Interim head coach Mike Kafka

KAFKA: We're opening up (running back) Eric Gray's window today. (Defensive lineman Chauncey) Golston, (safety Tyler) Nubin and (defensive lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches Sr.) Nacho will be in a limited role today and then (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) is in a non-contact practice today.

Q: How do you work through that with the non-contact for the quarterback? You know that any other position tomorrow you would assume would be a full contact, so how do you kind of gauge that? I know you probably rely on the medical staff a little bit, but it's an interesting situation.

KAFKA: Yeah, it's mostly just leaning on the medical. I mean, the quarterbacks don't get hit during practice anyways. So, they've got to get creative in terms of getting that work in. But our medical staff does a great job of organizing that for us.

Q: Is the term, is he still in protocol per se?

KAFKA: I mean, right now he's in a non-contact day. Sure, he's still in the protocol, like in that phasing of it. So, he'll continue to progress through it if he goes through the right forms here.

Q: When will you have to make a decision by?

KAFKA: Well, it just depends on how each day goes.

Q: Assuming it goes well, he's trending towards being able to play Sunday if there are no setbacks?

KAFKA: Yeah, that would be the fair plan for sure.

Q: You ripped through those injury guys, the three names you said are going to be limited today?

KAFKA: Yes.

Q: What about (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux), (wide receiver Darius) Slayton and (cornerback Paulson) Adebo?

KAFKA: Those guys, well, let me look back at the sheet before I say something here. Thank you for the question. Kayvon is out. He will not participate today. Slayton will do some work on the side. Adebo will not participate today.

Q: Is there any concern, I know you had a couple days here with that, we asked you the other day, that that's long-term at this point, Adebo, that you might have to shut him down?

KAFKA: We're going to progress through it. We'll see how he feels again tomorrow and just kind of take it day by day with Adebo.

*Q: It's not anything they found, like, okay, we need to shut him down, or he needs a procedure or anything like that? *KAFKA: He felt good going into the game and then as he was talking with the medical staff, they made the right decision to kind of hold him out.

Q: You've been on the job for a week. What's been the biggest change for you?

KAFKA: The biggest change, I'd say, is just you're open doors and open lines of communication with more of the players. You're exposed to them a little bit more often. The defensive side, the special teams unit, and then the coordinators and coaches, you're talking with them a lot more. Certainly a lot more medical meetings and things like that, roster meetings. But those are all parts of, smaller parts that I was with as a coordinator, but now you're just exposed to more of that. So, I'm learning each day, I'm learning a little bit more and more, and it's been a cool process to kind of see how it all goes together. Then going through a gameday process, a gameday procedure, what areas can I improve on, what areas can I be more beneficial and more of an asset for the group, for the coaches, for our game management team, for the offense. So, it's just finding that balance that I'm working through right now, but I've got a great support staff and they're helping me through the way and showing me the ropes and giving me great advice. So, I'm just trying to take it and roll with it.

Q: What have the challenges been in relation to that, to not have the other stuff take away from your offensive play calling and putting the game plan in?

KAFKA: Yeah, that's why I've got a great staff around me, that can kind of next man up and continue to carry the torch for the offensive group. Got great leadership with (defensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen), with (offensive coordinator Tim Kelly) TK, with (special teams coordinator Michael Gobrial) Ghobs. Those guys are leading their rooms, leading their groups, and I can come in and continue to be an asset for them and help them in any way that I possibly can.

Q: If Jaxson is in line to play, would (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) be your backup Sunday?

KAFKA: That would be the plan, yes.

Q: We talked about you personally, but what's your focus for the team here in these final weeks? Improvement, growth, wins, how would you summarize what you're trying to accomplish?

KAFKA: Really just focused on today, and today's the most important day. Our first and second-down game plan, focused on making sure that we're dialed in on our cadences. We're going into a loud environment, so it's hard to look that far ahead when we have a really, really important day today.

Q: What do you hope to see from (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) today and moving forward? I mean, he obviously had a public incident, an embarrassment certainly. So, what would you hope to see from him?

KAFKA: Well, I'd say the first thing is, Abdul, he's got my full support. We're all here for him, our coaches, the players, the leadership group. It's not really necessarily about Abdul, but about everybody in our unit, in our team. They've got our support, and we're here, we've got their backs. So, I'd expect him to approach it like he does every day. He practices his tail off, he plays his tail off, he's continuing to learn and grow as a young player, and I'm proud of him for how he's handled these things. It hasn't been an easy couple days, but I'm proud of him, and I think he's earned a lot of respect in the locker room and will continue to grow and be a great teammate and learn from the things that he's done.

Q: With (wide receiver Isaiah) Hodgins coming in so late last week, can you speak to that whole process?

KAFKA: I have a lot of familiarity with Isaiah. He's been in multiple training camps. He came in our first year and had a great year in terms of just jumping into the role from a familiarity standpoint. I'm just really proud of how he stepped up again for us. Again, even a shorter turnaround, came in on a Thursday, off the plane, onto a practice, absorbed the installation in the third-down day with a bunch of passes. We're moving people around, we're going no huddle tempo on the football. It was just really impressive to see him go out there and execute. Then as (wide receivers coach Mike) Coach Groh was meeting with him, as (offensive assistant/minority coaching fellow) Troy Brown was meeting with him throughout the week, then getting to the gameday and watching him just go execute and play and have fun and really play without any kind of indecision, it was really cool to see and really impressive for Isaiah.

Q: How hard is that to do?

KAFKA: I would say that's extremely hard. For a guy like Isaiah, who's really smart, we knew that about him. That's one of the reasons why we brought him in. But I was very impressed with how he jumped in even on that short notice.

Q: Obviously a lot of attention paid to the guys going to WWE, specifically (running back) Cam (Skattebo). Did you know they were going to be there? Do you have any thoughts on just their activities?

KAFKA: Yeah, I knew they were going to the event. It was a rookie event. We have some team events that our support staffs put together for the rookies to kind of get out. So, I thought it was a cool thing. I know it was like a staged little brawl there. It was great to see Skatt on the pregame, on the sideline. His juice, his energy, you can feel it. I can feel it through the TV and through my phone when I was watching the clips. So, it's a cool event for those guys to kind of get out and be out in the community.

Q: You felt secure with his safety over there, given the ankle injury?

KAFKA: Yeah, I trust Skatt, and I trust our medical department, our medical staff to take great care of him.

Q: Was Jaxson there?

KAFKA: I don't have the full list of everyone that was there. It's kind of an open door, if you want to go, you can go.

Q: That was staged, really?

KAFKA: Yes. (laughter)

Q: Can you talk a little bit about your offensive line, which has obviously taken a lot of hits over the last few years? It seems like there's a pretty good group there.

KAFKA: The continuity there has been tremendous with our veteran leadership. (Tackle Andrew Thomas) AT and (offensive lineman) Jermaine (Eluemunor), (guard Greg Van Roten) GVR, (center John Michael Schmitz Jr.) JMS, (guard) Jon Runyan, these are guys that have played a lot of snaps together now and do a great job in the meeting room. I had an opportunity to spend some time in the O-line room over the last few years and just seeing these guys communicate, seeing these guys talk through their adjustments, talk through their assignments, how they're going to attack a certain double team, how they're going to attack a certain block, it just really opens that floodgate to really great communication on gameday. It's led by (offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo) Carm and (assistant offensive line coach) James (Ferentz) and those guys. They want to bring that out of their players, and they do. You see it on the field, and it shows up throughout the game. It shows up in the adjustments on the sideline, in the communication with the young quarterback, it's really impressive from that group, and they're continuing to step up for us.

Q: Given how well that line did play, how much confidence does that give you facing this Lions pass rush with guys like (edge Aidan) Hutchinson?

KAFKA: It's another challenge. I thought they stepped up to last week, but that was last week. This is a brand new challenge, a brand new week, and so we've got to have the same mentality and the same work ethic and the same level of detail that we had preparing for that, to go run again this week.

Q: If the medical people say that Jaxson's ready to go, will you embrace that and say let's go, or would you rather be conservative at this point and give him another week?

KAFKA: If he's healthy and cleared to go, then I'd like Jaxson Dart to play. It's only if he's healthy and ready to go, and that's based on what the doctors have to say.

Q: Because quarterbacks are always non-contact anyway, even though Jaxson is non-contact technically today, will you have him as your first-team quarterback in practice, or will you have Jameis as your first team quarterback?

KAFKA: The reps and talking with (offensive passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Shea (Tierney), our quarterback coach, they have a great plan for how we'll kind of deliver the reps there. Whether it's a lot or a little, we've talked about it, and so I think Shea has a good plan. I'm happy about it.

Q: It's another new thing for Jaxson in a season of new things. Is this going to be difficult, do you think? I mean, he missed a game, he obviously had a concussion. Now he's got to shake that off and come back after missing a week. Is that going to be difficult as a quarterback?

KAFKA: I don't want to speak for Jaxson, but he's a pretty smart player. He was dialed into our game plans last week. I mean, he's been preparing like this even early in the season when he wasn't the starter, so I wouldn't expect anything different. We just had a great walkthrough with him and the offense, so I'm excited for this practice. And again, why we practice is so we can continue to get better, so the mistakes, if they happen, that's great, we can go get them cleaned up, we can go get them fixed, we can take some positives out of that and continue to build. So, whatever happens on the practice field, that's the greatest challenge as a coach is, okay, when the things go wrong, how do I adjust and correct it and then give that information to the player so that on gameday, they can just play fast and decisive.

Q: I know this is maybe a little bit of an odd question, but have you spoken to (former head coach Brian Daboll) Dabs at all since you've taken over, whether it's for any advice, or has he reached out to you?

KAFKA: Yeah, we've reached out to each other, yes.

Q: Has he been helpful in any way to just…?

KAFKA: I'm going to keep it private.

Q: I don't mean specifically, I'm just kind of curious if he's offered any assistance?

KAFKA: Just out of respect for Dabs, I'll keep it private, the conversations private.

Q: What's the thought process to how differently you start practices, where you have the special teams out there, and then the other guys walk out and stretch separately?

KAFKA: Are you talking about the Friday practice?

Q: Yeah, the Friday (practice). Is that a Kansas City thing?

KAFKA: Yeah, I took that from Kansas City. It's just a way just to kind of break up the little bit of flow of practice and start the special teams unit. So, when we get into the main practice part of it, there's not kind of like a bunch of breakups in between O and D and special teams. So, the special teams have their own practice. They can really organize it, get all the looks they need to, and then as we get into the O/D part of it, it's kind of rapid fire and fast Friday and we're kind of getting point A to point B and getting some work done. It's just a little bit different flow, not that there's a right or wrong way to do it, just something that, just to little mix it up, thought it would be cool for the guys to go through it.

Q: Did you see the results that you were hoping for by moving the film review to yesterday rather than having Monday, giving the guys off? What was the reaction?

KAFKA: I think the players and coaches had a good response to it. As we keep on going throughout the week, I'm sure more and more info will come back. But whatever that feedback is, we'll continue to evaluate it and if we need to make adjustments, minor tweaks to times, longer, shorter, whatever that may look like, we'll just continue to stay on top.

Outside linebacker Abdul Carter

Q: How tough of a few days has this been for you?

CARTER: It hasn't been that tough for me. I'm a very privileged person, a very blessed person. I'm trying to take advantage of my opportunity that I have. So, it hasn't been that tough for me.

Q: I know you're on social media and things. What misconceptions do you want to clear up? And what ownership do you want to take for what happened?

CARTER: Yeah, I took ownership for it. We've moved on from it. We're focused on this week, so that's what I'm trying to focus on.

Q: What have we heard, sort of feedback-wise, from teammates, from my (interim head coach) Mike Kafka, just about what they expect from you and what they hope for you?

CARTER: They expect me to do my job. It's simple as that.

Q: What would you like the fans to know about you as a football player and your work ethic and how you feel about the game?

CARTER: I love the game. I feel like that's known. I feel like there's no need to prove that. But like I said, I'm going to continue getting better, continue to keep learning, trusting my teammates, them trusting me. We're going to figure it out.

Q: Are you looking forward to the opportunity this weekend to go to Detroit and just start to show people what you're made of?

CARTER: For sure.

Q: Did you speak to any of your teammates about the situation and not making that practice?

CARTER: What do you mean?

Q: Did you talk to the fellow members of your defense about you not being there and kind of moving forward from this?

Carter: Oh yeah, for sure.

Q: And what was that sentiment that you addressed to them?

CARTER: I have to do my job, be where I'm supposed to be at.

Q: How have you felt about your season so far? And what else would you like to show?

CARTER: The season's not over yet. I feel like it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. So, I'm going to finish strong.

Q: What have you learned about life in the NFL so far that you could not have known when you started?

CARTER: I feel like I'm learning as I go. It's my first year. Obviously, there's going to be new things that I have to learn and come through and approach and learn from. So that's what I'm doing.

Q: Has it been more difficult to put up numbers, to dominate, to do the things that people expect you to do?

CARTER: I try not to focus on the numbers aspect too much. I feel like I've always said I'm more about winning and how the team is doing. So, if the team is doing good, I'm doing good. If the team is doing bad, then I'm not feeling good.

Q: Do you think that there's a lot of pressure on you because you came in with such high expectations and because of your credentials?

CARTER: I mean, obviously. But I don't feel like that's the issue. There's pressure on everybody. Everybody has expectations. Everybody has a job to do. I just got to do mine.

Q: You almost got close to that first sack on Sunday. Do you feel like you're getting closer to that, you think?

CARTER: Just keep working, I don't know.

Q: How much do you embrace the opportunity to represent this franchise each and every week?

CARTER: Yeah, I embrace it a lot. I take it upon myself to come out here, first of all, starting at practice, working as hard as I can, then going to the games, giving them my all-out effort.

Q: Do you think it came out that you missed that meeting because someone was trying to light a fire under you?

CARTER: I don't really care. Like I said, I've moved on from that. I'm focused on this week.

Q: You talk about winning. Has winning in the NFL been more difficult than you anticipated it would be?

CARTER: Yeah, for sure. But nothing good comes easily. So, I like a challenge. I accept the challenge. Keep learning, keep getting better, and move forward.

Q: Has it been frustrating at times, losing?

CARTER: Obviously, nobody likes to lose, but I feel like you've got to learn from losing so you can win.

Q: Is that what you learned? Have you learned stuff about yourself?

CARTER: For sure. Losses are lessons.