LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
January 2, 2026
On if Lions OL Giovanni Manu will play this weekend: “I don’t see playing him this last one.”
On if Lions OL Giovanni Manu was close to returning this season: “Yeah, I’d say – he was better. Just trying to get his legs back under him.”
On if there was any value in getting Lions OL Giovanni Manu back to practice the last few weeks: “Well, it’s certainly not going to hurt. You get football reps, and so those have been good for him. I mean he looks a lot better than he did three weeks ago when he started, so that’s a good thing. He gets some individual work, some technique work, team work against our defense. So, that always helps.”
On if Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown will play this weekend: “He’s trending the right way right now. We’ll see. He’s going to try to go out there a little bit today and run around and we’ll see.”
On the difference in the players’ mindsets in 2022 when the team was 8-8 versus now: “Well, I think more than anything the focus is just we’ve got one more. This is it, man. Today’s our last Friday practice. We’re going outside, it’s snowing out there, let’s go. And let’s get the work in, let’s make it good, let’s make it crisp. And we’ve got one game, all you’ve got. All you’ve got and then you can load your car up and go wherever you need to go and do whatever you need to do, and we’ll regroup and get ready for next year. But right now, all you’ve got for one game.”
On if he has been able to pinpoint where things went wrong this season or why: “Yeah, I’m not – look there’s always, as with everything when it doesn’t work the way that we want it to work, it’s a number of things. There are a lot of things that go into it. And do I have a couple of ideas? Maybe, right now, but I need some time here. I need time to really sit down and think about all this. But what we do know is one way or another probably change is inevitable. Now, it may not be much, but there will be something that’ll change.”
On what he hopes the young players take away from the game this weekend when there is nothing to play for: “Well, they are playing for a lot. They are. I’ve asked this the last two years, I’ve sat up there with different players that got an opportunity and I said, ‘Did you give everything you had? Because you had an opportunity to play.’ They played on the last game of the year. ‘And knowing that, knowing that this probably is your last game, did you give everything you had? Was all your focus in it? Was it really? Because there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get a chance to play again or start again.’ You’re just not, every year is different. There are very few players you could say, ‘That guy, I know, is going to start next year.’ I mean I think – (Lions T) Penei Sewell is probably going to start. I mean yeah, we know that. But it doesn’t go that way with everybody. We’re going to have to reload and go back to the basics of some of the things we do and get back to what we were in ’21, ’22 a little bit.”
On what he likes about the way that Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa is ending the season: “Yeah, he’s done a really good job. And I would say he’s probably grown more than anybody has throughout the year, as far as our young guys. He’s grown the most. Just – and what you love about him is why he’s here. Of course he’s got ability, but he’s smart, he’s instinctive, he’s tough, he’s a finisher, he’s resilient. Every week we’ve been able to put more and more on him. He’s serving a lot of different roles, playing a lot of different positions. But he’s just continued to – he’s one of those guys that broke through probably that rookie wall at some point and just kept going. And that’s what you want. Those are the guys you’re looking for.”
On how he has seen Lions WRs Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Isaac TeSlaa come together as a trio and what he thinks their potential could be: “Well, I think they – look, everything in that room starts with (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint. And he sets the standard in that room and the temperature. And there are things that are expected and then along the way those guys have grown. And (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo’s become one of those guys for us too. Those are our veteran guys now. They do it the right way and they take pride in their work and they’re as happy as anybody to see one of their guys score or make a play. And now, TeSlaa, here we go. He’s at the end of his rookie year and to see the growth – when you do that, you begin to get trust. The trust grows among your teammates, the coaches, everybody. And so, I think ultimately you just want to feel like at some point that they feel like he’s one of theirs. ‘You’re one of us.’ And that’s where he’s at right now. TeSlaa’s done that, I feel like.”
On how he has seen Bears RB D’Andre Swift grow: “Yeah, well we know Swift’s explosive. He’s always been explosive. He is consistently running hard. He sees it, he hits it and he goes, and time after time after time. You just see a resilient runner. I feel like he’s got a good vision. They’ve done a good job with the scheme for him. And he’s running through these tackles, he’s putting his foot in the ground, going back. And yeah, he’s running really well. He’s having a hell of a year.”
On how critical and daunting it is to get the run game back to an efficient point next season: “It’s everything. It’s everything.”
On if Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa’s opportunity share has grown because of injuries to Lions TEs Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright: “That’s helped. That does because he does get more opportunities. We get in some of these games where they start taking away (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint and (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo. You get in some of these criticals and they start getting doubled. And that’s why (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf had a big game in Pittsburgh. Leaf’s one of those guys too, he just keeps going and going. We’ve got a good room. It’s a really good room. But yes, those opportunities have opened up because of that. And he’s made the most of them, he has. And there again his trust – our trust in him has grown and his confidence has grown. He’s just getting better and better and better.”
On how he expects to call the game this weekend and how much his perspective has changed as a play-caller since the end of 2021 to now: “I’m going to call it to win. I’m going to call it to win. But I think it’s just a little different. I mean we’ve got some really good skill players and trying to get those guys the ball and finding ways to create opportunities for those I think is the biggest thing. That’s where it starts right now.”
On if he has an update on Lions T Penei Sewell’s injury status and if that impacts how much or how he will use Lions QB Jared Goff this weekend: “I don’t see him practicing today. And this – I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t feel great about Sewell right now, but I’m always going to hold out hope. But as far as does it affect you not having him? Yeah, it does. I mean he’s a phenomenal player. He’s a phenomenal football player. Yet, we’ve got guys who are going to step in and do a good job for us. They’ve got a job to do, they’ll have a role and we expect them to hold up their end of the bargain.”
On if not having Lions T Penei Sewell will cause him to sit Lions QB Jared Goff: “No. Nope.”
