Dave Toub Explains Why Brashard Smith Keeps Getting Better

On Monday’s loss:

“There was a lot of good things. I mean, I was really proud of the way Brashard (Smith) hit that return. There was a lot of positives. I mean, obviously the penalties hurt us, upsetting. But there was a lot of good things, though, too at the same time. Matt Araiza had a really good game punting. I thought (Harrison) Butker made all his field goals. Obviously, you had the one kick out of bounds. That, I mean, that was a mistake. He made a mistake. I mean, that's where we are.”

On seeing common denominators in Jack Cochrane’s two holding calls:

“I'll tell you this: Jack Cochrane is one of our best players. He's a world champion, and he’s matched up against the best player every week. He's one of our best guys. So, he was blocking their best guy. And it's a tough job. Sometimes, you're going to get that call. After the first one, maybe they were watching a little bit more on the second one, I don't know. But I mean, it happened.

“I mean, I've seen those calls not called, too, at the same time. So, I mean, it's the way it is. I mean, last year we beat people and they complained about the officials. We're not complaining about the officials. That's just the way it is. I mean, we just have to bounce back, and we'll be fine.”

On how they coach that specific block:

“I want him to keep playing hard, and I want him to finish blocks. I mean, that's important. But at the point of attack, to take somebody to the ground, I think that's where you got to just let your hands up and let them go. Don't take them all the way to the ground. That's what they're gonna call, at the point of attack, right around where the ball is hidden. So, we could do a better job on that. And that's how we coach them up.”

On whether there’s an internal clock on those blocks:

“It's just when you're at the point of attack. I mean, where you are on the field, and you kind of feel it in your guy. You're preventing him from getting there. That's where you got to be aware and alert.”

On Harrison Butker’s struggles, and Andy Reid comparing him to a golfer:

“I mean, I said the same thing the other day. His field goals are better. He was 100 percent last week. He's 100 percent so far this week (at practice); we kick again today. I think he's on an uptrend with his field goals. That's the No. 1 thing. I mean, the kickoffs, he tried to get it to the right. We had a special return on, because, I mean, our kickoff coverage, because we wanted to pin him down there.

“We wanted to get it down there as far right as we could. He just went a little bit too far right, obviously. And, he had a miss-hit ball at a bad time. We lost probably about 10 yards there on that. Most of the time, the thing that's so disappointing, most of the time, we were the ones that are setting our team up. And this is the time that it didn't happen, and that's what makes it so disappointing. But we're not going to let this game define us for sure. We're going to bounce back and come back stronger for sure this week.”

On walking a tight-rope with the potential for a unique kickoff to go out of bounds:

“Yeah, I mean, the idea on that kick is that we're trying to kick it to the right, because we're getting our coverage down there. If we kick it in the middle, then they have a two-way go. And it's kind of a little bit harder to get him inside the 30. We were trying to get him inside the 30.

“I mean, it's almost impossible to get him inside the 20 now, unless you skip the ball into the end zone, and then you're taking a chance, if trying to skip it, that it's short and they get the ball to the 40. Anyway, so we're just trying to get it down there to the right, to pin him down there. And that's what we were trying to do. And he just, it just got off his foot a little bit too far to the right.”

On Brashard Smith:

“Yeah. I mean, I think Brashard keeps getting better and better each week, and it was really good to see. He hit that return. I mean, he was north and south in a hurry. And I'm not sure if I'm glad he didn't score, because it'd been even worse. It was pretty. It was a great return, nonetheless. And we're going to build on that. We're gonna look at the positives.”

On whether he felt like the officials called four on special teams because the Chiefs were labeled prior to the game:

“I don't think so. … I mean, we've been pretty good. We only had two penalties coming into that game. We had four in that one game. We had only two penalties really. I mean, go back and look. I mean, it’s not like we were getting killed this year on penalties. It's not what it was at all. So that game, it got us, and every one of them was costly, and we know it. And there's a lot of pride in that room. Like I said, we're gonna bounce back.”

On the Lions’ special teams:

“Yeah, very good. I mean, I know I stand up here every week and say it, but I mean, it's a top 10 unit for sure. Coached well; Dave Fipp does a great job. Kalif Raymond, probably one of the best punt returners in the league, former Pro Bowler. I mean, he's coming off an injury. We'll see if he plays, but if he's in there, he's very dangerous, and he does a good job. Coaching, these guys play hard, I mean, really hard. And it starts with their head coach on down. Obviously, they're a tough, tough unit and we're gonna have to really step it up this week.”

On Dan Campbell’s reputation for surprises on special teams:

“Let me give you a little stat, all right? Since he's been there since ’21, he's ran 12 punt fakes. That's three a year, and they haven't run one yet. I mean, so we know it's coming. We knew it was coming two years ago, but they were backed up on the 17-yard line. You don't think it's coming then. I mean, that's the thing. He'll call it when you least expect it.

“So now you got to expect it all the time. So, I mean, we'll be ready for it. It doesn't mean you’re gonna stop it. You gotta be prepared for it. And they'll come with some kind of crazy thing, whatever. But we're ready.”