LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 23, 2025
Opening Statement: “Had a number of guys who played well. I don’t need to go through all the stats, but obviously (Lions RB) David Montgomery, (Lions QB) Jared Goff, (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta. Man, the O-line. (Lions T Taylor) Decker, (Lions OL Christian) Mahogany, (Lions OL) Graham (Glasgow), (Lions OL Tate) Ratledge, and (Lions T Penei) Sewell played outstanding. (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint, (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf, (Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs) Jah, (Lions TE) Brock (Wright). Defense, man, the D-line. (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, (Lions EDGE Al-Quadin) Muhammad, (Lions DL) Tyleik (Williams), (Lions DL Pat) O’Connor, (Lions DL Tyler) Lacy, (Lions DL DJ) Reader, that whole group, (Lions DL Roy) Lopez and (Lions EDGE Tyrus) Wheat. (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes, (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske, (Lions CB) D.J. Reed, (Lions LB Jack) Campbell, (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone), (Lions LB) Zach Cunningham. (Lions CB) Rock Ya-Sin on special teams, Nowaske and O’Connor on special teams. So, just a number of guys that played really good for us. I think – like when I just go back and look at it – I think if you just look at the fourth quarter. We talked about getting ourselves the last possession, particularly the fourth quarter and we were going to have to find a way to win it, 15 minutes there, we get the fourth-and-1, and that’s – Sewell did a good job of capping it off. Saint and Gibbs scoring on that play, that was big. Defense takes the field and third-and-13, Barnes ends up getting the sack there. That was a huge stop. Holds them to a field goal. Offense, we come out. We’re three-and-out, we’ve got to punt it, and so we need help. Defensively, comes out man, Hutch, what a heck of a freaking forced fumble. Man, it was outstanding. Stuff we work out here. Just for him, the effort to retrace. Reed gets it, we turn it into three. Defense goes back out, third-and-12. Alex keeps (Ravens QB) Lamar (Jackson) kind of hemmed up, and here comes Muhammad, gets a tackle for the stop. They’ve got to punt, and then 1:56 left, fourth-and-2, just outstanding by the O-line. David in protection, and then Goff and Saint just making a play man. That’s just two big-time players making a big-time play in crunch time, like they’ve done time and time again. And then really, the next play, David rattles it off to really close it out. And then the last significant play was the hands team. LaPorta comes up with a recovery, and (Lions RB Jacob) Saylors and (Lions LB Grant) Stuard and (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA had big blocks on that recovery that probably go unseen. Man, a ton of guys. You talk about complementary football, we played off each other. And when we needed it, the units picked it up. That was a good team win. But now we’ve got another task here in front of us. This defense is outstanding for Cleveland, man. So, we’re going to have our hands full here. Short week, but we’ll be ready to go.”
On if there is more they can gain from the bounce of the Week 3 win in Baltimore: “I mentioned this last night. I think when you find a way to win a different type of game against a different opponent, we know what they’ve been year-in, year-out. Physical, tough, competitive. They’re in it. They go deep in the playoffs every year, have a shot at the dance every year, so you know what you’re up against. And that quarterback’s so dynamic. So, when you’re able to go into their place and find a way to win, that’s good because you’ve found another way to win. And so listen, winning only helps you.”
On the confidence he has in Lions CB D.J. Reed and the job he did on Ravens WR Zay Flowers: “We had kind of our whole checklist of what we wanted to do defensively, and certainly one of those was shutting down Zay. So, we were going to put Reed on him quite a bit, and I thought he did a heck of a job, man. He’s been great for us. And really he’s one of the most veteran guys we’ve had, with the exception of (Lions CB) Amik (Robertson) who we got last year. Man, he’s got skins on the wall, he’s a vet, he does it right, he’s a pro, he’s competitive. Man, he fit right in here with us. He comes right in, and he’s been great for all those guys in the room. He’s a great teammate, and he’s all about ball. So, I thought he played his tail off and he’s been great for us, man. He’s been great. And he does bring stability.”
On Lions CB D.J. Reed’s status: “Yeah, he’s good.”
On if too much weight is being put on the team’s week-to-week performance: “Those happen all the time, right? It’s so early, and you just worry about winning the one in front of you. Every game’s different, every opponent’s different, and you just find a way to win. And you do whatever it takes to win the game in front of you. But yeah, I know for us, we can’t go through the ebbs and flows, right? After the Packers we were done for the year, we’re over. And now all of a sudden, we’re going to be – it doesn’t matter. We have our own standards, we know what those are. We know how we prepare, we know how we practice, and we know how we need to play, and that’s all that matters. Whatever else is out there, that’s not for us. We’ve just got to worry about our own business. And I know this, we’ve got to be locked in and ready for freaking Cleveland coming into town, I do know that.”
On if he thinks the team has proven everyone who doubted the two new coordinators wrong: “We do what we do here. We have an identity, we have a culture, and nothing’s going to change that. Man, I go back – I thought (Lions Defensive Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard) Shep did a hell of a job in preparation and the calling of the game. And the players, man, really responded. I bring it up again, they made this plan come to life. (Lions Offensive Coordinator) John Morton, man, what a great job. And every week they’ve gotten better and better and better. And we’re all figuring each other out now in those roles. I know them very well, but it’s about now Shep in the D.C. role. Johnny in the O.C. role with me as the head coach. And we’re getting more and more comfortable every week, and those guys – I just thought they did a hell of a job. And they’re only getting better and better and better.”
On the difference he saw from Lions LB Jack Campbell elevating the defense: “Well first of all, did anybody see Jack’s got a laceration on his mouth? OK, so, the defense loved. He’s at the end of the game trying to call plays and blood’s spitting out everywhere, and so they were just eating it up. He’s a stud, man. This guy, he’s a workaholic. The knowledge for the game, the way he studies for the game, he prepares for it. He’s playing at a really high level right now, and we feel like the guy can do it all. That’s why he didn’t come off the field. I mean, he can do everything for us. So, he just – he’s all ball, man. He’s all ball. And whatever you need is what he’s going to do.”
On if he ever had to give Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson words of encouragement through his recovery and what gave him the confidence that he could get back to his old self: “You’re talking about Hutch? Yeah, I didn’t have to say a word. Hutch can handle himself. He’s just that type of guy that’s wired that way. I think more than anything, for me way back, I just want to make sure he was OK after he had the injury, the surgery, you’re talking about a week, two weeks after that. Once that began to heal, and now he becomes mobile, right? You can just see him beginning to take off. That was – but he always, man, he’s a one-track mind. He’s going to do whatever it takes to get back and beyond what he was. He’s going to overcome. He’s resilient, he’s resilient. Love where he’s at right now. I just bring it up again. In a critical moment, the most critical moment, he makes a play. And that’s what he does, man. That’s what really all of our guys do. In critical moments, man, they make huge plays for us within the system. It’s great.”
On Lions EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad getting into a flow later in the game and if it was structured that way based on the gameplan: “I do think a lot of it is getting in the flow of it. So much of what Muhammad plays is maximum effort. Of course he’s got ability, but he plays with maximum effort all the time nonstop. And one of the things, especially with a guy like (Ravens QB) Lamar (Jackson) we talk about, everybody’s got a role and where you fit in it. And it requires you to be very disciplined, alright? So, if somebody’s got a two-way go, somebody’s got to cover for him. That way, whenever he comes out, could be a spy. Could be that you’re going to flush him to somebody. And so, he ended up being that benefactor of some of those, too, because everybody else was doing their job and he’s going to give you all out effort. And so, it happened to go his way on some of these, and he made those plays. He went and got them. There’s going to be games where he’s the one flushing it to (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch or he’s flushing it to (Lions DL DJ) Reader or somebody else. But that’s how it works. And really all of that is because of our backend. We’re able to hold on back there, man, and cover our tails off for that extra split second, which buys you time to get there.”
On Lions WR Jameson Williams blocking on the downfield and on the perimeter: “Well speaking of that, the very last – and there was more than just that – that last touchdown we had to (Lions RB) David (Montgomery), that was unbelievable. I mean, that’s what he does. That’s what all those receivers do in that room, they set the tone. They’re very much a part of that run game, and they own it. They take pride in it. But I thought he blocked all day long, I thought he got after it. I mean, that’s just – go up two scores, and he’s a huge part of that, man, out there blocking on the perimeter for David. So, I thought his blocking was really good.”
On if he thought last night’s win was a good response to people’s negative reactions after Week 1: “I thought we – our guys showed up, man. You do the best you can to put your guys in a position to make plays, and those guys, they made plays. And I know this, we have guys, in particular our young guys, that are improving. They’re getting better and better and better. That’s all you can ask for. I’ll bring it up again, you want to be playing your best football when you hit Week 18. So, we just have to continue to get a little bit better every year.”
On the longest field goal he has seen Lions K Jake Bates make and if he believes he could have made the 67-yarder: “In practice? Yeah, over that. Look, I appreciated the fact that he gave it a go. I thought he gave it a fair shot. He went up there, and it was little off, but I appreciate that. We’re going to keep doing that, too. He’ll make those.”
On Lions RB David Montgomery telling people not to forget about him this offseason and what it was like to see his performance last night: “I haven’t forgotten about David, so I can tell you that right now. He’s exactly what we know he is. We know what David is. I mean, that’s his type of game. That’s right up his alley. And so, we know the kind of back he is. We feel like he can do everything for us. And the one-two punch with him and (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs we think is what makes both of those guys pretty special. They play off of each other, they give each other a breather, we trust both of them in the game to do multiple jobs. And that guy, he’s special.”
On using one play to set up another and how that process is formulated early in the week: “I think we try to do that with everything. I would say probably most offenses are doing that particularly early in the game. You’re just trying to – some of it is, you want to see what you’re going to get. You want to know the look. That’s because whatever the play is you’re waiting to run, you want to know that you’re getting verification that it’s what you thought you were going to get. You can watch tape, tape, tape, but sometimes you just need to know that they’re going to play you straight up is what some of that comes down to. We’re no different than anyone else. You just try to show something, you like the plays, then you have something that you counter off of it. And that’s all good, as long as you can run the football, right? Because if you can run the football, then you can have boots off it. You can have keepers off of it, you can have play-action pass off of it. If you can’t run it, then you can do all the bells and whistles you want and they’ll just stand there and stare at you and just stick it to you. So, you still have to be able to do the bread and butter of what football’s about, man. You’ve got to be able to come off the football pad level. The angles, the leg drive, the whole thing, and play fundamental football.”
On the injury status of Lions RB Sione Vaki: “I don’t know. We’ll know more in a day or two here. He got his groin a little bit. I don’t know how bad it is really.”
