Aaron Glenn Would Not Change Fourth-Down Play Call

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has received five calls from other NFL teams asking how to stop the Baltimore Ravens' offense.

The Detroit Lions' defense was able to hold quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens' offense to under 20 points in their 19-17 loss Sunday at Ford Field. 

For Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, not getting the victory certainly stings, but a certain level of confidence has started to grow that his defense can make strides as the season progresses. 

"I just thought that was a really good effort by our guys," Glenn said. "I started getting calls from a number of people around the league just talking about, 'How do we defend these guys and how good of a job we did.' I'm not into moral victories, and I wasn't even thinking on the level of, 'These coaches are giving me kudos, I guess, because of the way we defended them.' The only thing that I was thinking about, man, is we had a chance to win and we didn't win a game."

Glenn added, "I'm appreciative of all the calls, but you're right, that does give me, give our players, give our coaches and me confidence that we can go in there and we can put a gameplan that is going to help give us a chance to win."

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One of the key decisions made by Detroit's first-year defensive coordinator late in the fourth quarter was only rushing three defenders against Jackson and the Ravens' offense. 

As a result, Jackson had enough time in the pocket, and eventually found wideout Sammy Watkins streaking towards the sideline for a large gain to help put the Ravens in position to kick a long field goal. 

"Honestly, I wouldn't take that call back, for the simple fact that -- you look at the odds of actually converting the fourth-and-19. Especially when you go across the league and look at like what a lot of teams play," Glenn said. "I know that anytime you make a call, it's always going to be criticism. Listen, I'm willing to take any criticism that there is. I do trust myself, I trust our staff and I trust our plan. The decision to make that call again, I would not take it back. Not one bit. He (Lamar Jackson) made a hell of a throw. We got to continue to execute, and we will do that as a team. There's nothing in me, in my soul, that said I would call something different."