LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 9, 2024
Opening Statement: “Really, like I said last night, ultimately, that was a good win, to pull that out and our resiliency showed up. We found a way to do what we needed to do. To go back to what I said last night, really starting with (Lions P Jack) Fox’s punt down there at the 11, (Lions CB Khalil) Dorsey’s down there covering his rear off and downed at 11, defense has to take a stand, they do, we get a TFL, second-and-12, then they jump offsides, second-and-17, and really gets us the stop there, and then the offense really closed it out. At that point you’re talking about 17 plays, 110 yards, nine points, really, and no looking back. So, it was a good job when we needed it. Those guys closed it out. (Lions RB) David Montgomery put that game on his shoulders, and he really willed that to happen. It was impressive. He’s a stud, like I said last night. Number of guys played pretty good. Him, obviously (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo, it was good to see Jamo have some explosives there, make some plays and he just keeps getting better, and so now he’s got to get a little bit better this week, like all of us do, but that was good to see, man, he definitely helped us win that game. Defensively, (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) was all over the field, I thought (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch and (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport on the perimeter, man, they really, all day long, were a force. And (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph), Kerby played a pretty good game. That was a big play right before halftime, but overall, it was pretty good by him. Special teams, Fox, as we talked about. We won the field position battle against this team and a lot of that is on both sides, punt, punt return, but Fox had a huge game for us. Dorsey, again, talking about it, as a gunner. So, a lot of good things, lot of things we’ve got to clean up. Too many three-and-outs on offense. We took them out of their game, we felt like, defensively, forced them into more of a quick game, which means you’ve got to go the long way, and when you run almost 80 plays and you only give up 20 points, that’s pretty good, it’s a good start. So, it’s a good win.”
On how he would assess the secondary: “Yeah, well look, we’ve got a lot of room to grow, but yet, there were things in that game I was really proud of on the back end. It was good to see (Lions CB) Carlton (Davis III) get in there and, man, it was a huge fourth down stop that he had on the perimeter, but he’s squeezing the run game. I just – was it his best game? No, but he did a lot of good things. (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA, it’s very evident it’s not too big for him. He’s got a lot to clean up, but yet, man, it was very promising. I mean, he was in stride, he showed up for us and he’s only going to get better and better. It was good to see. (Lions DB Brian Branch) BB – I already talked about (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph), I thought Kerby did a good job, and BB made a lot of plays, but then one of the first things he says when he’s coming back in the locker room, he’s like, ‘I won’t miss those tackles anymore.’ So, he knows it and he’s really one of our best tacklers in general. He’s got his first game under his belt. But all in all, just cleaning up some of the communication, but I thought it was promising where our D-backs are at.”
On if the team needs to adjust to the turf after some players slipped: “Not really, not that I know of. And as far as I know they haven’t done anything else to it. So no, I think we’ll be good. Some of it is just getting used to playing back on that turf again. Now, they had problems, too. I think at times they tripped a little bit. But it’s the same turf we’ve had, so we should be good.”
On what more he would like to do to get Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown involved and how prepared he has to be for other teams to defend him the same way as the Rams: “Yeah, I mean, we tried. We did. We called his number quite a few times, it just – it felt like, for whatever reason, either coverage took it away or something like that happens on the inside slant and he kind of trips on it. There were just these things that it was just kind of one of those games. But he’s constantly somebody we think about, I mean, that doesn’t go away. And certainly, we want to get him targeted more than what showed yesterday, I mean, that’s the obvious. He’s a catalyst for us, no different than what we talked about like (Lions RB) David (Montgomery) in the run game. Saint’s one of our guys, so we’ll – but as far as teams looking at that, I’m not worried about that, we’ll find a way.”
On if Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was intended to break up the inside slant he was targeted on that could have been an interception: “Yeah, look, I didn’t ask him directly, but I would be willing to bet you anything, absolutely it was, because he’s a smart player. He knew he wasn’t going to get to it, so he better knock it down. That’s pretty headsy by him.”
On if rust from players in Week 1 opened his mind to having starters play in the preseason in the future: “No. I mean, listen, there’s always going to be an element of – because even then – what, you’re going to play them 20 plays? I would rather go against ourselves and run 60, which is what we did. Those last two weeks we scrimmaged each other going 60 plays. So no, I’m not, especially when you win the game. I feel good with where we’re at and I said it last night, do I like that we were not that clean? No, I don’t feel great about that, but I’m not upset with the win either. So, we will clean it up, like I told the team, all we have to worry about is getting a little bit better next week.”
On how much of a mental boost it is to win in overtime early on in the year: “Look, any time you play an overtime game, yeah, it’s the first one you put a lot of significant play on the body, it’s a lot of intensity, a lot of volume, but, more importantly, it does. There’s an emotional element that goes into that and, you don’t win that, it’s kind of a gut punch for a little bit. So that was big to be able to pull that one out. We’d rather close that out before we got there, but we found a way.”
On what he thought of the D-line and if Lions DL DJ Reader will potentially play in Week 2: “Yeah, I mean, I think the plan was, ultimately, if we couldn’t get DJ up last week or just, we didn’t feel quite there that, man, Tampa was always the target. So, providing there’s no setbacks, we’d like to get him going this week. He looked pretty good in practice. And as far as the D-line in general, yeah, those guys, just about every one of them had a winning performance up front. I thought they played big, I thought they played physical, and we feel like we have a good defensive line. And I know that’s game one, but just since spring and training camp and seeing where we’re at, we just – it’s the right mix, it’s the right balance of length, power, size, aggression, and that’s just game one. We’ve got so much room to grow in there, too. That’s what’s exciting.”
On where he has seen growth in Lions LB Derrick Barnes to have him play in new roles: “Well, it’s a credit to him and (Lions Linebackers Coach Kelvin Sheppard) Shep really getting him to this point. But I think, first of all, mentally he has grown so much with understanding our defense and then what offenses are trying to do conceptually, so that’s where it starts, but then physically, his ability to – I mean, he can rush off the edge, he can set an edge in the run game, he’s also a stack backer, he’s just seeing things so much faster. And so, the mental side of the game has grown so much and physically he really has all the tools. I mean, he’s a run-and-hit linebacker that can play on the edge, so he gives us a lot of flexibility and as you could see last night, that flexibility showed up. We kept him on the field, and he essentially played like our nickel, and I felt like we made that team one-dimensional. I thought (Lions Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG put together a heck of a plan and that was kind of part of it for this game.”
On Lions DL Alim McNeill saying he could not sleep after the game last night: “Look, it’s hard to sleep anyway after a game, but especially when you get home at whatever that is – two o’clock, one o’clock, I don’t know. It’s hard because your mind’s racing and you’re watching the tape, you’re thinking about it and just all the different plays, what you could’ve done, what you want to do, what went right, what went wrong, so I can imagine. I remember that as a player, so I can understand Mac’s talking about. It’s just, you go through it. I think that’s what’s hard about a night game. It is, because it’s impossible to sleep, I think. Even as tired as you are, it’s just hard. The mind won’t go to sleep.”
On at what point he and Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson realized that running the ball was going to win them the game in overtime: “Look, I thought Ben did a heck of a job closing that game out, but I think the first run (Lions RB David Montgomery) D-Mo had was really – you just felt like, ‘He’s about to take this game over.’ That first one, he took off and we got good movement up front, and you could just see the surge and you could feel number five and it felt like we were going to be able to break through. And we were.”
