LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL MINICAMP DAY 2 QUOTE SHEET
June 7, 2023
On how important it is to have a key player like Lions QB Jared Goff with a mindset focused on this year’s success not automatically carrying over from last year: “Well, it’s the most important because they’re the ones out there playing, and obviously as coaches it’s our job to continually remind them of that. Nothing is just given to you. We all acknowledge it wasn’t good enough. We all know that, but we also acknowledge the reason we were able to do what we did at the end of the year was because the amount of work and focus that we put into it. And so, I just – it’s another reminder to our guys, and they know that. We’ve got to go earn everything again and then surpass that. That will always be the focus here.”
On if he is noticing the upgraded secondary making it more difficult on the offense: “No, I am. I am. It’s a lot, a lot more difficult offensively to find some of those windows then it was even this time last year and that’s a credit to (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG and his staff and then the additions that we do have. There again, look it’s early, we’re in spring, but there’s a reason why we went and got (Lions CB) Cam Sutton. There’s a reason why we got (Lions CB Emmanuel) Moseley. There’s a reason why we got (Lions DB) C.J. (Gardner-Johnson) because we believe they certainly upgrade us production wise, but also, they’re football guys. They fit everything that we’re about – the way they go about their business. They’re veteran guys, have got skins on the wall, they come from winning programs and they just play the game the right way.”
On if they have done enough to address the run defense this offseason: “Yeah, I would say I like where we’re at right now. We do, but there again, we’re not in pads. And so, we feel pretty good, but I think within the first couple of weeks we’ll have a pretty good idea of where we’re at – up front, particularly in the middle there, we’ll have a good feeling of it. But it’s hard to speculate right now without pads.”
On if there is a potential to over-emphasize sacking the quarterback at the expense of stopping the run: “Yeah, I mean that’s the nature of the game. It has become such a pass-oriented League and that’s where all the focus gets put on, on those. And so, there’s some of that, but we preach the hard stuff. ‘You got a job to do.’ A guy like (Lions DL) Alim (McNeill), he’s got to battle it out in there, which he did for us. You’ve got to bang away and then when it comes time to turn it into a rush, you can’t run high up around the quarterback, you’ve got to keep it contained in there. These are all things we’ve been talking about, we’re working on. (Lions Defensive Line) Coach (John) Scott (Jr.), our new D-line coach is doing a good job working on fundamentals with those guys. We know – It’s no secret, we want to be able to stop the run. If you want to be a good defense, you have to stop the run and make a team one-dimensional. It makes (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG’s job a lot easier calling the game.”
On what he has seen from Lions DL Charles Harris coming back after injury: “Yeah, I mean he – Charles has picked up where he left off from before the injury. He’s just – Charles’ a pro. His approach to practice, I mean walkthroughs, everything, you watch it. He’s on the details. I just go back to – Charles is another of those guys – I’ll tell this story every year. Came in two years ago, gave him an opportunity, basically playing for minimum and earn the right – earn his right to be out there and he did that. Worked his way right up the depth chart and he’s playing for us. He’s productive. Works out on both sides. He has an injury, well he doesn’t miss a beat. He’s back at it, he’s working and to him it’s like, ‘I’m at the bottom again. I’m on my way back up.’ That’s his approach. To last in this League and be a good player in this League and produce, you have to have that mindset and he’s got it.”
On if Lions DL Charles Harris working his way up from the bottom of the depth chart adheres to him: “Absolutely, I mean because that’s a hard thing to do. You have to humble yourself. I mean Charles was a first-round pick. You get all this – there’s all this noise going on. Hadn’t been the way you want it. And he just went to work, and he’s gone to work. And I appreciate that because there’s no complaining, there’s no whining, there’s no sulking, there’s just ‘I’m going to work,’ and that’s what he does. And I’ll always appreciate those guys because you can win with those guys. And by the way, he’s got talent. I mean he’s a talented player now.”
On Lions DL Romeo Okwara now compared to when he returned post-Achilles injury: “He is moving better. He is moving better. And there again, with the Achilles, everyone is a little different with how they come back from them. And certainly he’s moving better than even he did at the end of last year. And so that’s good to see. Let him – really he and (Lions DL) Charles (Harris) both – to see them come back from these injuries. And they’re both workers, man. They’re pros. They put everything into it. So there again, it’s good to see him get back on his feet, move better, and we still have more time before camp gets here too.”
On how much the talent level of the team has improved compared to the last two years: “Yeah, well we’re a lot farther along than two years ago for sure. We feel like now we’ve got some significant depth in just about all areas, which creates competition and I think – I really feel like the biggest area where you really see it is the secondary. And that’s without (Lions CB Emmanuel) Moseley right now being out there, but once we get him back and he’s healthy – and obviously getting (Lions S) Tracy (Walker) back. I just feel like that’s a big transformation right there with depth and competition and all those things. We’re a lot farther ahead than where we were.”
On how important it is for Lions LB Jack Campbell to have a veteran linebacker like Lions LB Alex Anzalone mentor him: “No, I think it’s big. One of the things that (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I wanted to do was – I thought it was always important to have – you really wanted a veteran guy that certainly – they understand what it’s supposed to look like and can kind of lead the group. The kind of a coach that’s really a player for you and Alex does that in that room. That’s what (former Lions DL Michael) Brockers was for us, a number of these guys. We never quite got that in the secondary and I wish we would’ve done that because I just think it just helps the whole room. It kind of teaches you, and that’s really what we’ve got now. You bring in (Lions CB Cam) Sutton, some of these guys. So to your point, Alex, I think, is big. You can learn a lot from him and he doesn’t have to directly sit there and just spoon-feed Campbell because he’s not spoon-feeding (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes. But he is helping, I’m not saying he’s not, but the point is just to watch him work and how he sees things and what (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG is thinking and where I need to – I think it’s big. You can learn a ton from a player who knows what they are doing.”
On if Lions DL Christian Covington has stepped into a leadership role similar to former Lions DL Michael Brockers’ leadership role last year: “Here’s what I’d say is it’s hard to – it’s hard right now to know entirely. Now believe me, Covington’s a worker. He’s done it, he’s seen it, all those. But I would say this, see to me, the value of Brockers, aside from the player that he was, but his impact has taken hold. And so now you yeah bring up Covington, but like to me, (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac’s a leader for us now because he understands. He knows what it’s supposed to look like. He was around a guy like Brockers who was in that room, and that’s the value of it. Because I see Mac very much as a leader. Now he’s not going to be an ‘Open his mouth rah-rah’ guy, but he leads by example. He leads by the way – his approach and what he does and that is what you want. So now he takes over and eventually he’ll teach it to somebody else and then it just, the cycle starts over.”
On how the confidence of Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson has impacted the mentality of his teammates: “C.J. opens his mouth? Yeah look, he’s got a contagious energy. And there again, I just bring it up, as long as it’s not affecting your job, and you stay focused on the job at hand, I think one of the reasons C.J. is that way is because that’s how he gets his engine going. And so in turn, that just spills out into the offense, or your teammates and you can’t help the level of intensity just, it raises. And I think that makes everybody around you better and more competitive because if you’re not reaching that level of intensity in practice, you’re probably going to get beat. So that’s kind of why I like it. And there again, I’ll just bring it up again, it forces you to keep your composure too, if you’re on the opposite side of that.”
On how much the young players are pumped up with the confidence of Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson: “Yeah, well I think they’re just trying to figure out what’s going on here. I think they see it and then they don’t know if they should say something because they do that to the wrong veteran, then they’re going to get – and then it’s like, ‘Well I guess I shouldn’t have said it.’ And then the defensive guy would be like, ‘Why are you talking (expletive) to him?’ So, ‘It’s a veteran. You don’t do that. You should know better.’ So they’re just trying to find their way right now. They’ll figure it out.”
On if he thinks his job has evolved with the higher expectations the team has and their improved talent this season: “No, I mean, no not really. I mean to me it’s – my whole focus is on how do we get better? How do we get better than we were last year? How do we become a better team than we were last year? That’ll always be the focus, like 2021, you’re trying to get on your feet. You’re trying to establish your foundation. This is how we’re built. This is our identity. This is what we want to be. This is how we need to finish games. And so once you get that and the staff understands what you want, then you get the players that understand it, then you start building the players around your vision. Then it’s about, alright, that was 21, here we go 22, how do we get better? To me, that’s the sole focus. It’s not on any of the other stuff because the other stuff is a byproduct. As long as we just focus on getting better, and so that’s all it is. Now, what I’d say is because we are in year three, to me it’s time to – now that that’s been established over two years, like it’s much more – we’ve always done a lot of situational work, but to me it’s we’re really doubling down on it. Like I want a lot more to where I’m forcing the coordinators to have to think on their feet. A lot more – it’s a little more chaotic, sporadic. I mean we’re doing it right now. And just trying to put everybody under a high level of stress, because I think that’s good for the coordinators and the players. That’s kind of where my approach has shifted a little bit, a lot more into that and – because I think the more we can handle under pressure and under fire and be able to adapt, adjust, the picture changes, I can adapt quickly. I think that’s where you – games are won and lost, when you’ve got the right guys.”
On Lions LB Derrick Barnes saying this is a now-or-never season for him and if Lions RB Jermar Jefferson is in the same situation: “Well let me say this too, before you get into Jermar, because I know that’s the question, but Barnes is having a good spring. And I just bring this up again, nobody is counting Barnes out. Nobody is counting Barnes out. And he’s going to get his opportunity, so and there again, there’s a reason you’ve got competition in your room, but he’s having a good spring. As far as Jefferson, Jefferson is one of the players that I wish we could’ve gotten up last year because he was having such a good fall and yeah it’s practice squad, and you’re given looks, but you’re also developing and I thought he really grew throughout the year. And it just never, it never really came up to what was the best time or where we were roster-wise with the over halfbacks to – but I thought he was really pretty close to ready. And I wanted to get a look at him. So it didn’t work out, but I would say he’s picked up where he’s left off. He’s having a good spring. And I think though for somebody like Jefferson, he’s another guy, you’re going to feel a lot better when the pads come on. That’s kind of his type of game too. The style of runner that he is. But he’s doing well. He’s doing well in special teams too.”
On how much confidence he feels the team has going into this season with higher expectations: “I think they – certainly there’s a confidence. I think there’s a belief. But I think they understand too, there’s a belief because they understand when you do things right and there’s a certain way to play the game, there’s a certain way to prepare, there’s a certain approach, and because of that, that gives them confidence. I don’t think it’s just blind confidence. But I think you always have to guard for that. We always have to guard for the, ‘Well we’re just – hey we’re just going to be good because some people think we’re going to be good.’ That’s got nothing to do with it. We have to earn the right again. We’ve got to earn everything that we get. And that’s, there again, that’s what spring is about, that’s what training camp will be about.” |
