LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY 11 QUOTE SHEET

LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY 11 QUOTE SHEET
August 12, 2024
Opening Statement: “(Lions DL David) Bada is out for the year. He had come to the roster, he was international, but unfortunate thing man. He had worked his tail off and gave us what he had, so he’ll be down long term. We hate to lose him there, but we appreciate everything he put into it. This afternoon, night practice, just something different. I told the guys, ‘You circle this week, have to get our work done, but how do we change it up a little bit?’ The schedule fluctuates so much, particularly over last year to this year, and so just kind of changing things up to where they have to acclimate and it’s something different, start the day a little bit later, and as the sun’s going down we’re out there practicing, and so we’ll get some good work out there, we’re looking forward to it, I know the players are.”
On if Lions WR Antoine Green’s injury was long term enough that they could not wait to see if it healed: “Yeah, that’s something that we certainly had a number of doctors look at his scans and we felt like this was the best thing on our end for him and needed to do this. That’s where it’s at. We didn’t want to do this. We love the kid, he’s grinding, he’s working, but it’s – obviously that’s a tough injury. It is.”
On what they liked about Lions QB Jake Fromm that led to bringing him in: “He’s a smart, heads-up guy. We felt like he’s going to be able to pick up the offense pretty fast, enough to be able to go out and help us if need be. He can anticipate on the throws, and just with where we’re at, we felt like he can come in and function. We needed somebody we felt like could work in the pocket and he was fortunately available. He had a workout today, looked pretty good, so we’ll see where it goes.”
On if he has thought anymore about playing starters this week and if it affects him that Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid always plays his starters in the preseason: “I know that Coach Reid always plays his guys, and I’ll go back to what I said the other day, honestly, so much of this for me is going to be about what we get out of today – yesterday, but today, and then the scrimmage that we have in two days. That will have a huge bearing, I know for me, on what we do with these starters. There again, if I feel like we need quality work on all three phases and you put enough reps on them, then we probably won’t play a lot of these guys. But if not, we feel like they do need a little bit more with some guys, then we’ll play them. It really is that simple.”
On what growth he has seen in Lions RB Sione Vaki throughout camp: “Well he’s growing, he’s growing. What you have to remember is, he has not played the running back position. He’s still so relatively new to it. (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach) Scottie (Montgomery)’s doing a great job with him, and a lot of it is, man, your landmarks in the run game, inside runs, tackle-to-tackle, vision inside, the feel of it, and he just need a lot of reps at that. The perimeter stuff? He’s got a feel and he’s grown. Protection, he’s starting to figure it out. Then certainly special teams we feel growth. So, there is improvement, he’s just – look it’s time on task. It’s going to take a little bit just as a pure running back, but here’s what you like, he’s got a skillset. He’s a very good athlete, he did play some defense in college, played a lot before he was a running back, and so you really feel like ‘OK this kid can help you on special teams,’ and then as he’s growing at running back, are there other things maybe we can do with him down the road on offense. Can we package him a little bit? We’ll see.”
On if he feels like his perspective changed on the opportunity the new kickoff rule presents after seeing it in preseason games: “I don’t think it changed, but every time you see one, you learn something new. (Lions Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Fipp and I just went through every one of them yesterday, through the whole League, and watched them and every time you see one, you do, you learn something new. A team’s doing this, they’re not doing this, and you learn it on both sides of the ball. I think what it’s going to come down to is what you feel like you’re figuring out a little bit is what is the risk reward. If you’re a kickoff team and, ultimately, feel like you want to have this advantage, that’s why you’re kicking it into play. Well, if we’re out there battling just so they get it back to the 30 or the 29 repetitively, what are we really gaining? You want to feel like, if we’re doing this, we can get them inside the 25 at least. But to do that, you have to be aggressive and run lanes. If you get kicked out of a lane, now all of a sudden you open yourself up for a huge play. So, that’s the battle that we’re going back and forth with as we continue to rep it. We’re going to rep it tonight again, full speed, not live, but full speed. We just keep going, and you do, you learn something new every time.”
On if there is concern that Lions LB Malik Jefferson and Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez are going to be out with injury for a little bit and if adding linebackers with special teams versatility is a reaction to what he has seen with the kickoffs: “I would say Malcolm is improving but he’s not going to be ready. Malik, there is a chance that Malik’s back in a couple of days, so that’s good. That’s positive, but yet it’s not a certainty. (Lions LB) DaRon (Gilbert) got hurt yesterday. He got a little tweak, so that’s why the need for the linebacker position to come in, we need all the help we can get there. It felt like last year it was the running back position, this year it’s the linebackers have got a little bit of the bug. So that’s why, we just need to know that we’ve got enough to continue to get work and see everybody else, but we’re going to get a look at these guys that we bring in too. We tell them all the same thing, ‘You’re not just a body, as fast as you can pick it up and then show us you can do something, I mean our eyes are open.”
On his confidence level in the depth of the wide receiver group after Lions WR Antoine Green was waive/injured: “Yeah, it’s still the same as where it’s at. We’re waiting for somebody to step forward. We’re waiting for any one of those guys to step forward. (Lions WR Donovan Peoples-Jones) DPJ I felt like has been, since the game, much better. He’s playing faster and I notice it, we all notice it. So that’s encouraging. (Lions WR Daurice) Fountain and (Lions WR) Tre’Quan (Smith) and (Lions WR) Kaden Davis, we’re dying for somebody to step up and say, ‘Hey man, I’m the guy. I’m the guy you can depend on. I’ll be the same consistent player every day and find a way to make the plays that come my way.”
On the players that are fighting for a position on the edge: “Yeah, the edge, I mean that’s – those guys all bring something a little bit different. We know (Lions DL Marcus) Davenport’s getting better every day, certainly, he and (Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch, Hutch has just continued to have a damn good camp. But then behind there, (Lions LB James) Houston’s been hurt, we’re going to try to get him back to more defensive end, and let him play that true position to where that’s what he’s in. He’s setting the edge or he’s rushing the passer. Then I talked about (Lions DL Isaac) Ukwu, man he’s caught our eyes. I mean, every day he makes a play. He’s not 100 percent healthy right now, but he’s out there practicing, and he just keeps going and it’s not really slowing him down. So, he’s caught our eyes, he’s strong, he’s got length, he knows how to use his length. Then (Lions LB) Mitchell (Agude)’s doing well too.”
On his perspective on what Lions C Kingsley Eguakun is doing well and what he needs to do to improve: “Yeah, he is definitely somebody that has caught our eye and what I would say is, we are certainly not disappointed in Kingsley, but the film in the game the other day, it was solid, but there was some things that – he’s one of those guys that kind of threw his technique out the window on a little bit of stuff. A little bit of lunging, a little high on some things, and he’s overextending – so we’re certainly not down on him, the practices were better than the game, but that was his first NFL game too so, he’s a guy that’s continued to get better and we anticipate that he’ll keep going. I mean he is, he’s a smart guy works his tail off and I do think he’s got flexibility. Starts with center, but I think he can mix it up at guard.”
On what he sees from Lions S Loren Strickland and if he is someone that they can get a lot out of on defense and special teams: “He’s a football player and he’s one of those guys that he just won’t go away. He just won’t go away. It’s like, ‘This guy?’ One more time, ‘Can he make this play?’ Well, he made the play. ‘Can he really get over there?’ Well, he got over there. ‘Well, can he make this tackle?’ Well, he made the tackle. So, he just keeps making plays and that’s a great thing. He’s one of those players that I say it’s hard to ignore him. So, he’s caught our eye and he’s got a knack for playing the ball, he’s got a knack for finding the ball and getting it down, and he’s smart. Man, he’s smart. Conscientious player, and to your point, he plays all out. He is lights out and he’s an aggressive player. So, we got our eye on him. He’s doing well.”