LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
December 2, 2025
On how important it is to manage games where the team can score a lot of points on their opponent: “Well, I don’t think of it in any of those terms. That’s not what any of that’s about. It’s you go in with a gameplan and it’s specific to that opponent so if you don’t use them – there’s a lot of them you may not use. You may not use those plays again the rest of the season. Now sometimes they’ll come back up because of the structure of the defense. So, if you’ve got them and you’re getting first downs, you want to use what you’ve got. It’s as simple as that. You’re just trying to move the ball and play football. And look, it’s been done to us, that’s happened. But there’s no ill-will about it, you’re just trying to play football. And we’re trying to score points, we’re trying to eliminate points. That’s what they’re trying to do. They’re going to try to score as many points as they can. I mean I – there’s no ill-will on either side of that. You’ve got to try to score, you’ve got to try to eliminate points on defense.”
On if he ever feels like the sky is falling and how he manages to put struggles into perspective: “Yeah, I don’t think in those terms. I just I don’t, I can’t. I’m just – that’s not how I think. The guys that we have here are here for a reason. We’ve got plenty of talent, we’ve got plenty of good dudes that are made the right way, the coaches are good. And it’s really about playing winning football. And it’s going to take all three phases, and it takes every guy that we have doing their job. The margin for error is small, but it’s doable. We can do it. But we’ve got to eliminate the things that keep us from winning before we can actually win the game. Before you start battling against the opponent, you’ve got to quit battling against yourself.”
On if wins start the snowball the other way: “Well, the wins are always going to set you in the right direction. I mean that’s what it’s about. And you can’t look beyond the ones that are in front of you and that’s what we have right now. It’s Dallas. That’s got to be the sole focus and it’s everything that we have. We’ve got to digest this plan, understand the opponent, understand who you’re getting ready to face. You’ve got to be ready to win those one-on-ones, what’s he going to try to do to you, what are you going to do to him. And everybody’s got to be on point and that’s all you worry about. And then you worry about the next one after that.”
On how urgency manifests itself in the day-to-day with the players during a game week where the team must win: “Well, I just think the guys are on point. Look, they’re always that way. There is always a level of urgency. But with this unit here, this crew, they don’t like losing, none of us like losing. And it puts a bad taste in your mouth. And so, we just came off a loss to a division opponent and nobody – we don’t want that again. So, these last two days have been really good, the guys have been locked in. I thought they were flying around yesterday. But I just bring it back, yes there’s urgency, but there’s not panic. You start taking this to a level of, ‘Oh, we’ve got, oh,’ then that’s when guys start making mistakes. So, I’m going to start trying to do your job and then I’m out of position to do my job because I’m trying to do your job and that’s when really everything breaks down. So, just do your job, handle your business, do it the best you can do it and be on point. And eliminate those things that require no talent. The discipline, the fundamentals, the technique, you just handle that.”
On if Lions CB Terrion Arnold’s shoulder surgery will be done on the same shoulder that was giving him problems earlier this year and when it started to bother him again: “Yeah, yes it is. And it’s been there. It’s not like it went away and it bothered him in this game a little bit. So, just felt like it was something that needed to be done.”
On his confidence level in Lions WR Jameson Williams to step up if Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown cannot play this week: “High confidence. High confidence. He’s really growing. I mean he just continues to grow and get better. He’s fearless. He’s fearless and he’s just – his fundamentals. For the speed and quickness he has, the ability for him to drop his weight now and there’s really some detail to his routes. He’s becoming a hard cover. And then you see the run after catch ability, he’s had it. So, his confidence is growing, our confidence is growing and he’s doing well. And I mean he came back out this week again, I mean he’s full-tilt. You should’ve seen him running yesterday. I mean this guy, he works now. He works in practice every day. So, love where he’s at.”
On if he chalks Lions CB Terrion Arnold’s injury up to his style of play or bad luck: “Yeah, it’s been frustrating. I know it’s frustrating for him. But no, it just feels like one of those years. I mean I wouldn’t say there’s anything out of the norm. He did, he got off to a really good start in camp and then the bug hit him and then it just kind of was one thing to another. But yeah, I don’t – it’s just one of those years. It’s a tough year for him.”
On if the landscape and parity of the League changes the way he views the ceiling and outlook for the team: “It doesn’t change – I don’t think it changes anything. I know for where we’re at, it just goes back to all you can worry about is what is right in front of you and you’ve got to play the best game that you can play and manage this game the best that you can. We know that’s a potent offense over there, they’re playing really good defensive football – this D-line is strong, very strong. And I just go back to this, it’s going to take all three phases. We need all three units to step up for us and play big. They’re hot right now, they’re playing really good football, they’ve got a lot of confidence. They’re a rugged team. They are built off the O-line, D-line, but they’ve got explosiveness on the perimeter and (Cowboys QB) Dak (Prescott)’s playing at a high level, man. So, look, we know we’ve got our hands full but we’re up to the challenge. We’re up to it and we know what’s in front of us. And you can’t worry about the other teams that are out there, the other teams that are in front of you or what it looks like in the NFC, just can’t. And it doesn’t matter. And shoot you win out, you might not get in. But you don’t know. Hell, maybe it only takes 11 to get in. I don’t know. But I know this, we’ve got to win this one. We’ve got to win this one. So, let’s worry about that right now.”
On how much he monitors the League and conference standings throughout the season: “I don’t even look at it because it – the one time we did one of those was I talked about it at the bye, I just showed where everything was at, at that point coming right out of the bye. And that, I haven’t looked at it, I haven’t thought about it because it does no good. I mean that does you no good. I mean you could sit there and hope and whatever and it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to take care of our business, it doesn’t matter what happens. All the right things could happen and if you lose it doesn’t matter. So you’ve got to win. You’ve got to win.”
On an injury update for Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: “He’s better. He’s better, that’s the best way to say it. But I don’t see him practicing today. But he is better. So, I know this, if he can play, he’ll play. That’s the best way to say it.”
On an injury update for Lions WR Kalif Raymond: “Yeah, I mean he’s getting better but I don’t see him this week.”
On what coaches and players can learn from what the team is going through right now: “Well, for some of these guys this is a different spot than they’ve been in. For a guy like (Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, he knows what this is. (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown knows what this is, (Lions T Penei) Sewell knows what it is, (Lions QB Jared) Goff knows what it is, (Lions T Taylor) Decker knows what it is. We’ve got plenty that have been through it and so, they’ve got an idea of what it is. And you just go back to work, you put your head down and you clean up the little things because the little things are what win games in this League. So, you’re sitting here two years ago and you’re doing backflips. But now all of the sudden, with where we’re at it feels down because we’ve done some pretty good things over the last two years. But you can’t worry about it and all you can do is handle your own business, handle your own play, your own coaching and go out there and play the best game you can play, execute.”
On if he got a sense of how Lions S Kerby Joseph was feeling coming out of his return to practice: “I mean not really. I mean I – look, that’s his first time to go out there. He’s been rehabbing, he’s been doing things on the side, but that’s kind of his first being around it in the individual drills. And so, sometimes you’re always going to hope for a little bit more than the first time you get back on the turf, but that doesn’t mean this is a setback. Now I know he could get frustrated. And I know it can be frustrating when you get hurt, especially when you’ve been trying to work your way back. And he’s been busting his tail to get back. But you just continue to treat it, try to eliminate the pain or limit most of the pain and to where he feels like he can produce.”
