Penei Sewell - OT, lions Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-15 | Full transcript (primary source).
Penei Sewell addressed the media during a press conference on September 15, 2026, as the Detroit Lions prepare for their upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills. Sewell discussed the team's offensive line strategies and the challenges posed by the Bills' defensive front.
Transcript
Sewell: Yeah, the week as old lines you did last week where Gipps goes off, how do you build off of that? I mean, it's just coming in each and every day with the same mindset, but at the same time, the opponents are different, defenses are different, personnel is different, so we just got to go in as an old line, watch the film and just pick out what they do differently and how they do it too. So just week in and week out, just always pay attention to match ups and personnel and go from there.
Sewell: I think it was a career high of under-center reps during Jarrant this past week. I'm curious what the increase of that does for you guys as a front, especially in the run game. I don't know, I think that's a true question, but whenever we do run the ball, we just try to get a hat on a hat, finish a guy and let Zero do his thing.
Sewell: You've got a tough Bills D-line this week, when you look at Russo and at Oliver, how do you neutralize those guys so they don't wreck the game? It goes back to fundamentals and technique. I think, yeah, they do a lot of things well, up front they got some juice and we know that going into this matchup, so we just got to lock into what we need to do and not let all that, all the other things come into factor, just come in when it's time to play the game, but play by play type of game and just give it your all, but always lean on those things.
Sewell: What do you need to do? Like what is the, if you had to circle one thing Thursday, that hey, if we do this, it'll set us up well to win. What does that look like for you guys up front? Play our standard with football, everybody in the building knows that, and I think, I don't think it needs to be said, so we just got to go out there and do it.
Sewell: It's going to be a raucous environment on Thursday night, what's the most raucous environment we've played in as an offensive player? Probably the indivision ones, whether it's the Vikings or Queens Bay, it's been at the top of that list so far, Kansas City that one year, I think it's my third year, and yeah, so new stadium, everyone's been kind of hyping this one up, so yeah, looking forward to it, obviously it's been getting loud, so we'll see how loud it gets.
Sewell: What is the key to staying this way and pulling out big news, type of statement? Yeah, in those situations you've got to handle the environment, obviously it's not going to change, it's going to honestly probably get louder, so all that practice, all the things that we talk in the meeting rooms, they've got to be a point of emphasis, and when we go out there, it's not like we're seeing stars, we've got to go out there and trust what we've been doing, trust the preparation and communicate, that's the main thing. I know it's going to get loud, but up front we've got to be on the same page.
Sewell: Do you guys practice silent count a lot this week? Yeah, I mean, just any away game, it doesn't matter who it is, I think every stadium in the league is loud, so yeah, even in camp we've practiced a couple times, so we're good.
Sewell: Anthony, I was satisfied with the silence, a lot of proud of that, is that something you guys look forward to potentially doing on Thursday night? I think that's part of it, I mean, I feel like there's a bigger thing and that's just getting a win on the road, but yeah, I think that's part of the enjoyment and the hype afterwards.
Sewell: Buffalo's fans for the win, who on this team? Chris Mahalo. Yeah, I got that one for the win.
Sewell: If Larry's got to go in there and play just a confidence level of him being an endless captain, right? 100%, there's nothing, I mean, whoever goes in there, don't give a beat, they just stand it in the room and everybody knows that already, so when you're out there and you got that jersey on and we're counting on you, there's no drop-off.
