LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY 12 QUOTE SHEET
August 11, 2025
Opening Statement: “We’ll start with this. Obviously, (Lions S Morice Norris) Mo is back with us, he’s doing well. It’s good to have him back, and he’s good. So obviously he’s in concussion protocol. We’re going to take it nice and easy here, make sure he’s good over the next, call it 10, 14 days and reassess. So that’s good news. I thought overall we played better the other night. Our fundamentals were better. Our tackling was better. Overall, we took better care of the ball than we did week one, but we’ve got a ways to go. And we got no takeaways, that’s kind of back to the emphasis again. We’ve got to secure the ball better. We only lost two, but really we had four out. And then defensively, we’ve got to – it’s got to show up. It’s showing up in practice, but we’ve got to take it to the game. Getting some of these balls out, so that’s an emphasis. Sudden change defense was awesome again. We were able to run the ball and shut down the runs, so those were all keys to winning. Third down was good defensively. Third and fourth down, both on offense was good. Anyway, we improved in a lot of areas and we’ve got to continue to improve.”
On the performances of Lions DL Tyleik Williams and Lions OL Tate Ratledge Friday: “Solid. Solid. And that was the point, get them out there in a real game, function in the huddle, play clock, the whole thing. There was a little bit of a crowd. Just the atmosphere of it. I thought they were solid, I thought they were solid. Something to build off of.”
On injury updates: “Well, I’ve got this list here. So obviously, (Lions T Justin) Herron’s out, (Lions OL Colby) Sorsdal’s out, (Lions OL Trystan) Colon is out for a while. Had an elbow there, so that was kind of corresponding moves with the two gentlemen we signed yesterday, (Lions T Gunner) Britton and (Lions OL Keaton) Sutherland. Now that being said, (Lions T Dan) Skipper ought to be back today on a limited capacity, so should (Lions T Jamarco) Jones. (Lions T Taylor) Decker will be moving out there a little bit there today, getting some real practice reps. So we have those, but yet we’re gaining three guys back that have been injured, so that’s good. (Lions TE Kenny) Yeboah, he kind of got his knee a little bit, so he was another one of those, and then (Lions RB Jabari) Small, the back, soft tissues. So that’s kind of where we’re at. Trying to think, practice today. Other than the ones I just said, nobody else will be practicing out of that group that’s been injured. (Lions CB Terrion Arnold) TA’s still out, he’s getting better but he’s still out. (Lions WR Dominic) Lovett’s still out. That’s pretty much it.”
On how injuries impact what they can or cannot do to prepare for a game: “Well, if you know you have – you get in and you have a number of those guys in there together, you’ve got to be careful. Yeah, you’ve got to go way back, dial it way back just to where they can line up and play until they get up to our verbiage. So, it can affect that, but all-in-all, you can’t let it affect the overall roster, right? I mean, it can’t slow down the rest of these guys, we can’t let it be. When these guys come in, our coaches are on it immediately. They’re trying to – as fast as they can get them up to speed with our terminology, the technique, the fundamentals of what we do, they’re doing it. I mean, the minute they step foot into our place, it’s non-stop. Coaches do a good job with that.”
On why both teams let the clock run out during Friday’s preseason game: “(Falcons Head Coach) Raheem (Morris) and I agreed that was what we were going to do. We talked to Shawn Hochuli, he let us know, ‘Hey, the game is still on.’ We communicated with each other, we told Shawn that we’d be taking knees, and he said, ‘I understand.’ And that’s the way it went. And then the game was called.”
On the emotions of seeing Lions S Morice Norris back in the building: “It was great, I mean everybody was fired up to see him. It’s a breath of fresh air, man. That’s hard when something like that happens, and you don’t know. It’s one thing – we’ve all seen, I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve seen guys with concussions knocked out. I’ve had them myself. But when you have these, and then you know they’re breathing, but you don’t know anything else, and they’re gone. It’s just different, it’s a little different because you’re trying to block that out, but yet it’s still there. So that makes it a little more difficult. That’s why that’s out of the norm. Most of these, they happen, and you go on about your business. OK, you got knocked out, smelling salts, they wake up, take care of them. Not that that’s any less traumatic, but it’s relative to what that was the other night. It was different.”
On how he feels about the backup quarterback situation: “No, I thought (Lions QB) Kyle (Allen) played really well, man, I was fired up. That was outstanding. He comes in the game, he wasn’t going to play until the second half, and we get him in there. So, it’s kind of like, ‘Hey man, you’re up.’ And, ‘OK, I’ve got to be ready to go now?’ He gets out there and immediately gives us a boost. Runs the offense, makes two huge throws in the first drive he’s in there. Man, I thought he was on point with the checks. The kills, motion landmarks, the whole thing. He operated the offense at a high level and made big-time throws, so I was fired up.”
On the decision behind taking Lions QB Hendon Hooker out of the game early: “Just turning the ball over. That was the big one. Look, Hooker made some good throws before. He was doing a few things, but we’ve got to get more work taking care of the ball. You decide you’re going to be a runner, you’ve got to tuck it away like any runner does. Two hands on the ball in the pocket when you go to step up, so it’s all the fundamentals that we talk about. So, we just need more work at that, and then he’ll get to play.”
On how he feels about Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa’s performance: “I thought he did well. I thought he played better than he did the first week. I would say ever since we put pads on, he’s been trending this way. That’s a good sign is that you’re getting better with pads on than pajamas, so that was awesome. He’s doing well. He blocks on the perimeter, he’s making big catches over the top of people. He’s going up, his route detail is getting that much better. (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers) Scottie (Montgomery)’s doing a heck of a job with him and all those guys, so he’s growing.”
On the value of adding guys coming out of the UFL: “I think it’s because you have instant tape on those guys, right? They’re fresh. (Lions Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) does a great job, and that’s one of the things that he’s made a point of is like, ‘Man, let’s get guys in here that have just played, they’re in shape, we’ve seen the tape.’ These aren’t guys that haven’t been moving, man. They’ve been in football shape doing real things, real cuts, real contact, real all of it. So that’s important to get you through camp, and then you get a look at these guys.”
On what he has thought of Lions CB Nick Whiteside so far: “I love these guys that come in late. We need you, we’ve got injuries, come on in and let’s get a look. Just get in here and compete. I love those guys that come in. That was like (former Lions QB Jake) Fromm last year, right? He just showed up like three days before the last preseason game. But some of these guys – because the urgency is on them, they know they’ve got an opportunity, and that’s hard. I mean, you can call it what you want, that’s hard on some guys. I’ve got to just jump in and know what I’m supposed to know, and then I’m in practice then I’m immediately in a game. So, the ones that can figure it out quickly, they stand out like a sore thumb. And so, I like Whiteside, man. Just the fact that he comes in, he competes, he’s a pro, he jumps into every drill, even if he’s not supposed to be in there. He wants it. He’s a sponge and he likes to compete. Are there things he’s got to get better at? Yeah, of course he does, but he just got here, too. There’s something to work with here. (Lions Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Deshea Townsend) Shea’s doing a great job with him, too. Yeah, fired up.”
On the reason behind doing joint practices: “Yes, I do know (Dolphins Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel). I would say that was more of a – they were going to be out there, we had already had ours set up with Houston in the last week, so I didn’t know how much I wanted to do one before that, but I do like doing two joint weeks if we can. They were already going to be in Chicago, so it just kind of made sense. Like alright, why don’t you guys come out here and play us and then we’ll get a couple days of practice. They agreed to do it, so it was like, alright. And it’ll be good, that’s a talented roster. They’re creative on offense, and they’ve got a tough D. That’s that kind of Baltimore background, so the scheme will be good. The speed on the perimeter will be really good for our guys, obviously with what they’ve got. We’re looking forward to it.”
On not doing a week one joint practice: “It just kind of played out that way, because really, we wanted to see if we could get two home games back-to-back at the end instead of early. So, you kind of put in these requests, you don’t always get them, but if we could go back-to-back instead of starting that way. To get the two, it had to be week two and three of those preseason games.”
