Lions’ GM Brad Holmes on season-ending loss: ‘Obviously, it sucks’

Lions general manager Brad Holmes discussed the team’s offseason preparations and what they anticipate happening with the departures of both offensive and defensive coordinators five days after the team was ousted from the NFC playoffs.

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    Lions GM Brad Holmes spoke on Thursday after the Lions fell to the Washington Commanders.
    
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    Holmes said he feels disappointment with how the season ended and the only thing to do is move forward.
    
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    He also addressed moving on from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
    

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  Lions GM Brad Holmes spoke on Thursday after the Lions fell to the Washington Commanders.
  
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  Holmes said he feels disappointment with how the season ended and the only thing to do is move forward.
  
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  He also addressed moving on from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
  

(FOX 2) Allen Park, Mich.Five days have passed since the Lions defense, which was stacked with backups, and the three interceptions that Jared Goff threw, and five days since Lions supporters left Ford Field with a sour taste in their mouths. Only twenty-four days have passed since he was hired as defensive coordinator for his ideal position as coach of the New York Jets.

Brad Holmes, the general manager, isn’t dwelling too much on the past, though. He’s excited to see what the club can do in the off-season to improve on 2024 and make 2025 even better.

As he and head coach Dan Campbell attempt to move on and improve from a season that established records, Holmes spoke during a season-ending press conference on Thursday about the entire season and what lies ahead.

“Look, 15 wins, that’s hard to do in a year where you don’t have all the attrition that we had to deal with,” Holmes stated. That’s as tough as it gets, I suppose. So, you know, he did a fantastic job on behalf of the entire coaching team.

For the first time in their existence, the Lions tied the Kansas City Chiefs for the most wins in the regular season, won 15 games, and secured the top seed in the NFC playoffs. However, fans were still let down that evening in spite of all.

“Look, our fans still showed up and contributed once again. Holmes remarked, “And they fulfilled their end of the agreement. I wish we could have done more for them.” “I simply believe that we continue to build like we have in the past. I do believe that we have a close relationship.

“I mean, obviously it sucks.”

Holmes is aware of how dissatisfied everyone is with the way things turned out. However, Detroit is more aware than most other cities that there is just one option: retaliate.

“Obviously, it’s awful. It’s humble. However, Holmes cautioned against overreacting. “There’s nothing else to do but get back to work.”

This season, the Lions had more injuries than any other NFL team, especially on defense. During the press conference, Holmes referred to it as attrition and claimed that it encouraged the team rather than discouraged them.

“How will you respond to this? How are you going to respond to this? As I mentioned, the divisional loss occurred exactly as planned. How will you respond? “Injuries occur,” Holmes stated.

Next steps:

Holmes isn’t concerned about how the players on the field will adjust as the offensive and defensive coordinators switch positions.

“We feel so good about our young core and young nucleus of players,” Holmes stated. “I don’t really feel like the walls are closing; I just think that everything is in place. We would sort of try to stay away from such kinds of things.”

Goodbye to Johnson and Glenn

Holmes and Campbell aren’t adrift without Johnson and Glenn as they politely leave Allen Park.

“We were obviously ready to lose those people. Holmes remarked, “Those guys are fantastic coaches.” “Having both of them this year is a blessing. Thus. However, I am confident in Dan’s ability to ensure that we have the right personnel in place since I know he has been preparing for it.”

Therefore, the Lions’ only option for today is to begin searching for the next Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson.

According to my assessment, he will need to be flexible. He will need to be intelligent. “He will need to be able to adapt,” Holmes stated. “Verify that he has placed the players in the best possible position for success. These are some of the traits that I believe make a coach here a good match in this culture.

However, don’t anticipate significant changes from Campbell. Holmes stated that players will continue to be expected to give it their all as long as he is present.

“If there are tweaks to the scheme and all that, as long as Dan’s the head coach here and, you know, as long as I’m here, then those are things that we talk about that you know, are not going to change,” Holmes stated. “If a player’s going to come in here, he’s a Detroit Lion or he’s not.”

Where can Jared Goff go from here?

Goff performed better than most NFL quarterbacks, even though his season ended horribly. Goff is only getting started, according to Holmes.

“As a coordinator, he was obviously very effective with Johnson. However, he had achieved great success in a very other system before he even arrived here. Furthermore, he is, in my opinion, a more capable and mature quarterback now than he was during your early success. Therefore, I don’t anticipate (his stepping back). Once more, I believe the man is in his prime. Each year, he has improved farther. And since he keeps going up, when I say prime, I mean simply going in,” Holmes remarked.

Focus on the pass rush

The absence of pass rushing was a clear weakness for the Lions. After injuring his leg in week six, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson missed the most of the season and led the club in sacks with 7.5.

“But, you know, I felt our pass was quite decent when we were healthy. In my opinion, the defense as a whole was self-explanatory given the volume of output we were able to achieve prior to that attrition. However, it goes without saying that we constantly examine every aspect and will continue to introduce competition in every area,” Holmes stated.

He stated that while they will consider free agency and the draft to strengthen their defense, they will not rule out a trade.

“That doesn’t scare us. “With the right player, it must be there,” Holmes stated. “But we’ve always said we’re going to build to the draft, and I think that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in.”

The Source: For Brad Holmes’ season-ending press conference, FOX 2 was in Allen Park.