much and what you're seeing now is the growth of this player now going on three years.
"He's understanding the safety position. He understands how he can manipulate quarterbacks by the disguises with himself but also (Brian) Branch. That's what you see. You see a damn good athlete who wants it, who's worked at it and is growing into a damn good safety. That's a credit to him."
