LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 15, 2025
Opening Statement: “Good win yesterday. It was good to get back on track. Had a lot of guys play really good football for us. Defensively (Lions DB Brian Branch) BB, (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, (Lions EDGE Al-Quadin) Muhammad, (Lions CB) D.J. Reed, (Lions DL) Tyleik (Williams), all really stepped up, made some plays that we really felt like stood out. Offensively, (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Lions QB Jared) Goff, (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs. Man our O-line played really well, much, much better. Protection was outstanding, the run game, the fits, the landmarks, surge off the line. Those guys came back in a big way for us, and it really showed. Thought (Lions TE) Brock (Wright) and (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf and (Lions RB) David Montgomery had big games for us too. And then special teams, (Lions LB) Zach Cunningham was a factor, Muhammad and (Lions DL) Pat O’Connor were a factor on the kickoff cover and (Lions RB Jacob) Saylors and then (Lions LB) Grant Stuard. So, lot of good performances, we got two takeaways – really should’ve had three, one came back with the penalty – and then two fourth down stops, converted two of those into 14 points. We’ve got to do better than that though. We had an opportunity, we missed on two, went three-and-out after a turnover and a fourth down stop. We have to capitalize when those come up, but we talk about takeaways and that’s good game two to be able to get some of those and now we’ve got to just build on that and get better and better and better. So, wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than game one, so I’m proud of the players, proud of the coaches.”
On the advantage of having Lions DB Brian Branch and his skillset to gameplan around: “Well, look, it makes our job a lot easier, that’s for sure. Makes (Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard) Shepp’s job and those guys over there because he does have so much versatility. Bringing it up all the time, he’s a safety that has cover ability like a corner, he can blitz like a linebacker and tackling and filling the gaps – run gaps – there’s so many different things he can do. So, I mean the guy is a major asset for us.”
On if there was anything the team did to change the communication that helped yesterday or if the communication turnaround was about getting more comfortable: “No, I just think more comfortable getting a game under our belt, all those guys together. And there again, verbally is always going to help until you get more time on task with silent and some of those things. But, it was a point of emphasis too. Just our communication and everybody being on point and it will be again this week. It’ll be loud at Baltimore, but I do believe we’ll be much better prepared than we were a week ago.”
On how valuable Lions EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad has been and how much more his role could expand: “Yeah, well look, the guy – bringing it up again, he had a really good camp and he just continues to do things for us. He’s crafty, he’s strong, he’s got some explosiveness and he plays hard. God he plays hard. I mean, there was a number of plays – I can think of three right now – where he is running out of the stack. He’s running out of – ball is thrown, screen and he is running to try to get the ball or making a tackle. And it’s that kind of effort with what he’s got ability-wise that gives you a chance. So, he’s been big for us and he’s going to get more of a role. He’s earned that.”
On what it has been like to see the connection, chemistry and details between Lions QB Jared Goff and Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown build over the last few years: “Yeah, I mean listen it’s an art form. So, if you love art – which I’m not saying I do or I don’t – but it’s awesome to watch. They’ve got such a rapport with each other and they trust each other immensely. The way that he runs his routes and he’s so crisp and he’s so detailed and his body demeanor screams to Goff, it helps him anticipate the throws. And they’ve just got so much time on task, he knows exactly what he’s going to do and (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint knows exactly where the ball’s going to be before he’s out of the break. They’ve just worked together for so long, so we’ve got a tremendous amount of trust in those two players. And these guys are playing as good of football as you can play and they have for a while. I mean those are two of our big studs, so it’s great to see.”
On what he liked about the increased playing time for Lions DL Roy Lopez: “Yeah, it was good to see him mix it up in there. We like Roy a lot. He gets in there, he can play the run and there again he’s got some quickness, some torque – ex-wrestler, that shows up in there because he can get after it pretty good with his leverage. So, it’s good to have him. He’s part of that rotation.”
On how much pressure is taken off of a coach after having a game like yesterday: “Look, certainly that always feels good. It’s just get the first win of the season. Just get the first win, get that one behind you and now let’s go. I think there’s always something really – every win is special, but there’s something really special about getting your first win and just get it under your belt. So I think that’s big, but as far as – I just keep mentioning this – it’s such a long season and you’ve got to just get better every week and you can’t worry about. You think of these things that you know it’s going to take to improve, everything we talked about: communication, the fundamentals, the technique, schematically where do I fit into this, what is my job per the look. And you focus on that and the byproduct is winning and you just keep getting a little bit better, a little bit better, a little bit better. I mean I mentioned this I think when I took this job, we had a really good team at New Orleans and we started 0-2 and it was like the sky was falling. But we kept getting better and better and better and all of a sudden, you rattle off nine in a row. So, you can’t worry about all this other stuff, you just worry about getting better. Our guys did that, we came back to work and that’s what this League is. It’s about one play here, one play there and maximizing your opportunities. And you can’t get down in the dirt, you can’t listen to the outside noise and if the stress is too much, you don’t belong in this business. This is the greatness about the competition and making it right.”
On the last time he had two receptions for 108 yards: “Last time I went two-for-108? I had 108 in my career, 11-year career.”
On how much the vertical game and having Lions WR Jameson Williams record two receptions for 108 yards opens up the offense: “Vertical is the name of the game, you’ve got the weapons. Listen, we’ve got the weapon between (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo and what we can do with (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown underneath and working outside. (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf helps us too because Leaf can stress the other side a little bit, which helps all of that. But, you’ve got to have protection and you’ve got to have a quarterback. And we’ve got a guy, we’ve got the line that played really well and we’ve got a guy who – he makes it right, he sees it fast, he lays it up. And I thought (Lions QB Jared) Goff played out of his mind, it was awesome. He was composed, he was on point and I just thought he commanded the offense to precision and it was great to see. We were kind of cooking on all levels there a little bit – loosened it up early, got the run game going. But all of that, I just thought we played really good complementary football. We played complementary offensive football on that side too, the way everything was setting up, the play-action pass, the run game, drop back and then the short, intermediate screens. All of it, it was good.”
On Lions EDGE Marcus Davenport’s injury: “We’re still getting things looked at with that, so we’ll see where that’s at.”
On how concerned he is about Lions EDGE Marcus Davenport’s status for Monday: “For Monday, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s a good question. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad but until we get a couple of these second opinions back, I won’t know for sure.”
On Lions OL Christian Mahogany leaving the game late: “Yeah, I think he’ll be OK. Yeah, I think he’ll be alright, we’ll see. He’s another one we’re checking out.”
On if he saw Lions DL Tyleik Williams improve from Week 1 to Week 2: “Well, it was – he had a couple of critical plays there where you knock those balls down, he’s got a knack for that a little bit. And then he just continues to get better in the run game taking on some of these double teams and then clearing these blocks and making plays. So, I see a player who’s continuing to get better. But those two knockdowns were big, especially the fourth down obviously, that was big for us.”
On how Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson is feeling after getting rolled up on in the game: “Yeah, he’s a little sore but he’s alright.”
