LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
December 26, 2022
On what was lacking from the team’s performance Sunday after viewing the tape: “Well, I mean, we talked about it, there wasn’t complementary football. So, when one area’s not playing at its best and the other two have to pick it up, and we weren’t able to do that. But there were areas of – there was a lack of aggressiveness. There was a lack of finish. There was a lack of detail, lack of discipline. There were a number of different things that showed up that were very uncharacteristic of how we (have) played, one of the reasons why we played pretty well. Some of that is the way you start. You get yourself in a bit of a hole and then some guys are trying to make plays and they’re making it worse by just not staying true to what their job description is. Then look, we’ve got some new guys playing. Some guys, there were a couple of looks that they were getting confused on. So, it was just a little bit of everything. There again, like I said, when one group doesn’t do well, the other two have to help us out and pick it up.”
On how quickly correctable the mistakes they made last week are to be ready for Chicago: “We’re going to do everything we can in our power to correct everything that came up. We will – we’re going to make sure we’re ready, 100 percent ready. So, our guys, they come in Wednesday, they’re going to be ready to go. We’ll prepare for every look that Chicago has. We know what they’re going to do with (Bears QB Justin) Fields, we know these two running backs, this offensive line will come off the ball. We’re going to have everybody, top to bottom, our front seven and our DBs, we’re going to be ready to roll. Those guys will be ready. So, they’ve got a good plan over there, what they do, and this quarterback can run. We know exactly what he is, he’s dangerous. We know everything starts with the run game with them, and so we have to improve our area. Like, we have to improve every little thing, all the details that got us to this point in the first place that got us to this week. We have to get back to the basics, and we’re going to get back to the basics.”
On if they have to be wary of Lions WR Jameson Williams wanting to be more involved in the gameplan: “You’re asking why we’re not giving him more reps? We’ll get him more reps, yeah. We’ll get him more reps.”
On if there is optimism Lions S DeShon Elliott could return this week: “Don’t know. Don’t know. I don’t have a clear answer on that. (Lions Head Athletic Trainer) Kevin (Bastin) and I haven’t talked extensively yet on all the injuries. I’ve got a general idea of guys, but I don’t know where he’s going to be at just yet.”
On the driving force behind the team’s resiliency this season: “Yeah, well I think that’s us coaches and the veterans, and then our own pride, our own pride and who we are. We know what it’s like to be down, we know what it’s like to be counted out. When you don’t play well, you don’t play winning football, and we were able to get ourselves out of it. So, look, we just had a loss, we had a setback. That’s the thing – that’s what’s a little frustrating is it does feel a little bit like a setback. Losing’s one thing, but when you lose that way, that’s a setback. The good news is that we control our own destiny moving forward as it pertains to that, how we take care of that. So, the way we come back into work on Wednesday and the way that we’re going to approach the week, we can clean every bit of that up. We’ve got the right type of guys that are going to come in here. They’re prideful and they’re going to put their best foot forward and we’re going to be ready to go.”
On an area he can point to that they need to improve on in order to establish the run game: “Yeah, look, it goes back to fundamentals, but I would say even finish. We’ve got to finish better across the board. We’ve just got to finish. That’s just one of those things that – us as coaches, we have to put an emphasis on it, more of an emphasis that we have, and we’ve really got to hone in on it. There again, the run game, the first thing everybody looks at is the O-line because they have – there’s five of them, and they’re always going to have a big hand in it, but it’s also your tight ends, it’s your receivers, and it’s the way your backs run. So, everybody’s got a hand in this run game, everybody. It’s up to us to design a good run game, and it’s up to them to make a go of it and make it work and finish and all those things. I think that’s – everything we talk about coming in Wednesday, that’s part of it too. We just kind of talked about the defense, it’s about getting our run game back too. There again, that doesn’t mean that we’re going to hand the ball off more. It means efficiency. We have to be better when we do run the ball. We have to get more chunks. We have to be better to where, man, it’s second-and-6, it’s second-and-5, and second-and-4, it’s not second-and-9, second-and-10 every time we hand the ball off. We have to be better. We have to work on it. We have to make an emphasis of it and we have to work on it. We’re going to work on it Wednesday and we’re going to work on it Thursday.”
On if it feels good to know they are playing at home this weekend when they need to rebound: “Yeah, look it’s always good to play at home, to get back with our crowd, back at Ford Field. That’s always a good thing. That’ll give us a little pep in our step, get us centered again. Then it’s up to us. It’s up to us to decide what we want to do and how we want to handle this, and that’s the good news. Look, I’m just going to say this again, it stings. It’s awful. But man, it’s the best thing that could happen to us because I think no matter who you are in whatever you do, some of your best work is when you get your face kicked in. And so – I mean that literally, I don’t know everybody gets their face kicked in – but man, when your back’s against the wall and you get trotted on and everything’s at its worst, you either stay down there or you get up and you come back motivated and upset with calculated energy and aggression and man you go, and there’s a purpose. And so, I think this is the best thing for us.”
On if he sees long-term value from the loss Sunday as a learning lesson for the team: “Yeah, I mean, I think you have to look at it that way. Everything that can be perceived as a negative, you have to be able to get something out of. If you don’t, then you really aren’t growing and learning and making the most of the situation at hand. Look, it is what it is. That happened. It happened for a reason. We weren’t ready, which falls on me. I’m going to have them ready this week. And so, it’s all about how we respond, and that’s the beauty of it. Everything, it’s in our hands how we want to handle this. And so, we’ll be ready for this one.”
On if the players were in the building today: “No, today was treatments. Tomorrow they’ll be in.”
On if he anticipated the touchdown production they were going to get from the tight end position after trading Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson: “Well, we knew that we would be getting help out of that room by committee, if you will. We were hopeful with (Lions TE Shane) Zylstra and (Lions TE Brock) Wright and (Lions TE James Mitchell) Mitch as he came along. But we also knew most of that production would be spread through (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint and some of those other guys as I’ve said before. But no, yesterday, he’s the one who kind of gets the hot hand, or two days ago, Zylstra. He was available for the quarterback, (Lions QB Jared) Goff trusts him, made some good throws, he made some plays for us, so it worked out.” | |
