LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET
September 23, 2024
Opening Statement: “Start here, (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport will be out. Looks like that’s a season-ender there. We’re still getting some other opinions on it. (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes is going to be down a significant amount of time, and then, really, everybody else is day-to-day. (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac will be day-to-day, (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta’s day-to-day and (Lions DB Brian) Branch is in the protocol, but as of today he was doing pretty good, so we’ll see where that goes. All in all, once again, kind of what – we talked about it yesterday, but it was really a good, team win. Offensively, the objective was to start it out on offense, get up, score early, kind of set the tone for the game. I thought our O-line, our backs, receivers did that, tight ends. It was the whole offense, man, our receivers blocking, (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, I thought, was outstanding. But our O-line established that, went down there and scored, got up early, and then, defensively, really finished the game for us with that type of mentality. We won the run battle 188 to their 77, corralled this number one. Only gave up 13 points defensively, one-of-9 on third down. Two sudden-change stops, only four explosives so, defensively, (Lions S) Kerby (Joseph) and (Lions CB) Carlton Davis (III) I thought played really, really well. (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, (Lions DL DJ) Reader – Reader’s a force in there, Hutch is relentless, as we know, and Branch – Branch made a lot of plays there. Offensively, St. Brown played at a very high level – pass game and, like I said, the run game, he blocked his rear off. And then that O-line across the board, (Lions T Taylor) Decker, (Lions OL) Graham (Glasgow), (Lions C) Frank (Ragnow), (Lions G Kevin) Zeitler and (Lions T Penei) Sewell. And then our backs, (Lions RB) David (Montgomery) set the tone, (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs had some really good runs, I thought (Lions TE) Brock Wright probably played his best game up-to-date, and then it was good to see (Lions WR Tim Patrick) TP, he really does fit us like we talked about last week. And then special teams, (Lions P Jack) Fox was – I don’t know how you play any better than Fox did as a punter, five punts, first one, touchback, 68 yards and there’s a penalty on it so they start at the 10. Then he has a 61-yarder, they start at the two-yard line – great job by (Lions CB Khalil Dorsey) Dorse getting down there. Then he puts them on the 12, then he puts them on the nine, then he puts them on the seven, so their average start line was the eight-yard line after five punts – big time, man, Fox just continues to raise his level of play. And we had no penalties in the special teams unit, so I thought he and Dorsey really excelled on teams. That was really the story of the game.”
On if Lions LB Derrick Barnes will go on Reserve/Injured: “Honestly, we’re not going to know that. We’re still getting second opinions on that. What we know right now is, he’s going to be down for a little while. We know that, and then it’s just a matter, as these opinions keep coming back, ‘How long is that going to be?’ It’s the knee, so is he going to need something done other than one of the ligaments and can it scar in, can these ligaments scar in and everything will be good, just needs time, or is – we know he’s going to need to be down for a little while while the knee heals. And then once it heals, is it going to need surgery?”
On his confidence level in players like Lions DL Josh Paschal to fill in for Lions DL Marcus Davenport: “Yeah, look, it’s why we have the depth that we have. I mean, that’s the whole purpose behind bringing in the guys we do, because your first line – your first unit across the board is – the odds of playing with every one of those guys every game of the season, it’s a slim chance of that happening. You’ve got to have the depth. So, to what you’re asking, yeah, I have a lot of faith, and this is – Paschal’s going to – this is going to be big for him. He’s going to take a load over there now – and he played an outstanding game, by the way. He was another one, I thought he played really well yesterday, he was physical, continues to grow. So, we’re going to need him to step up and I have all the faith in the world that he will.”
On his confidence level in players to fill in for Lions LB Derrick Barnes and which players he sees filling in for him: “Yeah, well, there again, (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone) doesn’t play yesterday, Barnes goes down and (Lions LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin) Germ steps in, (Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez) Rodrigo started for us with (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell), and then (Lions LB Ben) Niemann played for us, and all those guys, I thought, stepped in and did a good job for us. And really, Niemann stepped in – he didn’t take any of those reps in practice, and so he just steps right in and really doesn’t miss a beat. So, we’ve got a lot of depth, we trust every one of those players in there. Look, it hurts – it’s going to hurt to lose Barnes, Barnes is playing at a high level, but if it’s got to happen in any room, the linebacker room gives you faith because all those guys can play. We have a ton of faith in those guys.”
On if he is confident that Lions DL Levi Onwuzurike can handle a high snap load over the course of the season: “Yeah, look, there is a concern, there can be a concern, but I’ll say this, it’s – man, the odds of him continuing to be able to take on a load throughout the season, a lot of it is also predicated on him continuing to take care of his body. There are things that he does that people probably don’t even realize. I mean, aside from his own strength training and conditioning, but it’s also – he does a ton of different core work exercises, things, just to get himself – to continue to stabilize himself and that back and the core and everything that takes stress off his back. So, as long as he continues to do that, which he will, you lessen the odds by a lot that he’s not going to be able to hang on, so I feel pretty good there. He’s in a good place and he’s been able to sustain and play at a pretty high level.”
On Lions CB Carlton Davis III’s performance yesterday: “Yeah, listen, he played really well, and I know – like I said, he was one of those guys that I thought played at a really high level and he’s gotten better every week and, man, that’s the guy I know, that’s the player I know. He’s sticky in coverage, he was physical in the run game, high effort – I made a comment out there, just even – we did a lot of punt safe because of what they do on their punt team, they have some different looks, and I mean, he’s busting his rear to try to cover the gunners down there, going down the field, just all-out effort. And so, played a physical game on the perimeter – and I would say, as a whole, you turn on the tape, it’s one thing to see your O-line, D-line, set the tone for a game, but I think, man, you want to see a physical team, look at the receivers in the run game, look at the DBs in the run game and, man, our guys come up and hit, they block, they tackle, and CD was one of those guys. He was physical, he was a force.”
On the attitude he wants the team to have now that some players will have to step up in the wake of injury: “Yeah, look, it’s not our first rodeo. I mean, we’ve been through this. I mean, we got hit like this immediately in ’21. So I pretty much said coming out of that year we would never have another year where we felt like this got on us or – man, everybody assumes, and I’ve said this before, it’s why you have a 69-man roster, because every one of those guys is going to have to help you at some point or another, and we’re developing those guys as well as the young players that are on the roster, the vet squad, all that. So, these guys know, man, it’s next man up and we don’t bat an eye, we acknowledge there’s some good players that could be down, but this is your opportunity now. Next man step up and help us and that’s it. There’s no looking back, nobody cares, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, we just – we move forward.”
On where Lions DL John Cominsky is in his recovery: “Yeah, that’s still way off in the distance. He’s doing well, but this is – I mean, this is going to be a while.”
On if Lions DL Pat O’Connor may play: “One of the reasons we got him and wanted him here is because we know that it’s just a matter of time before we’re going to need Pat, and it could be sooner than later, to your point.”
