What They're Saying: Lions Secondary Wants to Be Best in NFL

Lions react to defeating Rams in season opener.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) hugs wide receiver Jameson Williams (9). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Here is a collection of quotes from Lions players and coaches following their 26-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Dan Campbell

His evaluation of Jameson Williams' career-best performance:

"Listen, expected him to play pretty good, to play better. And man, he showed up. That was a big game to be able to catch some of these and go through it. The best part of it was he didn't even play his best ball. There's still so much to clean up. But it also shows the work that he's put in and he is improving and he's an improved player and he wants it, man. He keeps working on it. He keeps taking these steps. As long as he keeps doing it and keeps making plays, he's gonna continue to get better. So yeah, I'm proud of him, I'm proud of where he's at. He's just gonna continue to grow."

Jared Goff

If running the ball was the game plan in overtime:

“Yeah, you never know. It was what we wanted to do there at the end. I don’t know, what’d we throw it, twice there at the end? As soon as one of those runs kind of pops with him, you just go back to the well and see if you can get it again.” 

Jameson Williams

How it felt to see his hard work come together in the season opener:

“That was real valuable to me, to the team and to Goff. We got a real great connection over the spring and the summer throwing. We threw a couple times in practice, we threw a couple times in LA. It just translated and the hard work is finally showing. Not with just me, with the whole team. That was a hard game to win. The Rams were a good team. Defense helped out a lot, special teams, everybody came together. We just played til the last seconds of the game. It feels good knowing that the hard work pays off, but we’ve got a lot more to go.” 

David Montgomery

The impact of having two steady running backs on his stamina late in games:

“I felt real fresh, honestly. We’ve got a good thing going here with me and Jah going back and forth, saving each other’s energy ‘cause we’re gonna need both of us throughout the entire year in order for us to go on a run. But yeah, that’s a good team over there, I’ll be honest. They gave us everything that they had. We didn’t our cleanest ball and we’ll be better. I’m just happy we came out with the win.” 

Amon-Ra St. Brown

How it felt to contribute in other ways after being limited to three catches:

“Yeah, whatever I have to do to help the team win. Whether it’s blocking, running a through route to get my other guy open, whatever I have to do to help the team win. I’m happy we came out with a dub regardless of what I had, how many catches I had, how many yards. I think to get a win in this league is tough, especially Week 1 because you don’t really know what they’re gonna run, they don’t know what we’re gonna run. Still kind of rusty you could say because it’s still Week 1, but as the season goes you kind of get better and better as a team. We’re just happy to get the win.” 

Jahmyr Gibbs

On the team's mindset as overtime started:

“Nobody wants to go to overtime. We’re trying to get the game over before that. But it just didn’t end like that. We knew what we had to do. We knew if we got the ball first we were gonna score and it was gonna be over with.” 

Terrion Arnold

His assessment of his first NFL game:

“I feel like it can always be better, constantly improve. Got a little handsy, but I’ll work on that. Just work on making plays when my team needs me to make plays. We came up as a defense and we ride together and forced that big stop so our offense could get the ball back and get that field goal. Ultimately, it’s the first game. Trials and tribulations, gotta grow from it and get better.” 

Jake Bates

His mindset ahead of the game-tying field goal attempt that sent the game to OT:

“I tried so hard try to stay calm in those moments and just kind of remember who I am and who the work says I am and just have fun. It’s a kid’s game that we get to play as adults. It really doesn’t get much better than playing football, so kind of keeping that child-like joy playing and just having fun and enjoying it. And then knowing that Hogan and Jack are gonna do their jobs to the highest tier, so it’s up to me to do mine.” 

Carlton Davis

His assessment of the secondary's performance in their first game together:

"I thought we played good, the secondary for sure. Like I said, we want to be perfect, we want to be the best in the league, so we've got to be better and be more opportunistic, especially with the ball. We had too many dropped picks. Overall, we kept the score down, 20, we've just got to be better, work on the little things. First game out, we're still bettering our chemistry on the back end, but it's getting better."

Chris Smith

How he felt about the win in his first NFL game:

"Obviously, we've still got things to clean up, things to work on. That's with every game. Just really grateful. Grateful that I get to play. It's not many opportunities in this league, not many people who can say they played in an NFL game. Just super grateful, but this is just one game and the first of the season. We've got 16 more in the regular season to go and it's about just building on this first game."

Ennis Rakestraw

On the atmosphere in the locker room after the win:

"It was great. Seeing those guys actually put it together, that's what we've been doing through training camp, OTAs and it finally worked about. The things that I've thought about actucally happened."