Read the full transcript from DC Sean Duggan's media availability on November 5, 2026.

Haf has told us he doesn't game plan in terms of trying to take away a specific position. He game plans in terms of who's the biggest scoring threat in his mind. The conversations, while I'm not asking you obviously to discuss anything with game planning, but how have conversations been with you and him this week? Because Detroit has so many weapons. How tough a call is it this week, perhaps more than most others, to decide what to prioritize in terms of taking away?

Sean Duggan: Yeah, let me just kind of say something real quick, just thoughts and prayers are with Jack Campbell, his family, the whole organization. When you see something like that it's always just a brotherhood of football, you really think about those guys. So I just want to send, prayers out to him and his family. Back to your question, I think the conversations have been great. I think we both see the game really similarly. I think when you talk about defense, it's always you just got to take away their best threat. Whatever position that is you got to know where those guys are and have plans to – whether it's certain things with coverage, whether it's certain things with pressures – you got to account for really good players. When it comes to Detroit, they have good players everywhere. So playing those guys four times in two years, you just can't help everyone every single play, right? So you kind of got to stick and move a little bit and not give the offensive coordinator an idea of, I'm going to do this on every single down or every single third down this is what we're going to be in. You kind of got to change it up on him and then you got to change it up on the quarterback. I mean, we're talking about one of the really, really good quarterbacks in this league who's done it for a long time, who can process the game and sees it quick and can make really fast throws and understands what you're trying to do. So you've got to constantly change what you're trying to do because you're not only playing against the coordinator, you're playing against a quarterback who's done it at a high level for a long time.

One of those elite players is Amon-Ra St. Brown. Obviously, Chris Johnson has done a good job against a lot of the better outside guys, right? But how does this change against Amon-Ra?

Sean Duggan: I think it's just the next task, right? I think you got to go in there and you got to know, just like every week, the guy you're going against. I mean, you're talking about a really, really good slot receiver who plays the game the right way, who plays really physical. You know, this guy, not only can he run really good routes and run them at all three levels, he's really good after the catch. He's got really good balance and body control. So when you tackle him, it's more like tackling like a running back, to be honest with you. And then this guy blocks. So when you're taking on blocks by St. Brown, you got to be ready to go. So I think we just got to look at it as the next challenge. Again, no different than how we study every opponent every week. We always have respect for whoever we're going against.

And another of those weapons, of course, Jahmyr Gibbs. Obviously, you always want to win the battle on the line of scrimmage, but how critical is it when you're facing on the other side the highest paid running back in the league?

Sean Duggan: Yeah, I mean, you're talking about probably the most dynamic running back with the ball in his hands. I mean, I actually went against him when I was at Boston College too. I mean, I watched this guy take a kick return 98 yards down the sidelines in the blink of an eye. So I think when we talk to our guys, it's similar to how we talked when we played really good running backs all year. It takes all 11 guys. It starts with the d-line, but then we're going to ask corners to tackle, we're going to ask safeties to tackle, we need linebackers to tackle. It's going to take all 11 guys because every play you can't assume this guy's down because he always has the ability to take it to the end zone. So it's a great challenge.

Tell us about when you're facing a team as dynamic as Detroit, do you want your players paying attention to these guys are good or do you want them thinking this is just another game, it's another week? How do you want them to think about Detroit?

Sean Duggan: I think we should just be hungry for every opportunity. At the end of the day, it's a chance to go play the game that we work so hard for and that we love. We should be excited about the challenge and respect our opponent. But I view every game as an opportunity to go put our best foot forward and continually get better and strive to be a more consistent defense. But I'm excited. I think our guys play that way. I think when you watch our tape, I think our guys play for four quarters really, really hard. There's always going to be things we got to clean up, right? We talk about that every week and there's things that we're going to want back as coaches and players. But I do think when you press play and no one's talking, you just watch the film and let it speak for itself. I think our guys play really hard.

When you saw Chris miss the sack, what was your reaction and what has been the teaching point since?

Sean Duggan: My reaction was just next play. And that's got to be the message to our guys. We'll coach up, we'll ask him what he saw, what we need to do better, but it's just next play, right?

I want to ask you about Jordyn Brooks because obviously he reached that 900-tackle mark. There's always an emphasis on everybody just doing their one-eleventh, right? But what does it say when a guy like that continues to build up on those stats for the rest of the unit?

Sean Duggan: I think Jordyn's been a really good player for a long time. And it doesn't surprise me. You see the way this guy works at practice and the way he conducts himself every day. It doesn't surprise me that the production has followed. But I think he'd be the first guy to tell you it's not just because of him. It's because of the guys in front of him. It's because of the guys behind him. So I think when it comes to defense, it takes all 11. If the nose guard's not doing his job, then maybe you don't get 900 tackles if the center gets up on you in the blink of an eye, right? But he's done a great job. I mean, he's an unbelievable leader. He's a really good player for us. I'm happy for him.

Penei Sewell is like the cream of the crop when it comes to the tackle position. How do you want Chop and Josh to approach their matchup with him?

Sean Duggan: I want them to approach it just like we kind of talked about, excited for the opportunity, excited for the challenge, but play fearless. Know who you're going against, just like every week. Understand what he's good at, understand what he sees from you on film, but go out there and play fearless and let it rip.

Chop, if I'm not mistaken, he didn't start the game, he didn't start the third quarter. Is he becoming more of a pass rush specialist?

Sean Duggan: No, I wouldn't say that. I think Chop's, from the day we got here, the goal for him is to be an all-around player, to be in every down defensive end, but whether it was the personnel they had on the field or the call that we called, we have different packages that we've talked about a lot in here. And our guys know that. We think Chop's an every down player. I would not classify him as a pass rush specialist at all, even though he is a really good pass rusher. He's someone we trust on early down to stop the run, to set edges and then rush the passer when pass presents itself.

The weather last week, was it a factor for your guys? And at what point in the week do you start looking at the weather or does somebody come up to you and say, hey, it's supposed to be windy or rainy or whatever?

Sean Duggan: I mean, people kind of tell me I'm just in here all day. I see it raining and hear it raining though every day. But I don't think it was a factor. I don't think that's ever going to be something we use whether as an excuse or anything like that, that's never going to be – it's just that's the circumstance of the day, right? They got to play it, we got to play it, let's go.

I also want to ask about J-Rod as well, because he got the nomination from the team for Salute to Service. So what does that mean to you like to see such a young guy, a rookie in the NFL with the green dot that has really strong ties to the military service for him to get that nomination?

Sean Duggan: I think it's a huge honor. I think it just goes to show the sacrifices not only that his wife makes for the military, that him and his family have made. She's not here right now, and I know that's not easy. So I think it's just the appreciation not only for his wife and what she does and what all of our troops do, but their families that are involved, right? The families that are affected by them being overseas. So I just think it's a huge honor for him and I know how much we appreciate him and appreciate his wife and all of our troops.

He's been throwing a lot of those punches. Was that one that you showed a bunch in the meeting room and what did you see on it?

Sean Duggan: Yeah, I thought you know it started with just really good coverage. It was a play we worked on. I think Kyle did a really good job in the flat, kind of getting some depth because they were trying to hit a seven route behind him. So he forced the check down and Jacob did a good job running inside out. Kyle did a great job being outside in on it. So we kind of had the tackle viced and then the ball carrier stopped his feet and then it was just an opportunity there, right? So we talk about when's the right time to throw that punch? The guy was kind of going down, the ball was a little bit exposed and he hit it flush. And then the cool part was you saw all the guys run to the ball, right? I mean, JuJu is the one that recovered it. He's really a deep defender there but his effort to get to the ball, he was right there to fall on it. But it's definitely, it's a great example of what we talk about every single day, right? Because there's nothing more important than the football.

What did you think of Kyle Louis' snaps?

Sean Duggan: I thought he did a nice job. I think for really his first game – I know he got in versus Vegas, but really it was two snaps and then he got hurt. So I think he did a nice job. It was good to see him kind of knock the rust off a little bit. I'm excited to see him progress as the season goes.

The completion percentage against is 77%. That's awfully high, highest in the league. What needs to change for that number to get down and does that number concern you?

Sean Duggan: I think it's just, again, I've kind of said this before, it's what are we trying to do? What are we trying to take away? Are you trying to take away certain receivers? Are you trying to take away deeper throws? So I really don't get hung up in the completion percentage just as a true stat, right? It's more about the process of why is that number high, right? Is it because we're trying to take away other things and we're forcing shorter throws? Is it because we're losing at the catch point? Is it because we're just not doing something schematically and we have an assignment error? So I just kind of look at it as, why is each play is completed? Not just the true stat. If the stat is because of certain things, then we'll coach it better and adapt. But I really don't get too hung up in just true stats. I'm more looking at just the process of how it goes.

And is there a particular reason among all those you mentioned that you think might stand out above the others as to why it's so high?

Sean Duggan: I think it's hard just to say one reason, to be honest with you. I think it goes game to game, drive to drive, play to play. So I think it's hard to just nail down one thing. I don't think that'd be a fair thing for me to answer like that. So I apologize. I really do respect that question. But again, it's more about the process of each play, each drive, each game.

I was talking about Detroit's interior offensive line with Mahogany and Ratledge and Juice Scruggs coming in at center this week. How do they uniquely test your guys on the interior and what's kind of some of the talking points to make sure you guys have success in that matchup?

Sean Duggan: I think, again, I would start with their play style. Really, it really goes with the whole offense, specifically the offensive line. I think they play really hard. They're bigger guys. They're physical. They want to get their hands on you. When you watch them on whether it's a zone block, whether it's a combination block on a gap scheme, I think they do a really good job. They work well together. And I think that showed progress from last year, right? They were all kind of new last year. I know Scruggs wasn't the center last year, but the two guards were Ratledge and Mahogany. So I think it'll be a good challenge. I mean, they're big physical guys who play the game the right way. I'm excited to see our guys go against them. We were with Mahogany at BC, so it'll be fun to see him too.