LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL TRAINING CAMP DAY 6 QUOTE SHEET
July 26, 2025
Opening Statement: “Man, it was good work yesterday. First day of pads, loved the energy. As always, we’ve got a lot to clean up. But man, that was good. It was good. I thought they went back and forth, we got a little bit better on both sides of the ball, which is all you’re looking for. Get that cleaned up and then get another good day today. We’re looking forward to that.”
On his expectation from rookies and deciding who plays in the preseason games: “Well, I think all of those guys need to play in a game, or games. So, I think our young guys are going to – I see them playing in this game. Now, am I going to say that it’s written in stone right now? No, I’m not. But I think I’d like to play those guys. That’s the good news. We got four games here starting with the Hall of Fame to get them some reps, so that’ll be the plan.”
On why Lions DL Tyleik Williams was out yesterday: “Personal reasons.”
On what Lions DL Chris Smith means to the team: “He’s another one of our guys that’s just a self-made man. He’s done nothing but work from the bottom up, and he puts in the work every day, every spring. He’s coachable, always does what he’s asked, plays hard, finishes. He earned the right to get some reps with those guys. See what it looked like, we know what he is. We keep testing him to see if we can get him improved.”
On Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa and Lions WR Dominic Lovett’s ability to pick things up: “I would say both of them, mentally, have done a pretty good job. They picked it up pretty good. (Lions Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers Coach) Scottie (Montgomery)’s doing a heck of a job with them. They’re both guys that – they’re getting all the reps, man. The mental, the walkthrough, then they take it out there on the field. And they’re doing a good job, I would say, Lovett has gotten more of a – has popped more early out on the field, but I thought TeSlaa had a really good day yesterday. I can see the uptick now with him. He’s got to stack another good day, but that was good to see yesterday. And that’s the first day of pads, by the way.”
On Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa willing to fight through pain: “Yeah, you like to see it. Because here’s the thing, if we didn’t feel like he could handle it or he wasn’t ready, he would not be out there. Our staff does an unbelievable job. (Lions Director of Player Health and Performance Brett Fischer) Fisch and (Lions Director of Sports Performance) Mike Clark. It’s time for him to go. Some of this has got to be, ‘Yeah, you are going to have to push through this a little bit. You are going to have to get the conditioning, the number of reps on you. Because the more you do, the stronger you are going to get, because you are ready for it. It’s just going to be a little uncomfortable.’ So, yeah. It means a lot to have a young guy who’s willing to press and push, because they don’t all know that yet and they start figuring it. So, it’s good.”
On his excitement about Lions WR Isaac TeSlaa showing up on special teams: “Yeah, (Lions Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Fipp and I are pretty excited. He shows up, he shows up out there on the perimeter. Some of his gunner work has popped. He’s somebody we might see if we can get some return reps as well. Punt return slash kickoff return. Listen, there’s something in there. And actually, I would say as a group, Fipp and I yesterday – Fipp calls them ‘the Blue Man Group’, which is rare to have about four or five receivers that are popping on special teams right now early. That’s a good thing, that’s a good thing. You guys know, and they know, they’ve been told, ‘Man, if you can help on special teams and continue to develop at your role in your position, there’s a place for you.’”
On the development of Lions WR Jameson Williams and points of emphasis for him during camp: “Yeah, so this’ll be – he is. We were watching it last night, we were watching one-on-one reps as a staff again. Watching the team as a collective, whole staff. Just to watch his development, man, the discipline of his routes, the strength that he’s obtained, the explosiveness. He’s starting to figure it out now. He’s starting to figure out his body, what he can do. He’s much more detailed, and so he’s becoming – he’s beginning to tap in to what he really has. But he’s just gotten there, you know what I mean? He’s still got so much room to grow. Man, don’t let the run game stuff slip. You’re still a head hunter, he’s always been. That’s one of the things I loved about him when he was coming out, and so of course we want that ascension, that’s what you do. But man, don’t let that part of it slip, either, because we’ve got some runners now that can take you to the house. Finish and do your job.”
On starters competing hard and sharpening each other: “It’s the best, I mean, it’s the best. We are fortunate to have a – we have a group of alphas, and for those guys to continue to just compete and sharpen each other and work. You just watched, for example, our one-on-one tackle drill yesterday. Man, (Lions RB) David (Montgomery) and (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell). In the first one, David gets him cold. And then, man, here we go, rep two, Jack learned a little something. Now, he shaved a cone there, but he did learn. Man, he learned from it and came back and competed and got better. Man, I said it yesterday. This is how you continue to raise the floor, and you get better and better. And that’s not true, I do watch what’s out there. We have a camera on you guys, alright? So we take a highlight of the day and we show the team. So you never know what that might be, guys. You never know.”
On his favorite position drill to watch: “One of the drills that I really love, and this was implemented last year offensively. It’s basically our catch and run, but it’s catch, knife, and both receivers – you got your quarterback – both receivers are running around the bag. One of them is going to get the ball, and then one of them has to immediately turn into a blocker for that runner. I love that one. Because you come out, you don’t know who’s getting it, right? When you turn the bag, and the minute that one catches it, man, you have to turn and burn and make the block. And then he’s got to make the adjustment off of the blocker, so it all happens fast. It just, it kind of initiates the run after catch, the block after catch, I kind of like that one because it gets on you pretty fast.”
On his favorite drill when he was a player: “Nothing really pops right now to be honest with you. Nothing really pops. Let me think about that one, I’ll get back to you.”
On if the team will do his favorite drill today: “No. We’re not going to do that one today. Maybe we will now that we just talked about it, maybe I’ll get to it.”
On how the kickoff change this year increases value for special teams and if it helps determine final roster spots: “I don’t – it will for some teams, potentially. I don’t think it changes us. We’ve been the same since I’ve been here, and we don’t really think anything different. I mean, our intentions last year were to kick and cover. And we want to let (Lions K Jake) Bates grow a little bit here. Really focus on just field goals. And of course, you have to kick. And so, we put so much more on it, particularly through the spring, about, ‘OK Bates, keep working here, and now it’s the kickoffs. It’s the kickoffs.’ And so, as far as priority and what we’re looking for, none of that’s changed. We’ve always valued special teams.”
On having Lions Loyal Members back for camp: “It’s awesome. Anytime we get our fans, man, our ticket season holders back out here for camp, it’s pretty special. Because I’ve said this before, it doesn’t matter where I go where, where our players go, the other coaches, they always let it be known. Season ticket holders since ‘76, season ticket holders since ’65, and it just keeps going on and on, and it’s awesome. So, it’s our job to give them something to be proud of and continue to want to be season ticket holders. So, it means a lot, we’ve got the best fans, man. We’ve got the best fans. We’ve got the best freaking city, and so it’s our job to make them proud. We’re going to do that.”
