| LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET (VIA ZOOM) May 16, 2021 Opening Statement: “I would start with this, just talking about the overview of this rookie mini-camp, a little bit of what you guys are going to see today. It’s going to be a little untraditional. Normally, you’re allowed to have, really, as many tryout players as you want. You can invite these tryout rookies, so now you can have – call it three-deep. You’ve got your depth chart, and you’ve got three teams. Well, we can’t do that. So, with the rookies that we drafted, we signed as college free agents, and you’re only allowed five tryout players. That can be obviously rookies and then that can be vets. That’s combined. So, it was too hard to try to fabricate, ‘Ah, we’re going to practice this or can we get into team.’ It didn’t make any sense, and quite frankly, just being over these last two days and seeing how it worked, it’s been a blessing in disguise because I think these guys aren’t ready for football. They’re ready for walkthrough football, which is what we’ve done, but they just need fundamental work and we needed to get our eyes on them as a coaching staff and Brad (Holmes) and his department to be able to see their movement skills, particularly some of these tryout players. So, it’ll be different. There’ll be a little individual. We’ll have a walkthrough at first, we’ll have an individual (period), we’ll have a special teams period where they move. Today, it’ll be shorter than the last two days. And then we’ll finish with an actual seven-on-seven. Really, the seven-on-seven, which you guys will be able to see, will be the first competitive period that we’ve had in three days with the rookies. It’ll only be 10 plays, but just to see them move a little bit. I tell you what, it’s been good. It’s a good class. They’re excited to be here and it’s just good to watch them move around. We’re not trying to – I told them this – nobody’s going to make this team over these three days. That’s not what it’s about. It may help you get invited to training camp, but you’re not going to make this team right now. So, I wanted them to be smart. Some of these guys haven’t played in two years and so we thought it was important to be smart about how we practiced and that’s what we’ve done. But, it’s a good crew.” On if he’s reflected on his first camp as head coach: “I guess walking off, a couple people have said it, ‘Hey man, it’s your first one in the books.’ I haven’t thought a lot about it. It does feel good. More than anything, to be able to get back on the grass has been exciting. I was talking to some people earlier, I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not kidding you. I’m not sure who was more excited, the rookies or the staff.’ Because the staff is giddy. They look like a bunch of little kids out there running around out there in the grass. Man, they’re excited. Everybody’s cutting up, having a good time. And then when the horn blows, they’re getting after it. It’s a good scene, it’s a good vibe, it’s a good feel and these guys are learning.” On if it’s a setback to not have T Penei Sewell at camp: “No setback. That’s not going to hurt whatsoever. He’ll be here. We’ll get him in probably early this week. He’s been in the Zoom meetings, so schematically, he’s on it. He’ll be fine. He’ll adjust quickly. It’s not going to be any setback whatsoever.” On who’s playing quarterback this week: “That’s a great question. I will say this; we did not bring in a quarterback. Obviously, we like the three quarterbacks we have on our roster right now. We feel like we’re in a good spot there. With that, that would have meant that we would have had to sign a tryout player as a quarterback. There’s nothing wrong with that to get through a practice, but there again, we didn’t feel like we were going to do traditional practices where you’re doing an actual team. With that, why waste one of those spots on somebody that we knew wasn’t going to be here? We would rather use one of those spots and let’s bring in a tight end, let’s bring in a defensive back, let’s bring in a corner. Let’s get eyes on somebody we think can make this roster. With that, we’ve got some coaches on this staff that actually can throw a little bit. We’ve used their arms, somewhat. I would say this; there’s been a lot of ice. A lot of icing after practice. Been a lot of heat pre-practice. But we’re getting it done (and) they look pretty good.” On Quarterbacks Coach Mark Brunell’s involvement at quarterback: “He’s been able to help us a little bit. (Antwaan Randle) El’s been able to help us, and actually Tanner (Engstrand), one of our assistant coaches, actually has been really the one kind of steering the ship a little bit. He’s done a good job. Calling plays in the huddle with them and then throwing routes on air. It’s been really good.” On if T Penei Sewell testing positive for COVID-19 can be a teaching tool: “You can, but yet, any of those guys that have been around here – I’m sure it helps a little bit with the rookies – but all the vets that were here last year, they understand. They were part of all this. They know exactly what it is. You test positive, and just from a football standpoint, you’re out. And by the way, if you were close to any teammates, they’re out. So, there is validity in what you’re saying, it is teaching, however, that’s not the approach I really want. My approach is let’s give you the data, let’s give you the true facts of what all this is, what the vaccination means, how it’s made, how it effects the body, what it does to you and just educate our players on it, and then let them decide what they want to do. That to me means more than, ‘Hey guys, you’ll be out and then you can wipe somebody else out.’ I think they’re very aware of that. We went through some of that in New Orleans last year. I hope that answers your question.” On his thoughts of the schedule: “It’s funny because every year – look, my son, he loves every year when the schedule comes out. He calls me. He’s been doing this ever since I’ve been coaching, and he’s like, ‘Man, let’s go through these games. What do you think? What do you think about the opponent? Let’s talk about it.’ At the Saints, you’ve had success and every year, you’ve got Green Bay, you’ve got San Fran, you’ve got all these teams that are the top teams in each division because that’s where you finish. And yeah, there’s some difficult things that come up, difficult teams, but you guys know as well as I do, you’ll have an idea of the ones that are going to be good year-in and year-out, but then there’s a number of teams where it looks rough right now, but they may not be quite the team they were. Or maybe they have some injuries. I get it, particularly early. There’s some opponents in there, they’re tough. They’re going to be tough. It’s no secret, San Fran’s not going to be some breeze. Neither is Baltimore. And then we’re going on the road for our division opponent, Green Bay. So, yeah, but it’s also pretty freaking exciting, too. You know what, you weather the storm early, and all of a sudden you’re feeling pretty good. We’ll get tested early. I know we’re not ready for it right now, but we’ve got a long time between now and September. Honestly, when it first came out, my first thought was, I told Rod (Wood), ‘When you get it, let me know. Let me know. I want to hear it. I can’t wait to find out.’ So, the staff’s the same way. This is a challenge, man, and our team’s going to look at it as a challenge. This will be fun. I think it’s exciting we get to open at home. That’s kick ass. I think our fans are going to be going crazy, I think it’s going to be loud as hell and I think we’ll give them hell. But hey, it’s exciting. I’m fired up.” On if there’s anything he can’t do at camp without a quarterback: “Actually, for the way that we set up practice, no. We’ve been able to do everything that we’ve wanted to do. We’ve gotten the work done, because really, the football, up until what you guys will see at the very end of practice, seven-on-seven, everything has been walk-through. The scheme side of it, offensively and defensively, has literally been walk-through. We get a good, call it 30 minutes, of walk-through after special teams and then from there, it’s individual work. So, the coaches got them. The coaches got them in their individual drills working. (Antwaan Randle) El’s got the receivers and AP’s (Aubrey Pleasant) got the d-backs and Hank (Fraley) with the o-line and so forth, and any throwing, the coach does it who has the position himself or Tanner (Engstrand) or Bru (Mark Burnell) or one of them will kind of jump in and kind of just throw a couple of balls here and there. So, no. We really haven’t been restricted whatsoever.” On his thoughts of WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and where he’ll play: “I would say it’s too early to gage that, whether we think he can go outside and inside. I still think there’s hope with this kid as far as that’s concerned, but I would say eh has not disappointed. That’s probably the best way to put it. He has not disappointed us at all. He’s been as advertised, and that’s a good thing. Listen, it’s a good group. As you guys know, we’ve got about six of our guys that are back from the team last year. They were practice squad – (Jalen) Elliott and (Robert) McCray and (Anthony) Pittman and (Hunter) Thedford, Alize Mack, who was part of my team two years ago. Oh, and Tom Kennedy, he’s another one. These guys are part of it too, They didn’t have to show up, but we invited them to come and they wanted to be here and they’re eligible for it. I would tell you what, all of those guys have impressed us. They really have. I’m glad they showed up. They did themselves a favor, I would tell you that.” On his stance on joint practices and where the team will be for the summer: “First of all, we will stay here. My thoughts right now are that I would rather stay here. This sis our home-base and this is where we get our work done. Not that that won’t change over the years, but right now, that’s what we’ll do. The second is I actually did reach out to some coaches, and I’ll be honest with you, I got in on it a little bit late. So, a number of the coaches that I called had already had things set up. So, we struck out on that. I think it’ll probably be just us. We’ll be competing against each other for those four weeks of camp.” On the excitement of getting to work with the coaching staff: “It really is good. I mean it’s better than good, it’s great. I told Brad (Holmes) this yesterday; look, we’re not there yet. We’re not in full pads, we’re just with the rookies, but I know this; when you’re a head coach and for example, we’re doing our walk-through (and) we’re going through the scheme side of it and you see something and it starts to burn at you a little bit like alright, I’m going to clean this up – I’m the head coach, I’m going to clean this up. When you go to clean it up and all of a sudden here comes A-Lynn (Anthony Lynn) and he’s all over it. Or there’s AG (Aaron Glenn) and he’s all over it or here comes Duce (Staley) and he’s all over it. It’s like, ‘Whoa, alright.’ That’s how you know you’ve got the right guys because even little details, the position coaches, the same thing. I know we’re only two days into this, but when you start seeing, and you’re looking for the fine details of things and you’re getting ready to say something and you have a coach who jumps in and he’s already ahead of you on it, that’s where you know you have the right guys because they see it like you do. The chemistry’s been outstanding. It’s everything that I thought it would be and hoped it would be and I can tell you this, we’re not in pads and we’re as guilty as anybody of ramping up the tempo, but we’re trying to keep them down. Listen, it’s a walk-through, but I can tell you this, I’ve got a feeling you guys are going to get a show in training camp some days because I already know this from AG, he’s competitive as hell. He’s pretty mild-mannered and he knows how to teach, great guy. But man, when you put him in an environment to where it’s competitive, he’s a little pit bull now and he explodes. And guess what? A-Lynn’s not backing down to anything either. There’s already been a lot of trash talking between both sides, and I’m talking about Aubrey (Pleasant) and (Antwaan Randle) El. That’s a good thing. It’s going to start with the coaches and it’ll bleed to the players. These guys are going to compete and scratch and claw for everything. I’m telling you, the coaches are going to do it. To answer your question, it’s poetry in motion.” On how he’s evaluating players this week: “This is where it would go the other way; look, we do have five tryout players. Those guys are being evaluated as to, ‘Are we keeping one of these guys? Is there somebody that we really like?’ That’s why we’re trying them out. Are there some guys that we keep out of those five? On top of that, even those free agents that we already signed, talking about those college free agents, the undrafted free agents, I did tell them this, ‘Just because we signed you doesn’t mean that you’re going to training camp.’ If we got into this camp and we’ve got a guy who can not stay on his feet, I mean he’s an injury waiting to happen. Not just him, he’ll cost somebody else a career or an injury. If you’re an offensive lineman and you cannot stay on your feet or you’re a receiver and you’re constantly falling down, we have no business having those guys in camp because they’re going to end up getting somebody hurt. Now, I don’t fell that way. We don’t feel that way. I think everybody we’ve signed, I think they’re worthy of going to camp and competing for a spot. But yes, we’re looking on both sides of that.” On what he likes about the receiving corps he’s brought in: “I think for me, the first thing that I’m looking for, and I’ve told all of them this, before I even get – because we’re not doing true football now, we are doing individual – I’m looking at special teams because we’ve done cover drill, we’ve done different individual-type work. We’ll do a tackle circuit today. We’re not tackling, but it’s one of those where you just kind of get into position. My eyes are really on special teams first before I’m even worried about the other stuff. And so yeah, there’s been some guys in that receiver room that I think have impressed. (Tom) Kennedy’s impressed. I would tell you that Jonathan Adams Jr., Arkansas State, has impressed. You watch his movement skills and some of the things he’s doing, he just keeps showing up. He’s showing up on tape again in (Dave) Fipp’s cover drills. And really, none of those guys have disappointed. (Sage) Surratt’s been solid. We already talked about Amon-Ra (St. Brown), we know what he is. (Javon) McKinley, we actually got him a few reps of returns where he’s just catching, so we didn’t get a good look at him as a cover guy to see how he does in some of the drill work. Loo, there’s none of these guys that we dislike. We feel really good about those that we’ve signed and what they’re capable of and there again, we think they’re all worthy of going into camp with.” On his initial thoughts of LB Derrick Barnes: “Look, there again, we’ve gotten so much feedback o n this kid, just the character, who he is, the intangibles, but I would say to this point, he’s locked in. He’s all business, he takes it serious, he’s got a certain approach and a presence about him and he’s been good. We’re only two days into it, but I would say up to this point, we’ve liked what we’ve seen.” |
