LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
October 18, 2025
On what Lions CB Terrion Arnold practicing yesterday means for his chances to play on Monday: “I don’t see him Monday. That was just get him out there moving around in individual. He’s still got a little bit to go here to make sure that he’s ready or can be ready to produce, protect himself, all of that. But he’s improving. That’s a positive sign.”
On when he will make the decision on if Lions S Kerby Joseph will play on Monday: “Yeah, I mean that could come down this afternoon, it could be tomorrow. I mean we’ll see. He hasn’t practiced. We’ll reassess. I know he’s doing a lot better. We just want to be smart with it and see where he’s at. But he is feeling better, he’s getting better. But I don’t see him practicing today.”
On if Lions S Kerby Joseph’s injury is a tendinitis type of injury that needs time to calm down: “Kind of. I mean it’s not necessarily that but it – time will help, time could help. So, we’ll see. But look, there’s a lot of guys too that are dealing with a lot of things. And you can’t have every player – you can’t lose every guy, so you’ve just got to gauge where some of them are at. Some of them are worse than others. And he’s dealing with something and it’s affecting him right now, so we’ve just got to get it to calm down – help him.”
On if he expects Lions T Taylor Decker to play on Monday: “He’s trending the right way. Practiced yesterday, he looked good. I’m not going to practice him today, but he is going to move around, do some things with (Lions Director of Player Health and Performance Brett Fischer) Fisch and them. But he’s trending that way.”
On if the silver lining of the NFL Films ‘Turning Point’ video about Lions DB Brian Branch is that the team was brought closer together and may be motivated by it: “Well, that’s what our guys are about. We overcome adversity. And listen, that’s their brother and if you’re going to attack their brother, that’s what they’re going to do. So, we’ve got a tight knit group. And I’ve already mentioned this, (Lions DB Brian Branch) BB’s a good dude. So, he’s paying for what happened and he’ll be back ready to go for Minnesota.”
On if he is worried about the NFL Films video and referee officiating controversy from Kansas City being a distraction for the team: “No because we’ve already talked about – we can’t worry about those things, particularly when it comes to playing. If we sit here and worry about that or what could be called or not called – it’s all these other things that have nothing to do with us, we have no control over any of that other than the way we play. And we’ve got to cut it loose and play our style of football, period. And we do that, we like our chances, always. So, that’s the most important thing, our guys know that. We assume that we’re going to get nothing to go our way and that’s OK. Seriously, that’s the game. There’s always calls, every team. That happens one way or another and you’ve got to overcome them, and the good teams always do. So, we’re not worried about it.”
On how good Lions CB Amik Robertson is to have when the team is battling injuries: “Great guy. Great guy to have. He’s a skilled player and he’s tenacious, he’s feisty, he’s confident and teammates love his energy because he does, he brings it all the time. He brings it in practice, brings it in the games, he’s a ball guy. And he is, he’s kind of one of those guys that sparks our defense, the other guys around him. Look, I say it all the time, it doesn’t matter about how things go as it pertains to OK a play happens here, somebody gets a play on you, they make a play on you, it’s a great whatever. You just want to know those guys will go in there and they’ll compete. They will compete, there’s no fear and they’re going to cut it loose. And as long as our guys do that – which Amik’s one of those guys – we’ll be just fine.”
On how much of Lions DL Mekhi Wingo sitting out in games is because he has not been a schematic fit for the defensive gameplans: “Look I think it’s – certainly getting (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac back creates depth. And so, between (Lions DL DJ) Reader and (Lions DL Roy) Lopez, you’ve got Mac back, (Lions DL Tyler) Lacy can kind of play some of the three-technique, big-end. It is a little bit of that now that you’ve got all your guys, where exactly does it fit? He can play some three and nose, but we’ve got a lot more versatility now. And then he’s not really special teams, so it just kind of puts him in one of those spots where he just keeps working. Just keep working and doesn’t mean this is done for him or he’s not going to get an opportunity. Those guys know it. I mean I’m watching (Lions DL) Myles Adams. He had a heck of a practice this week on scout team and those guys need to know – and I think they understand – we watch it all the time. And you may be – you’re one play away from getting the next guy up. So, Wingo’s in that boat, he keeps practicing, keeps trying to get better and we’ll just see where it goes. But he’s doing a good job, this is nothing on him, he’s just got to continue to keep working and improve his craft.”
On the video the NFL sent using Lions LB Jack Campbell as an example of punching the ball out and if he feels that the League misunderstands the aggressive style of football they play: “Well, look it was – the League did say what he was doing is legal. But if you miss with a punch, it would be illegal. So, I want to make that clear. But listen, we can’t worry about all that. And when it came out, I showed it to the team and I said, ‘Hey, here’s the emphasis. Make sure you hit the football.’ And that’s as simple as that. You don’t have to go into any more than that. ‘Jack, you good?’ And, ‘Yeah, got it. I’m going to hit the football.’ So, we’ve got to hit the pigskin and it’s really that simple.”
On how much of a challenge Lions T Taylor Decker not practicing was for the offensive line’s chemistry to develop with new players and how impressed he has been that they were able to work through that: “It’s not easy. I mean that unit, more so than any group that works together, that’s a unique group. And it’s also why it’s hard to – out of all these positions, you can, ‘Hey, let’s give this guy. He’s going in on third down, he’ll go on the goal line, he goes in to short yardage, maybe it’s a four minute, maybe it’s backed up.’ You can’t do that at O-line. It’s hard because when you take a piece out and bring somebody else in, they’ve all been working together, they’ve got each other figured out, they know how to fit combinations, they know their get-off, their takeoff, they know how to pass the stunts. You just – it’s that communication without speaking. The body demeanor, the – and so when you insert another piece, it takes a minute to figure those guys out, to figure that next piece out. And not just the guy next to you – insert right guard, (Lions T Penei) Sewell and (Lions OL) Graham (Glasgow) have to figure him out again. It’s something new. So, that’s where it’s hard to just – you want to get some guys reps, it’s hard to just place them in and out. So, back to your point, when you miss a piece like Decker and you’ve already got two new guys – relatively new – at the guard position, you’re trying to work through that, it’s not easy. But those guys have done a hell of a job, (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Hank (Fraley)’s done a hell of a job. And they really have grown a ton, they really have. And if we get Decker back, it only helps us. It only helps us. So, Decker’s a hell of a player and seen a lot of football and he makes guys around him better. And now you get that group back together, those five, and I just think it’ll elevate us.”
On how much he feels the offense has insulated the team from the personnel losses on defense over the last two years: “Well, look I feel like we have got a little bit of everything here and we can play a number of different ways. That’s always going to help you. So then you can adjust accordingly off of how the game goes. I mean you can pull back, you can push, you can – and that helps. Listen, we’ve got an outstanding quarterback. I mean that helps when you can put it in his hands and you do what you need to do. That’s always going to give you that flexibility to play the game a certain way. And I think most teams with a good quarterback would tell you that. But it’s always going to be – I know it’s always kind of been that way, but a number of it is we had injuries last year and so you’re trying to stay – you’re playing rabbit a little bit, you’re trying to stay ahead of the opponent and make them catch you. But every game’s different, every season’s different. And it’s a little bit like Cleveland. We really leaned on our defense against Cleveland. We knew we needed to, they showed up, played big takeaways and then offense, we scored. But it wasn’t one of those kind of like what we’d done last year. So, I just go back to this, we play with three phases and we will do that every game, every season.”
On the magnitude of Monday night’s matchup and its implications for the postseason: “Well absolutely. It’s one of the first things I thought of going in. It’s like, this will have meaning towards the end of the year. This will mean something. But at the same time, it’s the next game and if you make it more than the next game in front of you, you’ve got to be careful with that. And you’ve still got to be loose enough and confident enough to just cut it loose. And don’t worry about a misstep because the fact of the matter is too, it’s a long season. It’s a long season, so let’s worry about playing better than we did last week. Like really, let’s just play better. Let’s play cleaner football, protect it like we have been, let’s get some takeaways, let’s get some plays on special teams, find some explosives and find a way to beat this opponent because it is a good opponent.”
