Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel's press conference on August 13, 2025.
Q: I wanted to start with something fun. You're an Eminem fan, right? Did you enjoy the movie "8 Mile?" Do you think of any of that when you come out here?
"I think all questions are fun. (laughter)Absolutely, I graduated high school in 2001. I was a sophomore in high school when his first album came out. Who doesn't know the '8 Mile' anthem, you know? So, I actually reference – I call it an '8 Mile' when you do this battle rap thing where you just say all the things that people know to be true, and then what? I really wish they'd bring them to practice, it would be cool."
Q: On football stuff, WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, will they be practicing today?
"As they're day to day, you'll see (Jaylen) Waddle, for sure. You're going see Tyreek (Hill) out there. We're just very much monitoring him so that we can protect him against himself – joint practice stuff based upon past. You'll see both of them out there today, and we're monitoring how much reps 'Reek' (Tyreek Hill) gets, if at all. We'll see with the medical team."
Q: How about LB Jaelan Phillips?
"He won't be dressed today."
Q: One of the big things is EDGE Aiden Hutchinson going against your offensive line. What type of challenges will he give your offensive line?
"Well, he's a great player. I think the biggest thing that I'm trying to impress on our team – and Patrick (Paul) is a great example, but the offensive line in general – is that I'm much more concerned about ourselves and how we play our game and then apply it to whatever player is across from us. I'd prefer in practice to have the cream of the crop to go against to sharpen our sword for the regular season. I think we get that today with 'Hutch' (Aidan Hutchinson), so that's exciting. A good football practice where guys are focused on getting better, while challenging each other to improve themselves and their team."
Q: You came into the league as an offensive-oriented coach. What are your thoughts on the Lions' offense and offensive line since I know that's an area of your background?
"Yeah, I absolutely love what Detroit has done last couple years. I know they're keeping the same system, the stuff that (former Lions Offensive Coordinator) Ben Johnson put in. I think they're really well equipped to take a step even forward, just based upon the players they have, the system the coaches that I know they have that are improving upon what has already been really, really good. So I think it's a tremendous challenge. They give you sound football, they give you some offsets, and then Jared Goff just does such a great job of operating the offense while being such a threat as a distributor, decision maker and he's very smart too. He's dissecting defenses and changing what plays there are also to that nature. Led by a franchise quarterback, an offense that knows what they're doing and that's trying to find ways to improve, I think that's an exciting thing for – if I was a Lions fan, I'd be excited about that. I'm excited today for the challenge for our defense, for sure."
Q: Last week, you had that scuffle during the joint practices, you jumped in. There was something that some of the Lions went off yesterday, kind of challenging the Dolphins saying, 'I know how they practice, they don't know how we practice.' Do you look at those as an inevitable part of these joint practices because they're finally seeing someone else? And can they be a distraction? Because the way you jumped in, I know you just were trying to break that up last week. Can they be a distraction or is it inevitable that it's going happen?
"I'm very much focused, and I talked to the team a bunch about this, I'm very much focused on using practice to get better to be best served in games. I like to use practice, I don't like practice to use you. I get very impatient when things keep everybody from the next rep. An opportunity for a guy going against an opponent in a joint practice is huge both for our team and another franchise, getting to go against them. Bottom line is, there's work to be done, and stuff that's illegal in games, I have very little patience for in practice. So I try to move on to the next because the focus needs to be on our game, and anything else, I don't have time for."
Q: Do you have any reaction to Lions LB Grant Stewart essentially putting into question the practice habits of this team?
"No, I don't. It literally does not affect me whatsoever. I hope we get the absolute best practice from Grant (Stewart) and everybody else between the whistles. That makes us better. I think there's a lot of noise, and I've filed that into the noise category."
Q: Whether based on conversations with Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell or not, would you expect the same level of physicality from the Lions that you got from the Bears in the joint practice?
"I think it was very intentional to bring our organization to Detroit and practice against this team based on the football that they like to play. I think they don't take practice for granted, it appears. I love Dan Campbell and his approach. It's very authentic. Yeah, I'm expecting people that have intensity to come to practice and challenge the opposing team who will have intensity. I think it's a good day's work that I'm very, very focused on the football and how we grow in that area, how we handle adversity in a joint. These are all fun things, but it's about the football, nothing else."
Q: What's the biggest thing you want to accomplish over the next two days?
"I would like to see growth in our team, based on having one joint and one game, on how we improve our football within a practice. There can be a lot of focus on going against another team, and there can be a lot of focus on whatever's happened. I want our focus to be game-ready game reps, and where you're doing a play, regardless of its success or failure, you have another play, how are you going to use that play previous to do better on the next. I want to see a growth within practice in all three phases, particularly after a play that we don't win."
Q: What was the messaging to the team in light of the Lions' physicality?
"The message to the team is that we have an opportunity to go compete against another opponent. It was about the Dolphins, and I don't really care about all the other – I know that their players like football and their head coach does, and I want to practice against that. But beyond that, I think it's a mistake to overfocus on anybody but the Miami Dolphins, so that's what I'm focused on."
Q: Last time QB Tua Tagovailoa practiced, he did throw three interceptions. Beyond that, were there systematic things that you were either pleased or displeased with from his practice?
"The thing that's the most obvious is when you throw the ball to another team and that's not – I want to see us improve on not having turnovers in joint, for sure. That being said, Tua's practice, there were very productive reps within it. He did find command and had some success after the interceptions, with the exception to the last one because it was last play. Those are the things that it's not avoiding failure, that is a game that no one's won. It is being able to take that as a competitor and instead of living in the disappointment, transferring the thought energy to how we're going to do better, not that we're going to do better. A lot of the focus for a lot of people are results in joint practices. I think that I could care less about – I don't even know what score a joint practice is. I'm focused on our game and how we do it because this is all in preparation for regular season Week 1."
Q: What is the key to balancing WR Tyreek Hill's workload in joint practice where obviously he wants to compete, but at the same time it's kind of saving him from himself?
"Based on his offseason, where he was there every day and he probably was – I think he was at our facility in our five week time off probably the most out of any player. When you spend time with people, you have a relationship. I'm counting on the relationship with medical staff and him, because (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) knows as our head trainer that I'm depending on him to ask the right questions and listen and be able to get in front of something if someone's going to put themselves in harm's way. The good news is that instead of just wishing for that relationship to exist, 'Reek' (Tyreek Hill) has put a lot of time and effort into a lot of relationships, with that one included. Because of that, I trust that we'll do what is appropriate, but not irresponsible, for him today."
Q: What's your thoughts on the Lions' young secondary? CB Terrion Arnold, CB D.J. Reed, S Brian Branch, S Kerby Joseph. They're all kind of emerging, so what's your thoughts?
"A thought would be that much of the players that you just named were on my radar in the draft process in the last couple years, and I had a high opinion of a lot of them. I know that much to expect. I don't know where their game is at in 2025 and so I'm excited to see that competing against our guys. That's another reason you want these opportunities is because that's a great test. Guys get used to going against each other in specific techniques, and that's not reasonably consistent with the NFL regular season. Every week, there's new obstacles. So this is a great rep at that, as well as playing a very, very good football team, a great organization that we know wants to compete. I'm excited to see how guys respond."
Q: What do you think this point of the preseason and joint practice means to S Ifeatu Melifonwu, who was here last year and is getting more incorporated into the defense? What does this means for him and how he's growing into the defense?
"I think both things can be true. I think I can hold an appreciation (that) almost every week, every opponent, there's some history with the organization somewhere within the team and I appreciate that. Generally, I talk to the individual player every time we're in those situations. However, I also think that you can get confused in your process of preparing to play football and create something, a reality that doesn't exist. This is a former team, but he's a Dolphin and he's playing football. To make more of that is short-sighted for what we're trying to do, which is train ourselves for the regular season, not train ourselves for the Detroit Lions. I think that's an important thing to keep in mind. Both things can be true; it can be cool but at the same time, I think it's important to have your focus on what you're working on, otherwise what you're working on will suck."
Q: What is it about WR Tahj Washington with missing that rookie year last year, coming back and having some good practices and a good game on Sunday?
"I think I saw some of his teammates really respond to both his practice in the joint setting and really the game. I thought it was kind of his introduction to the team, so to speak, and they were juiced. And so what does that mean? He's capable of making plays, now that gets your foot into the door in the process. Now, Tahj (Washington) is very focused on being a reliable playmaker that is fully tooled in all phases and is good with or without the ball. So it was exciting. There's nothing better than, to me, being on the field with a guy that makes a play on the heels of an extended rehab, because all those days – everybody sees the result, they see the catch, but they don't see the hours upon hours of work that goes into getting back on the field. So it's an important moment to have. I was pumped for him, but like Tahj, I'm ready for the next step, which starts today and every practice after here to see if he can be a consistent playmaker like he wants to be."
(I wanted to ask one other former Lion. DT Benito Jones, how much he's grown since he came back to the Dolphins and even getting half a sack? His pass rush maybe flourishing a little bit?) – "What a cool part in his career, Benito (Jones), to, kind of in the vein of other guys like a Zach Sieler, that you move around to a couple teams in a couple years but the entire process you're focused on your game, and you open your eyes and you're a better player than when you left. He's a guy that is very galvanizing in the locker room, is known to be dependable, to be about the right stuff. He drives big trucks and wears overalls and is a person unique to himself, and I think he's doing a great job being himself and flourishing at that."
