LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL JOINT PRACTICE DAY ONE QUOTE SHEET

LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL JOINT PRACTICE DAY ONE QUOTE SHEET
August 5, 2024
Opening Statement: “Looking forward to working with the Giants. Appreciate (Giants Head Coach Brian) Daboll and (Giants President and CEO John K. Mara, Esq.) Mr. Mara and (Giants Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe Schoen, everybody hosting us here. So, we’re excited about the work. We know we’ve got a good practice partner and it’ll be a great chance to evaluate where a number of our players are, as well as theirs, and get better. So, we’re looking forward to – the only one to note, because I know it’s coming, is (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta’s not going to practice today and (Lions DB Brian) Branch will just get some indie and seven-on-seven – he’s not going to get any team reps. But they’ll be fine long-term, don’t sweat.”
On what aspect of the Giants he is looking forward to practicing against: “Honestly everywhere. I mean, look, these guys have – they’ve got plenty of challenges for us between the receiver position, this D-line – I mean, (Giants DL Dexter) Lawrence (II) is, in my opinion, one of the best that’s in the game right now, run and pass. I mean, he’s powerful, he’s strong. The edge with (Giants OLB Kayvon) Thibodeaux and (Giants OLB Brian) Burns over there, that’s pretty exciting too. They’re this revamped O-line. So, I mean, we’ve got tests all over the field that we’re looking to and I think the number of it too is this is why you do joint practices, you get a different look. I mean, (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch has been going against (Lions T Penei) Sewell every day and so now you get a different look at somebody else who’s got a different style, they have a different set, and vice-versa on both sides of the ball. So, I think it’s big for all our guys. I mean, look, I bring up Lawrence again, this is going to be a good challenge for (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow) – Frank’s looked forward to this. This is big, man, you have to go against top-tier players to get better. So, anyway, we’re excited.”
On if it is any more important for the rookies to practice against another team: “Yeah, I think it – there again, it helps and it’s another environment. The intensity goes up, there’s a little bit more pressure because you’re out here with another team, other players, other organization, different fans, and so I think you’ll find out a couple of things about these guys that you might not ordinarily find out until you get into a game. So, it’s just a different way to evaluate, it’s another way, and it breaks up camp, too.”
On what the main benefit is for Lions QB Hendon Hooker to practice against another team: “You know what, the benefit – honestly nothing, he just needs reps. And it doesn’t matter if it’s us or it’s them or it’s a game, he just needs reps and reps and reps, and he goes to bed and he needs reps, and he wakes up and he needs reps. So, this is – any time he can be out there and run the offense and function it’s going to be good for him.”
On if the injury with Lions TE Sam LaPorta was something that happened at practice last week: “Yes.”
On if there is anything extra he has to say to his players to keep their intensity in check: “No. Look, I told them, ‘Man, like we always do, we’re competing and we’re not pulling back. But this will be evaluated like a game, so if you do something that’s going to cost us in a game, that’s part of your evaluation.’ But we’ve got to go, we’ve got to get better. We can’t just be tiptoeing either.”
On if there is a particular position group he’s looking forward to such as nickelback or safety or wide receiver: “Yeah, I think everything you just listed is important. Certainly, you want to see how the guys that you’re counting on – are they still responding, do they still have that – do they still have it? Some of these guys, you want to just verify that. But then yeah, the nickel position is big between (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson) and (Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley) E-man, and we may give (Lions S Ifeautu Melifonwu) Iffy some reps there, that’s one. The receiver position, you mentioned it, (Lions WR Daurice) Fountain and (Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones) DPJ, (Lions WR) Kaden Davis, there’s some guys here, certainly, we know what (Lions WR Tom Kennedy) TK is. And then some of these young linemen, (Lions C) Kingsley (Eguakun), (Lions C Bryan Hudson) Hud, there’s a number of these guys that we’ve got to find out about. So, it’ll be good. It’s going to be good for us.”
On what he likes about Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu getting time at nickelback: “Well, he’s a corner and a safety, so it’s just – his body type, he’s got coverage ability, he’s pretty good in the box, and it just – it can be something that suits him.”
On his pre-Draft thoughts of Giants WR Malik Nabers as a potential draft selection and if he saw any battles on tape between Nabers and Lions CB Terrion Arnold in college: “First of all, yeah, we knew there was no way we were. He was not getting anywhere close to us or for us to get in position to get him. We liked him a lot. Certainly, a number of teams liked him – I don’t know who wouldn’t have liked his tape. So, we know he’s a phenomenal athlete, he’s got a ton of room to grow. And yes, we did. I mean, those are some of those matchups you look at in the SEC, so I know it’ll be good. I know they’re both looking forward to this challenge. All those SEC guys, boy, they love to compete and they’re all pretty tight. So, this will be good for both players.”
On how Lions DL Mathieu Betts has come along: “Listen, he really took a big step from where he was when he walked in the building and he’s a pretty good athlete. And then we had to – well, we threw everything at him because we were like, ‘Hey, I think this guy can do more.‘ And so we had him working the SAM linebacker, he was still working some D-end, and so now we’re just kind of pulling back on him a little bit. We feel like he’s thinking a lot because we’ve thrown so much at him, so we want to dial it back. The kid is – man, he’s a crafty rusher, he’s good with his hands and, listen, it’s early. He’s improved. He’s made a ton of improvement, so we’ll see where it goes.”
On how he has approached the Lions’ Super Bowl expectations this year with the team: “I would say like we have every year. The most important thing is that they understand what it took to get to where we were at even last year, and just because we got to that point doesn’t mean anything, so we start over. Now, we’ve got the core group, we’ve gotten a little bit better. (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes)’s done an unbelievable job adding the talent, but it starts over with the work. And so, there is no complacency, there is no entitlement. We go back to work and that is the focus because if you don’t work, it doesn’t matter. So, we put back in the work.”
On if he has ever been to the Quest Diagnostics Giants Training Center and if it is special for him to return to the Giants: “Yeah, actually I have one other time, and yeah it is. It’s always good to come back, and I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I was drafted a Giant and I was here for four years. Some of my best friendships I had and still have are with those people that I played with here, my wife and I both. And then the Mara family will always be special to me. (Former Giants President and Co-Chief Executive Officer) Mr. (Wellington) Mara, God rest his soul, was the best, and (Giants President and Chief Executive Officer, Board Director) John Mara, I have a ton of respect for. There’s a ton of people that are still here in the organization that I was with and so they’ll always be near and dear to my heart and this place, it’s always going to give you that sense of what it was when you were here. So, yeah, it’s special to be back and I appreciate being back and I appreciate the people in this organization very much because they gave me a go and I probably wouldn’t be here had it not been for them, so yeah.”
On what Lions Run Game Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams brings to the defensive line room: “Well it’s back to the fundamentals, and I think sometimes if you’re not careful, you throw so much at players that they’re trying to think of everything you just threw at them instead of working it one at a time. You can only work one thing at a time. You try to do two, you’ll never – you just can’t, the brain doesn’t work that way, so I feel like he’s really just broken it down into pieces and he’s got these guys playing fast, fundamental, sound football. He’s knowledgeable and he understands how to get his point across. He’s not a yeller, he’s not a – but man he knows – now he can and he will, but he understands how to get his message across in a unique way. He always has been able to do that.”
On if he scouts the opposing team’s players before joint practices as potential roster acquisitions: “Well I would tell you (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and (Lions Assistant General Manager) Ray (Agnew Jr.) and our scouting department, they’ll be looking just like our roster’s going to be looked at by (Giants Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) and those guys. So, you’re looking. You want to see what’s out there, you want to see if there’s potentially these guys (that) may not make it to this roster and if so, do we like him? Of course you’re going to do that, so that’s part of the process on both sides.”
On how much Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll has changed since working with him at the Miami Dolphins and if he has ever seen him looking this good: “Yes, I have. I told him he’s a chameleon. This guy’s unbelievable. I mean when I was working with him, he was – when he first got the job, he looks about like he does now, and then within about two months, it was – and then, he’s like, ‘You know what, I’m going to cut it back,’ and then all of a sudden, it’s like three months later, he’s back down to – I mean he – it’s unbelievable. If he decides he’s going to do this, he’s going to do this. If he decides, ‘I’m going to let it go, I’m going to let it go,’ and I love that about him. I mean, he’s rare that way. Man, I appreciate our time together. He is one of the smartest football minds I’ve been around. You talk about thinking fast, man, he tested us as a staff, and I learned a ton of football around him. So, here’s what I would say is, he’s continued to grow like any great coach has and he evolved. I mean what he was doing in Buffalo was not what we were doing there. I mean there were similar concepts, but he evolved with what the roster and that quarterback said he was going to evolve to, what was going to make them best, and that’s what he’s done here and what he will do here. He’s a hell of a coach, he is. I mean you don’t do what you did a year ago without being able to coach, so I got a lot of respect for Dabes.”