LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 12, 2025
Opening Statement: “Alright, it’s Friday. Ready to roll, man. Ready to roll.”
On the team’s plan for Lions T Taylor Decker’s injury management moving forward: “He’s got a little bit something here, so we’re just trying to buy him some time here to where he feels better. A lot of it, too, is the luxury of – Decker’s played a lot of football. And so, he’ll be ready as long as it feels right. But yeah, we feel good right now. And there again, we still have another day here and we’ll see. So, I can’t give you a definitive yes, but that’s where it’s at.”
On if Lions T Taylor Decker’s injury is related to his offseason surgery: “Not sure on that. Not sure.”
On his comfort level for Lions OL Giovanni Manu to fill in at the swing tackle position: “Well, he’s going to have to be ready. And he knows that, he’s been getting reps all week. I did think he practiced better these last two days, which is good. He’s part of a whole unit, he’s part of all five of those guys up there. He’ll be ready.”
On how the offensive line changes when an inexperienced player fills in for a veteran player: “Yeah, I mean it does, it changes. It changes some things, but I think it’s like anything else. You just have to stay ahead of the sticks, you have to stay in manageable situations, and you do that – (Lions OL Giovanni) Manu’s no different than any player. He’s got strengths, and then he’s some things that he’s got to continue to work on as he grows and develops. So, we’ll use his strengths.”
On if he expects Lions T Taylor Decker to be out at practice today: “I do not. I do not. And just for the record, Deck wants to play. I’m going to make that very clear. Deck wants to play. So, this is about the long-term season is what this is going to come down to just as far as what we do for this one.”
On how much pressure starting the season behind in the division race puts on the team: “I don’t see that as pressure. Anything to where we’re forced to compete is a good thing. And I love that, man. And we already knew what we were coming into this year with this division. It’s a tough division, man. There’s good players, there’s good coaches, competitive. But no, I mean, it’s early in the season. I mentioned this before. At some point, every team’s going to hit adversity whether it’s early, it’s in the middle of the season, it’s late. And it’s just about playing your best football by the end of the year. And so, we can’t worry about the Packers. We can’t worry about Minnesota. We worry about ourselves first, and then Chicago because they’re the next opponent.”
On what he hopes to see from Lions DL Mekhi Wingo before he is ready to get back on the field: “He’s gotten some reps this week, and I thought he had a good week. And so, we’ll see what it looks like today. But, we like him. We like where he’s at. Looks like he’s physically ready.”
On what kind of progress Lions DL Mekhi Wingo was making last season pre-injury: “He was getting better, and better, and better. He was really trending in the right way, man. We liked where he was going, we thought he had some flexibility there in the middle. Could play the nose, could play the three, certainly. And then we even put him in some big end situations. And then use him on special teams. So, he does have some flexibility and we thought he was trending in the right way, and it was one of those – it was a tough injury. Nobody’s more frustrated than he was about it, so it’s just good to have him back.”
On how Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and Lions Offensive Coordinator John Morton have responded after the Week 1 loss: “They’ve both been great, man. They’re what I would expect them to be, man. Let’s worry about us and let’s clean up our own issues. Let’s diagnose the problem, let’s fix it, let’s get better, and let’s move on. And I’ve felt like they’ve done that.”
On what kind of boost Lions RB Sione Vaki can bring to special teams once he is able to return: “Significant. Yeah, he’s an outstanding special teams player. Significant.”
On the hallmarks of Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense: “Somebody asked me this the other day. They play hard, they’re smart, they’re disciplined, they’re aggressive, they’re tough. I mean, I think I stated it all. He’s an outstanding coach, man. He does it right, he knows how to teach, he knows how to communicate, and he knows how to put those players in position to have success, man. He finds one-on-ones.”
On how he wants to see Lions EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad involved in the gameplan Week 2: “We’ve got him in there. We’re going to use him some. I don’t know how much, but certainly he’s earned the right to be out there on the field. We would say that. We thought he had a good camp, he practices his tail off. Every day, man, he gives you what he’s got. We really felt like the player’s better than even last year. And he’s a veteran guy, he’s played in this League a while. But, we liked what he gave us last year and we felt like he was better even through camp and to this point. So, we like him there. Again, he can spell (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch with the rush, and then we think we can use him on some third down. And look, he plays the run, too, man. He can set an edge now. So, love where he’s at.”
On the point of emphasis for the pass rush when you play a quarterback who is mobile: “That’s the trick, isn’t it? That’s the trick. (Bears QB) Caleb (Williams) is a phenomenal athlete. I mean, he is. He’s so dangerous when he gets out of the pocket. And so, if you’re not careful, you’ll paralyze your guys and you’ll just stand there. And now he buys time in the pocket. And then if you just rip and roar, you’re gone and you open lanes out, well he’s gone there, too. So, there is a fine balance. We’ve tried to emphasize that. I thought our guys did a really good job yesterday. (Lions QB) Kyle Allen gave us some looks, some really good looks. A lot of scramble looks, just working it and trying to simulate him as much as possible which is always going to help. But, that’s really what you do, man. You just, you’re constantly coaching the balance of the two. That’s what you’re doing. You’re talking about it on tape, you’re doing it in practice, you’re repeating plays. That is the emphasis.”
On if Lions QB Kyle Allen has similar mobility to Bears QB Caleb Williams: “Well, I’m not saying that. But I’m saying it’s as close of a look as we can get where we’re at right now.”
On how important it is for the defense to shut down the run game against Bears RB D’Andre Swift: “It’s always – that’s the starting point for us. We cannot allow teams to run on us, and we know Swifty. Swifty is an explosive athlete, man. He finds a crease and he is gone. Powerful legs, quick, explosive. So, we’ve got to bottle him up. Gain tackle, not let him get going. We can’t let them establish the ground game.”
On how much playing at home will help communication issues: “It’ll help. First of all, it’s going to help because it’s game two. So, you shake some of that out of you. You’ve got the first game under your belt. Really the first legitimate game where all of our starters have played together, particularly the O-line in real, live football other than what we did, scrimmage. And then the joint practices. And then you’re back home, you are in your own element. So, verbal comes back into it as opposed to the silent cadence, all those things. So, the combination of those two, it will help. It will help.
