The victor of Monday night’s Eagles vs. Buccaneers game will be the Detroit Lions’ second-round opponent in the NFL Playoffs; they won’t be known yet, but the majority of the week will be spent analyzing and planning a strategy for them. Regretfully, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, and Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator, will be temporarily relinquishing their positions in order to attend head coaching interviews this week.
Coach Dan Campbell stated, “It’ll have to be Friday and a little bit of Saturday.” They will therefore need to crunch them in there on Friday afternoon after practice. The scheduling is already being worked on. And on Saturday, following practice and prior to night meetings, there will be a tiny window in there.
Teams are not allowed to interview coaches of playoff teams until three days following their Wild Card game, according to NFL policy. Teams can then begin conducting virtual interviews, meaning the coordinators won’t need to leave the building. Interviews in person must wait until after the divisional round if the team advances further in the playoffs.
Given that Johnson and Glenn have requested nine head coach interviews in all (see our tracker for details), this clearly poses a bit of a distraction for them. Both might decline an interview request, but given that teams are attempting to complete their searches as soon as possible, there is a big risk in holding off until after the Lions’ playoff run is ended.
We’re not sure yet which of Johnson’s interview requests will be granted, but Glenn said last week that he intends to proceed with all of them.
Can I accept them all? Well, yes,” Glenn remarked.
Although Detroit’s circumstances aren’t ideal, Campbell thinks both teams will be ready for the playoff game on Sunday afternoon.
Campbell stated, “That puts a stress on them, on us.” However, they will make the most of it and do their best with it, as they ought to. However, they’ll be ready for us to prepare for the upcoming game.
