LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
June 6, 2024
Opening Statement: “Obviously, this will be the last day with the veterans, we talked about that, so we’ll really just going to get them loose and we’re going to simulate trying to get two scores under two minutes, type of deal. Three timeouts, we’ve done that every year. Bigs are not going to go full speed, but the skills will, just so you know so you’re looking out there and you’re like, ‘This guy’s loafing,’ we’re telling him to back off. But this will be good for us. Communication piece and send these guys off in a good way. It’s been a really good spring, it really has. I’m proud of those guys, but I didn’t expect anything different either, not from this group. This group is exactly what we expect.”
On what his message is to the veterans when they leave: “Yeah, I think just remember what we’re playing for. Each individual, ‘What do you want? What do you want out of this year? What do you want it to look like when we’re sitting here and it’s February? Where is your mind? So, think about that, and let’s work backwards from there.’ That’ll be the message.”
On what he wants from this season: “You know what I want. I want the whole enchilada.”
On if Lions DL DJ Reader, Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley and Lions OLB Marcus Davenport are on track to be back to playing at the start of training camp: “Yeah, I would say Reader would be the one who – he’ll be a decision on at what point is he ready to start practicing. But that’s not something that we’re caught off guard by. We knew this would take a minute here. I would anticipate everybody else to be pretty close to ready, if not it’s going to be tight. It’ll be enough to where they’re going to get a really good amount of training camp work, if that makes sense. So no, there’s nobody that I’m alarmed by. I would say Reader is probably the one that’s going to take a minute.”
On what he has seen out of Lions DL Alim McNeill and if he sees the continued evolution in him: “I do. I do, I think we all do. Mac has got so much ability, and I think that he’s one of those that in the way that he is built, and the nimbleness and athleticism, and power that he has for the way that he is, for the way that he’s built – you don’t see that every day. We still feel like there is more in there. He really took a big step last year, we feel like there’s more in there. I know that’s one of the things that (Lions Defensive Line Coach) Terrell (Williams) noticed right when he came here – our D-line coach, like ‘Man this guy,’ – he said, ‘I’ve always liked Alim McNeill, but I see, there’s more to this guy. We can get more out of him.’ That’s a good thing. Some of that is by fundamentals, and technique, and just continuing to push. But Mac is one of those guys – I think this can go up another step. Last year was a big year for him.”
On if a contract year can be a thing for the players: “I hope not. With our guys? I hope not. Then we probably don’t have the right guys, does that make sense? I think our guys are – man you’re playing it year by year and you’re giving the most you have in that year whether it’s a contract year or not. I think if that’s the deal, we probably have the wrong guy and I feel very confident that (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I made the right decision on guys we drafted or brought in.”
On Lions LB Mitchell Agude and what he has seen from his development from his time on the practice squad last season to now: “Yeah, he’s another player that we were really pleased with by the end of last year – a practice squad player that we thought really pushed that offensive line and really developed for what he was doing. We kind of had him at that defensive end position, the rush defensive end position, and not only that, but he helped us on special teams, and he was somebody repeatedly every week that the coaches would talk about, just even when he was servicing the offense – how smart he is. You give him one correction, one thing and it never happens again. He’s a worker. He works. He’s another guy that’s kind of transformed his body. He’s pretty powerful. He’s a guy – man you love going into camp with a guy like him. Let’s see where he can go. So, we’re pleased with him, we’re glad he’s here on the 90-man roster going into camp, or 89, whatever it is right now.”
On if he wants the veteran players to do more or continue with what they have been doing: “Yeah, I think as they go into camp, they know what camp’s going to be like for us, so they need to be – they’re in really good shape right now. They really are. It’s one of those that you wish you could start camp in a week. However, you’re going to trust that these guys are going to continue to put in the work, and they do, but make sure you come back into camp and you’re in tip top shape. That you’re where you are when you left here on, whatever it is, what is today, June 6th? And make sure that that’s where you’re at physically. But then mentally, understand that wherever you want this to go and where you want us to go as a team, the work to that point, and the work that it’s going to take to get there, you need to understand what that looks like and what you’re getting prepared to do. It’s not only, ‘Man OK you have to push harder you have to think –‘ to me, it’s – like offensive and defensively, special teams, alright, ‘Here’s the concepts, here’s our scheme, here’s what we run, here’s how we do it,’ we have to take it up another notch. We have to take it into – like I’m listening to (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG this morning, it was a great point, ‘Alright I’m in there and I’m the safety, and I know my responsibility is in a two-by-two anything vertical my way. However, if (Lions TE) Sam LaPorta is not in there, then forget that. Let’s go work back side and help out (Lions WR) Jameson Williams.’ I know your responsibility says on paper, I should help any number two, but if that guy’s not a threat, let the corner have him. Those are the little things where we can really grow offensively and defensively. Like the awareness of who’s in, what’s the situation, where – we know what it says on paper, but we can’t do the Ron Burgundy. We can’t just continue to read off the teleprompter. We have to grow and that’s the next step. That is the next evolution, because that’s what San Francisco did to us, quite frankly. They played at a different level.”
On where Lions QB Hendon Hooker needs to grow before coming into training camp: “Just reps. We’ll tell him this before he leaves, ‘Here’s the beauty. Man, you’ve got everything we’ve done through spring,’ which has been a ton. He’s gotten, I don’t know, but I would guess he’s gotten more game situations as a backup quarterback than probably most in a spring. We’ve put him in so many hard situations, which has been unbelievable to have those. But you’ve got everything we’ve done to this point. You ought to have every script with you, and you should be going through every one of them, every day. ‘I should be going through the play, the play-call, I’m in the huddle, here’s my – I’m going to visualize this. Alright here’s the coverage, I see it. Here’s the safety, I’m going to check to this,’ so by the time you get back, you should have a real good grasp at what we’re doing. The install is not really going to change, not offensively. We’re pretty much going to go in with what we went in with this spring. So I expect the player that is much more comfortable coming into camp than when he left spring.”
On his realistic expectations for Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones: “I think he’s another guy that’s coming in here to help us compete. There again, it’s hard to say. This thing will shake out when we get to camp. There’s a reason why we signed him back. We like DPJ, he’s a different body type, he’s a pretty smart guy. He brings something a little bit different to the table. He has got to play big boy ball. His separation is his size and his length, and he’s got to battle some. We’ll see how this goes in training camp. If we didn’t like him, he wouldn’t be here.”
On if there is an update on Lions CB Khalil Dorsey’s injury: “He should be good, we got good news on that. It looks like a little ankle, so he’s good.”
On if he is looking for anything this summer roster-wise: “(Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and I will talk about that before next week – sometime in the middle of next week. Just to make sure we’re – and I’ll be honest – really depth. If anything, depth-wise. You want to know that you’ve got competition in every area, but enough to where you can battle with the twos and threes. That’ll kind of be the conversation but right now, I don’t feel like we’ve pressed on anything.”
On if he has seen the rookies come and fit in and not be intimidated or if it is too early to tell: “Yeah, I think it’s too early to tell. Some of those guys – there’s always going to be a little bit of – it always cracks you up because like rookie minicamp, they’re it, right? And then all of a sudden, the vets come in and then it’s a team meeting in the auditorium and you’re in a rookie minicamp and they just take the seats like, ‘Yeah that’s my seat.’ Then when you have a team meeting and the vets are here, well that’s the vet’s seat. So, then the rookies – pretty soon they’re standing over at the wall. I do feel like our veterans have done a good job of – and it’s something we’ve talked about. We’re going to need these guys. We don’t know entirely who they are going to be, but we’re going to need these rookies. Some of these rookies are going to help us win games, so the faster we can help them come along and embrace them, the better off we’re all going to be. We can’t just isolate them and not talk to them and not help them and expect them to help us when we’re going to need them. Our guys know that, and they’ve done a really good job of helping them. Now you still have to remind them that they’re rookies, which they do, but we embrace them.”
On if he talked to the team about the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers: “I think, some of that will come up – we’ve talked a little bit about it. Not in a ton of depth, but we’ve acknowledged. We’ve acknowledged. That’s the point where we have to be at our best. When you’re talking about playing the heavy weight, you’re going to go toe to toe with a heavy weight. Everything’s got to line up right, and you have to play a certain way for 60 minutes, and you can’t buckle under the pressure, which we’ve done a really good job of. I felt like we really did, and we really have for a year and a half. It’s just, OK man, it’s a different level. It’s a different level against a different type of opponent at that level. We’re going to learn from that. Our guys know that, they acknowledge it. The good news is, you don’t want to come out of that game and guys feel – they’re gun shy now, and they’re broken, and they lack confidence. Our guys are – that motivates you. It makes you mad. It should make you mad. Then you have to turn that into what we talked about, the next thing, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ and, ‘What’s is going to look like?’ It’s got to be focused, and it’s got to be detailed, then you have to go back to work.”
Closing Statement: “I have one more thing for everybody. So, as you guys know, (Lions Columnist/Freelance Writer) Mr. Mike O’Hara is retiring from sports writing for nearly 50 years. I’m going to read a couple things first. Forty-two years with the Detroit News, 1966 to 2008. Started as a Lions beat writer in 1977. Covered more than 500 Lions games in his career. Columnist for the DetroitLions.com for the last 12 years. Michigan Sports Hall of Fame class of 2019. Served our country in the Army for two years including one in the Vietnam War, which I did not know that, Mike. I did not know that and thank you for your service. Man, we just want to thank you, all of us in here, thank you Mike for everything that you’ve done. It’s been a hell of a career man. Let’s give him a round.”
