LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
November 30, 2025
On Lions S Kerby Joseph’s tweet from earlier today and if there is an update on his status: “I don’t know. I don’t know about the tweet. He’ll be running around doing some individuals, stuff like that. He’s doing a little bit more, but I don’t know anything about the tweet.”
On if Lions S Kerby Joseph will be returning to play this week: “I mean, he’s closer than he was before. He’s close. We’ll know a lot more really tomorrow. Today’s a walkthrough, so tomorrow, see where he’s at. But he is getting better, like we said, he gets better every week.”
On the holdup of Lions S Kerby Joesph’s injury: “A lot of it is just trying to get some stability in the leg. Get some strength, get some stability, which in turn will help some of the pain but also some of the wear and tear. The stronger you get it in there, it stabilizes it, so it doesn’t wear out as fast or create that kind of pain with it. That’s really what a lot of it is right now.”
On if he is confident Lions S Kerby Joseph’s injury will clear up or if it is a chronic issue: “I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I don’t think it’s necessarily going away, but I think you do the best you can to manage it. It’s like a lot of these guys, you know that they’ve got some injuries here or dealing with cartilage or meniscus or anything like that, you do your best to manage it. There’ll always be a little wear and tear, it’s just how bad is it? But I do know that the more you can strengthen and stabilize, that helps a ton – helps with the swelling, helps with the pain. So, that’s where we’re at.”
On if Lions S Kerby Joseph is just dealing with a bone bruise or something else: “I think bone bruise was certainly part of it, but it’s also just – he’s got some wear. He’s got a little wear, that’s all.”
On what the defense needs to do to be better at ‘getting home’ more and not just generating pressure: “First of all, (Packers QB Jordan) Love did a hell of a job. He’s a heck of a player, man. That ball was coming out fast, and he threw a few of these now off his back foot and it was on point. He’s got that ability. I think, more than anything, you do your best that you can to set up a one-on-one where you can find one. You’re trying to fabricate some of these, most of them come up in third down to where you want to get your guy in a one-on-one, and then it’s up to him to win. We had a few of these, and we didn’t – we felt good about the person we had, and we just didn’t quite get there in time. Got to be a little bit better. And fundamentally, this is a little bit like what I told the defense, we just – man, details and discipline, and really fundamentally, we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get better. It can’t just be you’re going to win off talent or things of that nature. It was really more about pointing out all the things that have nothing to do with talent, which really are the details, the discipline, and the fundamentals. So, we’ve just got to be a little more on point there. We can, everybody’s got to do their job. And that’ll help, that’ll go a long way.”
On how it feels to have Dallas at home this year after playing there the last three years: “I feel like we’ve been out there three times, three or four times. Has it been three? Or is it two? I don’t know what it is. So yeah, to be able to get them back home, that’s good, that’s different. But they’re playing good football right now. Playing with a lot of confidence, man, they’ve beefed up that defense. It’s a really good D-line. Those guys are active. (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Matt) Eberflus has done a hell of a job, he’s a good defensive coordinator. We know him obviously, he was in this division, defense always played well. But he’s doing a good job. And then what (Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer) Schottie’s done offensively over there, and (Cowboys QB Dak) Prescott, those two receivers. They’ve got a run game, O-line’s rugged. It’s a good team. It’s a good team, man. This is a really good team playing at a high level, confident football. So, this’ll be a good test for us, man. We’re pretty fired up.”
On how Cowboys DT Quinnen Williams has contributed to the way Dallas has played the past few weeks: “I mean, he helps. He helps those guys. You guys know how I feel about (Cowboys DT) Kenny Clark, I think he’s an outstanding player. And so, that helps Kenny. And it helps, really, the rest of them. (Cowboys DE Donovan Ezeiruaku) 41 plays at a high level, man, he can burn the edge. You’ve got (Cowboys DE Jadeveon) Clowney, they’ve still got (Cowboys DE Dante) Fowler. So, they’ve got some guys now. (Cowboys DT Osa Odighizuwa) 97’s a good player. He can get an edge. But it really, you put Quinnen in there, man, he’s already a – he’s a good player, man. Run and pass, gets off the ball, disruptive, but then he really helps those guys around him, he does. Because now there are some resources you may need there, and the rest of those guys, they’re getting some five down stuff and letting those guys go. It’s a good unit. But we just faced a pretty good unit, too.”
On Lions EDGE Josh Paschal not able to be activated last week: “It just wasn’t enough time, really, to really be able to say that we knew he would be able to get through the year or that he was ready. That’s what it came down to. Hate it for him, but it’s where it was at.”
On how to limit the explosives against an offense like Dallas: “Well, it’s not easy. It’s not easy, because those two receivers, man – here’s what they do a great job of, and it helps. You’ve got two number one receivers on the outside, and both of them are two different types of players. So, that gives them variety, versatility. But then they run the ball well. They have a diverse run scheme, they do a lot of under center. (Cowboys QB) Dak (Prescott) there again is playing at a high level. The run-action, the play-pass stuff has been really good. So, when you can run it like they run it, and then you’ve got those guys, and then they’ve got a pretty good tight end. Man, they’ve become explosive. So, I’ll go back to this, so much of it is going to start with shutting this run game down. We cannot let this run game get going. Because those guys are a handful anyway on the perimeter. But if we can just at least shut down some of this two-dimensional football, that’s going to go a long way for us.”
On what he took away from the 2023 game at Dallas and if he personally learned anything: “Not really. I mean, that was a crazy game, right? That was everything that that came down to. Had an opportunity there at the end and just didn’t – wasn’t able to close it out. But there were a number of things – I don’t know if I’d say I learned anything, really. I think more than anything it just makes you mad, that’s about it. But all good, man. If you’re a fan, that was a heck of a game, I know that. You try to – if anything, you get in that situation again, you try to find a way to win that one instead of how do you keep it out of the hands of the officials? That’s really what you’re trying to do. Just leave it out of there, that way it’s just up to you.”
On if he has ever seen a sixth string offensive lineman become a ‘cult hero’ like Lions T Dan Skipper did following the 2023 Dallas game: “Not really. Skip’s a – he’s a different breed of man. He’s something else. He does a good job, man. I’ll tell you what, he’s dependable now. He’s reliable, dependable, and he does a lot of jobs for us.”
On if he thinks Dallas will be looking to bring something extra to this week’s game because of how they lost to the Lions last season: “I don’t know. I mean, I think every team’s different, every year’s different. But I know this, they want to win this game. I know that. Because I know we want to win this game. So, they’re playing good football. They’re very much in that division race over there right now and playoff race. We’re an NFC opponent, and I know that, they want to beat us. But we want to win, too. And we need to win. So, that’s where this game’s at.”
On injury updates for Lions OL Graham Glasgow and Lions TE Brock Wright: “Graham’s doing – he’s better. There again, we walkthrough today. And then Brock, really nothing new. Nothing new from last week. We’re still sending out scans for what he – for this trachea and just seeing if there’s any other second opinions that would change the outlook for him playing. And right now, there’s really nothing right now that would change that. So, we’re just kind of in a – and I know that frustrates him, he wants to play. But we’re just kind of in a holding pattern right now.”
On if Lions TE Brock Wright’s injury is long term: “Yeah, it could be. It could be.”
On if this week’s game is a must-win: “Well, our margin for error is very small right now. So, of course we’ve got to find a way to win, and we want to win. And I think, I go back to this, we just lost one. We’ve got to find a way to win this next one in front of us. And yeah, I mean, time’s running out. It’s all about finding a way to win the game. But I’ve also been in these now before where we got counted out when I was a player. We lost two in a row, and we were almost mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. That was all the writing, and then we won out and got in. So, you just – man, you find a way to win the one in front of you and don’t get caught up in the rest of this stuff. That’s the bottom line. We’re in this business to win, we’re trying to win, we’ve got to win.”
On the year he was a player and almost got eliminated from the playoffs before winning out: “That was ’02.”
