LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
November 17, 2025
Opening Statement: “OK, we’ll start here. Man, our defense I thought played their tails off, 16 points allowed man. You only allow 16 points, your odds of winning go way up. Four-of-five on third down, four stops on the quarterback sneak. Man, that was big time. (Lions DL DJ) Reader, and freaking (Lions DL Roy) Lopez, and (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac, and then (Lions LB Trevor) Nowaske off the edge. Those guys, in its totality, I just thought they did a hell of a job, man. They were ready for it, and it was critical. They were crucial. They gave us a chance there. One-of-three in the red zone, 28 attempts. Pass game, 4.3 average which was outstanding. Only gave up five explosives. They were five-of-six sudden change. Getting stops, that was big time. So yeah, they ran it 40 times but 3.7 average, so we hung in there and did what we needed to do. Minimal MAs. And really the only thing, just got no takeaways. We’re looking for those takeaways, really needed one in a critical moment. And then just trying to get off the field one more time there at the very end, but those guys played lights out. Offensively, really starts with the run game, 3.5 average, it’s not enough for us. And that’s everybody, that’s all inclusive. Takes the whole unit. And then obviously third and fourth down, we weren’t good enough, three-of-13. Zero-of-five on fourth down. And really it was a combination of missed throws, we had some pressures, tipped balls, had a couple of drops. And then there were a couple bad calls by me. There are some calls I want back, bad. So, I had a hand in that. But man, when we’re explosive, we’re explosive. We basically scored in two plays on drive four or five. We were able to hit in over the middle, and (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint gets a big one, that was a heck of a throw. Really good protection. And then right after that, (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo over the middle takes it to the house, good protection again, and a great throw in stride. So, we’re freaking close. And then special teams, coverage units, loved it. Our return game wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to deliver the blow on some of those and give our guys a chance as returners.”
On his confidence that the offensive line is able to play at a high level by the end of the season: “I believe in these guys, man. I do. I just think the more they play together and they mesh, and we just do things that we do well, and look, every game’s different. Every game’s different. There’s a couple of things I wish yesterday maybe I do differently, and just the way that we go about attacking those guys. Just a little bit that I think maybe can help our guys, too. There again, I just think – there’s a lot of things I think about that are always going around in my head, man. A number of different ways, ‘Well we can do this, we can do this, we can try this.’ So, I just go back to – man, I just believe in these guys. I think that they’re good enough, they know how to play together, we’ve just got to be a little more consistent in areas. And it takes everybody, it really does. We’re so close, but there again, we can be so potent. I mean, (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo right now has taken off. (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs has taken off. I’m not worried about the connection with (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint and (Lions QB Jared) Goff, that thing’s coming. I mean, it’s always there. It was just one of those days yesterday. And we just, we all elevate a little bit, including myself, we’re going to be just fine.”
On what he has learned about himself stepping into a new role as play-caller and how that make help him moving forward: “I think there are some things – what you learn and what you do as you go along is, man, there’s always that time to where – OK, I’ll give you an example, man. We were second-and-short yesterday, it was like second-and-3-plus territory. I run a keeper to the left, I hated it. I hated it. It was like, OK well do you take a shot, or do you just get the first? And if you are going to get the first, why do that? Why not run it one more time? Or maybe it is, you go to the shot or more of a completion play, or maybe it’s a three step, maybe it’s a ball. And those are the little things, like man, you learn as you go, that I think could have been a lot better. The sequencing of a couple things that I think will really help our guys. So, those are things that it’s just, ‘Here we go, here we go, here we go.’ That’ll help. It’s going to help.”
On if he realizes he hates a play he calls in the moment or if he realizes it when reviewing tape: “Pretty quick. Pretty quick, like very quickly. Very quickly. And by the time that thing hits 15 seconds, you’re done, and you can’t get it to him anymore. And now it’s not – is it awful? No, it’s not awful. It’s not an awful play, there’s better. And those are things that I’ve got to be better at, I know I can be better at, and I kicked myself a little bit.”
On what he needs to adjust on offense so batted passes do not become a habit with other opponents: “They did a good job, you can tell they were just reading his eyes, pushed as far as they could push. And then once you couldn’t get anymore, read his eyes and then match the hand. Something they worked on, and really, we have not had that problem here that I can think of since I’ve been here. I was part of a game like that years ago. J.J. Watt was knocking balls down, I think he knocked like five down in a game. But it’s been a while like that, and so I could have done a better job of – we talked about it, but we really didn’t – I didn’t press the scout team defense, and really trying to just push and then bat balls and get your hands in the way. And so, you just do a couple little things differently, O-line wise. It’s not easy, but at some point when you feel like you’ve got them locked down and they’re not moving anymore, and they stop trying to keep their feet on the ground. And then (Lions QB Jared) Goff, which is not easy either, but just changing your arm angle on a couple things, knowing they’re just staring at you. So, it’s all correctable. I’m not worried about it moving forward, but I certainly could have made a better emphasis on it last week.”
On if there are any players on Reserve/Injured that he is optimistic can return this week: “(Lions CB) D.J. Reed looks pretty positive here, we’re going to get him a week of work here and see where he’s at. Obviously (Lions EDGE Marcus) Davenport’s getting better. Probably going to start (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey’s clock this week. (Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez) Rodrigo is looking better, he’s getting better every day. Probably Reed and Rodrigo right now would be the top of that list, but (Lions EDGE Josh) Paschal’s getting better. So, yeah, we’re kind of getting in a good place here.”
On how Lions S Kerby Joseph is progressing: “He’s getting better, he’s getting better. I don’t know – like if you ask me right now, I don’t know if I see him in this week, but he is getting better.”
On what he believes the team is close to reaching and how they can separate themselves this month: “I’m still to that point where I feel like we still have not quite played our best game, our best games. And I’m talking about in all three phases. That’s the one thing, win, lose, where you just want to feel like alright man, all three units contributed and we really complemented each other. Chicago was pretty dang good, Washington was good last week but yet there were some things we wished we could have done a little bit better. It wasn’t like that in all three units, and that was good, believe me. But I just, I really feel like we have not played our best ball yet, collectively, all three units. Once we get there, I believe there will be no looking back. Now it doesn’t mean you’re not going to have ups and downs, there’ll be some things in there, but yet, man, we’re going to be running so much more efficiently. So, I’m just optimistic. I know we’re going to be OK here. We weathered the storm, we get through it, we correct these issues. And let’s put together a good plan and let’s play better than we did collectively from last week and do what it takes to win the game.”
On if he thought about scaling down the aggression on third- and fourth-down decisions during yesterday’s game: “No. I think some of it is the – that was a little unique yesterday, some of the areas we were at. You’re a little bit in no man’s land, you’re on the road, some of that – we got wind in our face, these aren’t easy field goals, and yet you’re in manageable fourth-and-2, fourth-and-3, fourth-and-4. And so, that’s what makes it – now, we could punt it. We did that one time, but yet you’re almost too tight on some of those, too. So, to me, it made sense to do that at the time. Is it always going to be that way? No, it’s not always going to be that way. Look, I look at everything, I think about it. And certainly, I mean you go oh-for-five on fourth down – for the times it’s gone right and we’ve had success, we were as far from that as you could be yesterday.”
On how important the Lions QB Jared Goff connection with Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is to the efficiency of the offense: “I mean, that thing there, that’s a rarity that those two don’t connect. And so, I’m not even worried about that. That thing will – we’re going to be fine there. That was, it was just the perfect storm, things just didn’t quite go the way we wanted them to, we were a little bit off in some areas. But I’m not worried about their connection, they’re going to be just fine. And both of those guys will be ready to roll, just like the rest of us are this week to get ready for the Giants.”
On if he has identified why Lions QB Jared Goff’s connection with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was off yesterday: “It was just, man, one thing here or there. It could be as simple as maybe a little bit deep in the pocket, maybe a little bit too deep on the route, or maybe short, or maybe we just didn’t – it’s just literally just one thing, and it’s one minor thing that can pop up. And normally it doesn’t necessarily hurt you, but it just – some of these things hurt us yesterday. And I go back to this, we have to be able to run the football better than we did as a whole. We can do better, we can be better, and it takes everybody on the unit. And I’ve got to help us, too, as the play-caller.”
On if Lions QB Jared Goff’s connection with Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was more disrupted because of interior pressure and the routes he runs: “No, I don’t – look, that’s a disruptive front over there, but it’s not like we haven’t faced disruptive fronts. We were just a tick off, man. It was kind of one of those days, I hate saying it, but we just were a little off. And normally, even if there is something a little bit off, there’s always a – we can make up for it in other areas, and we just couldn’t quite get there yesterday.”
On when the margin of error starts to impact the postseason and when it starts to impact the mindset: “I just know right now, all we can worry about is getting ready for these guys. You literally have to take it one game at a time. If we start getting into this, ‘Oh man, we’re on the outside looking in.’ Let’s all get together, ‘Hey guys, if we don’t.’ We know. The guys know, we know. We have to play better collectively. But the only way to do that is to go back to work and just literally take it one game at a time. We’ve got to play much better football, collectively. And just focus on that, don’t worry about anything else. We can’t worry about Thanksgiving after that, and then seven days later you’ve got – just worry about the Giants, man. We’re going to have a good plan, the guys are going to come in ready to go. And let’s play better, and let’s coach better. I’ve got to coach better.”
On if there is an official diagnosis for Lions TE Sam LaPorta’s injury: “It’s a back.”
