LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
October 6, 2025
Opening Statement: “So, had a number of guys who played really well. Defensively, four-of-11 on third down, 85 yards rushing, only gave up four explosives, obviously the three takeaways plus a safety, a sudden change stop after the turnover we had was big on defense. Offensively, I think what’s to note is we were – you take away the four minute drive at the end, we were five-of-five in the red zone. So we turned those into touchdowns, we didn’t settle for field goals, 171 yards of YAC, which is huge. That was big, that showed up for us. Most of that was (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint and (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta, but everybody had a hand in it – (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs certainly. Special teams, (Lions P Jack) Fox, we punted down to the three, to the five, to the eight, to the seven – the seven turned into the safety. And then (Lions K Jake) Bates on his kickoffs were so much better. That’s helping the coverage units – those guys I thought balled out. Special teams had a big day. So it was – altogether that was a team win, took all three phases. Defensively, (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch and (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) had big games, (Lions EDGE Al-Quadin) Muhammad, (Lions DL DJ) Reader, (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA, (Lions CB) Rock (Ya-Sin) and (Lions DB Brian) Branch were big. On offense, LaPorta, (Lions QB Jared) Goff – I mean Goff’s playing at a high level, very efficient. We put a lot on his plate, him getting us in the right play. (Lions RB) David Montgomery, (Lions T Penei) Sewell, (Lions WR Isaac) TeSlaa, St. Brown, (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo. Jamo, he didn’t have this high production of the catches, the targets, but his blocking was outstanding in the run game all day long. He was physical getting after it, so he found another way to help us produce and help the offense. And then obviously Gibbs. Special teams, (Lions RB) Craig Reynolds had a big game, (Lions RB Jacob) Saylors, (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske, (Lions DL Pat) O’Connor and then I already mentioned Bates. So, it was a good day, it was a good win. Yes, there’s things to clean up and we will clean them up, but then we’re going to get ready for Kansas City.”
On Lions WR Jameson Williams’ work away from the ball: “Yeah, well he gets a lot of attention put his way when he’s out there. They don’t particularly want him to go over their heads, so there’s a lot of looks where either they stay deep – very deep – or they play a shell look over the top of him. It’s not always the easiest thing if you’re a receiver. You feel like that’s the best way to help is you get the targets. But he helped in other ways and he didn’t let it affect him, and he was going to help those other guys downfield, he was going to help our runners and he did. He showed up in a big way, he was physical in the run game. So, he’s a team guy and we appreciate that about him.”
On what the objective is when Lions LB Derrick Barnes said the defense watches all of the turnovers from the previous week: “Well, I think a lot of it is you may figure out different tricks of the trade. I think sometimes that’s a lot of it. I mean you watch different styles, how they’re coming out and how guys are getting them, the way they punch them out, where they’re coming from – up from behind or D-line rallying, they’re coming out of the stack, violent tackle on the ball or a violent hit, the interceptions. So, I think it’s just sometimes I can put that in my own arsenal, that’s something I could try. You see it as just another way to emphasize it.”
On what he saw from Lions CB Terrion Arnold in the game and if he needs to fight through his injury struggles to be on the field: “Well, I just thought he was very competitive, I thought he was calm, I thought he was cool and I feel like this is one of the better games he’s played in a while. I thought it was really good. And we put a lot on him, and I thought he answered the bell. So, unfortunately, he’s going to be out for a while. He’s going to be out for a long time.”
On if Lions CB Terrion Arnold will be out for the rest of the season: “I don’t know that, but it’ll be a while. It’s going to be a while.”
On how proud he is of the team for where they are now and how excited he is about the room for growth: “Yeah, it does. And there again, here’s what you love – our guys, they’re competitive, they want to be perfect, they work at it every day and you put a ball out there and put somebody in front of them, they’re going to work. They’re going to go compete and they’re trying to win. So, that always fires me up. And then just to know that we took that gameplan, they brought it to life and yet we left so much out there. That is what encourages you. And it’s just a couple of things here and there that are all very easily taken care of, correctable and our production goes up even more than what it’s been. So, that does – that’s exciting, that fires you up. But it also – we know what’s coming down the road here and the first one here is Kansas City. And what Kansas City does well is they win, they freaking win. That’s what they do, they find ways to win and they’ll exploit you. When you make mistakes, they’ll capitalize on them. So, we’ve got to be on point and clean some of these things up so we’ve got a chance to go in there and compete against these guys.”
On what he liked about the addition of Lions CB Tre Flowers and what he can bring to the defense: “Look, he’s played in this League, he’s got size, he’s got length and he’s played a little bit of teams too. So, we just got him last week, we really were kind of going to let him get his legs under him but we had to get him going with where we were at with (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey. So, we like him – we signed (Lions CB Nick) Whiteside back as well, so he’s another guy that we’ve got. And so we’ll move on. It’s next guy up. Next man up, as always.”
On if the team has to consider schematic changes with Lions CB Terrion Arnold and Lions CB D.J. Reed out: “Well, I mean we’ll see. We’ll see where we’re at. I mean some of that depends on what happens tonight. These guys are playing tonight, we’ll see how they come out of that game. We’re going to do what’s best for us and everything aligns together between the coverage and the rush. So, we don’t want to go away from playing man-to-man. I mean that’s what we do here, so we’re still going to – it’s part of our DNA. Do we alter some things? Yeah, we could alter some things. We’re going to help our personnel out the best that we can. We always do that for every game.”
On what bind the injuries to the secondary has put the team in from a personnel depth standpoint: “Well, I mean it really is the same as last year, it’s just now it’s on the front end. The front end was last year – the D-line, we got hit at linebacker. And so now, we’ve been pretty good there and now it’s on the backend. So, you just tweak a couple of things and front’s got to get there a little quicker and our DBs, man, get up there and challenge, compete. And we’ll adjust, we’ll adapt and we move on.”
On what he thought of Lions CB Rock Ya-Sin in the game yesterday and what assurance he gives the team: “I thought he did a good job yesterday. He did exactly what we asked him to do. The plan was good, he executed well in that plan. And look, here’s what you love about Rock, he plays fearless, he’s not afraid, he doesn’t care who he’s going against. He’s aggressive, he challenges the release point, he challenges the catch point. He’ll run up, he’ll tackle, he’ll hit and that’s all you can ask for. That’s all we’re looking for here.”
On if the team does not blink when a player gets sidelined by injury after what the team has experienced the last couple of years with injury struggles: “Yeah, our guys know that. They know what it is and they – look, I’ve mentioned this before, this train doesn’t stop for anybody. Doesn’t matter who it is or what it is, we’ve got to go. Nobody cares, nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. You’re putting your best 22 out there, offense, defense – and special teams, by the way – and you’ve got to find a way to win the game. And you use all three phases to do it, and we will use all three phases to do it.”
On Lions CB Khalil Dorsey’s injury status: “Yeah, he’ll be out for a while.”
On what opportunities are available for Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa if Lions WR Kalif Raymond does not play next week: “Well, certainly they go way up. And those will be important reps for him. I thought he stepped in yesterday. I mentioned this last night – and he got the mental reps, but he didn’t get all the physical reps. Once (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf went down, we thought he stepped up and really handled his business well. I mean he helped us, so that’s impressive for a young guy to mentally know what his job description is for those plays. So now, he’s going to get more play time and he will now get these reps for sure in practice, which will only help him. So, he’ll be ready to go. And then we’ll see where Leaf’s at on Wednesday, we’ll know more.”
