LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 25, 2023
On what he hopes to accomplish with Lions WR Jameson Williams as he is able to return to the building this week while still suspended: “Well, we really – he can be in meetings and that’s about it for now and then we’ll have him out here training a little bit, but until further notice, he can’t practice with us or anything, so we’re kind of in that boat right now, but it’s good to have him back. He was in the team meeting. It was good to see him and be around the teammates, so we’ll see what we can do.”
On how Lions WR Jameson Williams is doing with his hamstring injury: “He’s good.”
On if Lions WR Jameson Williams is allowed to practice individually while is suspended: “Yeah, it’ll be – we’re trying to work through a few things there. (Lions President and CEO) Rod (Wood)’s working on that right now, so we’ll see. We’re going to do everything we can and it’s just good to have him back.”
On how much sleep he got last night: “Ten, 12 hours, 14. Enough to be right up here.”
On how quickly the team turned the page to prepare for the Packers this week: “Quick. There were a couple of things we needed to clean up from yesterday, so you just hit that quickly, but pretty much immediately. I told the staff we weren’t going to – let’s not spend time on Atlanta. We’ve got too much to do with game-planning everything, so doesn’t mean that – inevitably, you’re going to watch it, all the coaches watch it as fast as they can, but then their focus goes to Green Bay, so we turned it really quick.”
On how the lack of live reps this week will impact Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley who has not been fully practicing: “Yeah, it’ll have a little of an impact on him. Certainly, we want him to feel really good about him playing. Not only certainly being healthy, but him having confidence about that and that’s a little tough to do in a short week like this, so there’ll be some guys that it’ll be hard to get them to the game probably, and there’ll be some other guys that’ll have a chance here that have played and have just been on the injury report for the last week or two, or three, somewhere in there.”
On the injuries on the offensive line and how well he thinks Lions OL Colby Sorsdal played against the Falcons: “Yeah, (Lions T Matt) Nelson, we’ll put Nelson down. He’s going to require surgery, so I hate that for him, so he’s down. Sorsdal, certainly, (Lions T Dan Skipper) Skip went in there and banged away and then got an injury and then Sorsdal went in and honestly, for – he did a solid job. He went in and filled in admirably and he’ll get better from those reps that he took, so yeah. That’s about the best way I can say it.”
On if Lions OL Colby Sorsdal will play at the right tackle position this week if Lions T Taylor Decker is unable to play due to injury: “Yeah, yeah, certainly. We got him in there at guard and tackle. We’ve been working with him a little bit and of course that’s his first real NFL game playing right tackle. But yeah, he’s certainly an option.”
On what this game against the Packers means to him with both teams competing for the top spot in the division: “Well, I do think that – certainly you want these more because they’re for the division and these count. These have a significant impact on being a division winner, so I think in that regard, it certainly means a lot. But I think what we all just have to keep in mind is that really the way we played yesterday collectively is how we have to go in and play this game. It’s going to take every one of us and man, everybody has got to do their part and it’s never about one person. It’s about everybody, coaches, players and all three phases for us to win. You’ve got to fight for everything you get in this League. It’s too hard to win when you don’t, so we do that, then I like our chances out there.”
On if he believes this team is built for primetime games on the road: “I mean I don’t know about all that. I just – I think we just take it as it comes. It’s the next game on the schedule. We’re going on the road, it’ll be a tough environment, it’ll be a special environment. I think there is always something special about going out to Lambeau. I just told the rookies that you’re going to enjoy this. It doesn’t get any better, so it’ll be an outstanding atmosphere and our players look forward to going out there and they just came off a big win, like you said. They did a heck of a job to come back there and pull that one out, so we know what they are. They’ve got a dang-good defense. (Packers QB Jordan) Love’s playing well. They’re going to run the football, play-action pass. They’re well-coached and this will be a heck of a battle, test for us.”
On the differences he sees in the Packers offense led by Packers QB Jordan Love compared to their offense last year: “I feel like there’s a lot more I guess system, if you will, more than probably alternatives, audibles, checks at the line, I mean they’ve got plenty of that, believe me. They’re going to get in the right play, but I think there’s a little bit more it’s this or that and here we go, here’s the look and let’s run it. That way he can play fast and do what they do well, but certainly they want to run the ball. Everything starts with the run with them, and we’ll see if they get (Packers RB Aaron) Jones back. Certainly, (Packers RB AJ) Dillon’s running well and that goes a long way. I guess speed on the perimeter, as we know. Tight ends playing pretty good and then there again, this defense is – it’s a good defense. It’s a good defense, so we’ll have our hands full.”
On the challenges the offensive line will face against the Packers’ defensive line: “They’ve really got it across the board, honestly. I think top to bottom it’s a pretty good roster. (Packers LB Rashan) Gary certainly brings some juice on the perimeter, but I can’t ever say enough about – good things about (Packers DL Kenny) Clark. I’ve got a lot of respect for that player. I think (Packers LB) Quay Walker is playing outstanding and I just think they’re pretty tough across the board. (Packers CB) Jaire (Alexander), we’ll see what happens, see if he plays, but he’s an outstanding corner and so they’ve just – they’ve got a lot of nice pieces over there and they run multiple fronts, they set edges, they mix up their coverages and so this will be a good challenge for us.”
On what he has seen from Packers QB Jordan Love these past few games: “Yeah, I think that what you really see is man, he’s making some of these shot throws. He’s pretty accurate downfield, and if it’s not that, then he’s giving his receivers a chance to make a play or draw a penalty. So, he’s pretty accurate downfield. He’s a good enough athlete in space to make things happen with his feet. So, I just think he’s – I think he’s running the ship pretty good over there right now and when you play good defense and you can run the ball and play-action off of it and you’re – you’ve got ability, accurate passer, he certainly knows the system, he understands what (Packers Head) Coach (Matt) LaFleur wants him to do. I think that makes him pretty tough.”
On the challenges Packers RB Aaron Jones presents to the defense: “He’s just – he’s one of those special backs. He’s got the ability to take it on the perimeter, he has homerun ability, he’s an inside runner, he’s a gadget guy, he’s pretty good out of the backfield as a receiver. There’s just really nothing that he doesn’t do well and that certainly is the challenge. It just brings another weapon to their offense and that’s what’s always going to make it more difficult.”
On Lions S Ifeatu Melifonwu’s performance in the Falcons game: “Yeah, he did some really nice things. It was good to see him out there make the plays that he made. Iffy’s a smart guy and it’s just about getting him on the field and keeping him out there health-wise and he’s – this is the most time we’ve had on him consistently to be able to just bank those reps at the safety position in particular. And so, we thought he did a real nice job. And the other thing, man, he played a physical game. He played a physical game. He was good in coverage, but he also came up and he hit, and he was where he was supposed to be. It was just – it was good. It was an excellent first start for him at safety.”
On the difficulty of a rookie tight end stepping in like Lions TE Sam LaPorta has: “Well, I think, there again, a lot of that goes – certainly he puts the work in and (Lions Tight Ends Coach) Steve Heiden’s done a great job with him. He’s a guy who you tell him something once, he takes it, he won’t make that mistake again which is always going to help when you’re a rookie. But he’s built a rapport with (Lions QB Jared) Goff. Goff has a lot of trust in him, and I think that’s what it says probably more than anything is that’s not always the easiest thing is to build rapport as a rookie with your quarterback. And that’s what you – that’s what you’re starting to see. And that’s why those targets are coming, that’s why he’s getting the ball a little bit here because Goff really does – I think he’s got a lot of trust in him.” |
