LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET

October 6, 2023

On the level of concern he has about Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s injury: “Yeah, it’ll – I don’t think we’re going to practice him today either. We’re going to continue to work with him on the side and I think tomorrow’s going to tell us a lot. I don’t want to push it today. So, I think we’ll know a lot more after tomorrow morning.”

On if Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s injury happened during the game against Green Bay: “Yeah, happened during the game, was able to finish it and then like a lot of these injuries, man, you can get through and then the irritation begins. No different than kind of what had happened to (Lions T Taylor) Decker. He was able to get through that Kansas City game but then it’s the residual effect. So, that’s what happens with a lot of these guys.”

On Lions DB Brian Branch’s outlook this week and if there is concern about his injury beyond this week: “Yeah, there’s a little bit. Don’t feel as good about him this weekend, but there again, I don’t think it’s this long term – that’s why we didn’t put him on IR. So, we’re hopeful for Tampa but we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

On Lions WR Josh Reynolds’s injury update: “Yeah, he seems to be doing pretty good. And we’ll know a lot more about him today as well, but he felt better yesterday.”                     

On how he can use the Bears-Washington game last night as a point of emphasis for the team heading into the game against a winless Carolina: “Yeah, I think – look, we talk about it all the time and we’ve lived it. We’ve been there, we know what that’s like. There’s enough of us who’ve been here and know what it’s like when you’re trying to find that win. You’ve lost a few and you’re doing everything you can as players and as coaches to find a way to get that first one. So, we expect their best shot. Those guys are over there preparing. And for us, setting the stage early in the week was about just our own improvement. And we’re in a race to improve with everybody in this League, and the ones who can improve the fastest are the ones that begin to make a rise in October. So, it goes without saying if you don’t show up and you play sloppy football, you turn the ball over, you don’t get takeaways, you’re not where you’re supposed to be, your odds of losing go way up.”

On Lions CB Will Harris’s performance in the Green Bay game and the potential options for Lions CB Jerry Jacobs to play inside when Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley returns from injury: “Yeah, so Will, other than the one right before the fourth quarter there, he did a good job for us. Will’s somebody we’ve got a lot of trust in. He’s banked a lot of nickel reps and there again, Will not only to be able to play nickel, but also outside corner, safety in a pinch, he’s just got so much versatility for us. So, that’s good. We’ve got other options too. I don’t necessarily see the first move being Jerry goes inside. I do see us – we want to get Moseley some reps here and get him going a little bit, but certainly, that’s going to be Jerry out there most of this game. And really, it could be E-Man out there for (Lions CB) Cam (Sutton) on a couple of reps too. We’re not quite there yet, but I know this, we want to get Moseley going a little bit.”

On his level of confidence in Lions K Riley Patterson: “Yeah, he’s doing a good job. He’s doing exactly what we expect him to do. And when he’s been called upon to make those kicks, he’s been nailing them. So, have got a lot of confidence in him and he’s doing a good job for us.”

On if there is a message to the team about going into Sunday guarded against a winless team like Carolina: “No, I think as long as we approach this – which we’ve all talked about, man, we have our own standards here and it doesn’t matter who you play, it doesn’t matter what they look like, what we look like, who’s up for us, what the conditions are, we’ve got to go. We should look like a hungry team, man, we should be hungry for a win and it doesn’t matter who you play. And so, to me, that hunger should show again, offense, defense, special teams and then we should see improvement. We need to see improvement across the board from where we’ve been over the last four weeks. There’s some things obviously we did really well at Green Bay, but there’s so many little things that we needed to clean up and we shouldn’t see those again, those issues that got us a little bit in that last game. And I think that’s the trick is every week, we’re growing from those experiences. So, I – it’s just about us handling our business. Let’s handle our business and we’ve got to be patient on offense, and defense we’ve got to show up. And I think that is the point of emphasis. And let me say this, it’s going to be a dog fight. I mean this team’s not – and I say that every week. They’re not just going to come in here and give a win away. They’re coming in here to fight. I mean – and that’s why I bring up the point, we know exactly what this is, we’ve been there, done that, man. When you’re scratching and clawing for everything you can possibly get, you lost four in a row, I know exactly what they’re thinking. So, we’ll be ready.”

On how Lions WR Jameson Williams has assimilated himself back into practice this week: “Yeah, doing a good job. Man, he’s coming right in, been one of the guys putting the work in. It’s good to have him back.”

On the value of Lions Cornerbacks Coach Dré Bly’s passion and ability to connect with the players: “Yeah, Bly’s a real passionate guy and he coaches those guys up. He does – really everything he does is he gets his hands dirty, man. He gets right in there and he teaches the technique physically, shows what he’s looking for from those guys. I think they’ve got a lot of respect for him and he is, he’s a high energy, he’s a good motivator. And I think he gives those guys just some tools they can use really for each and every one of those guys because they’re all different. (Lions CB) Cam (Sutton)’s different than (Lions CB) Jerry (Jacobs), Jerry’s different than (Lions CB Emmanuel Moseley) E-Man and across the board, (Lions CB Chase Lucas) Lukey, all of them, (Lions CB) Will (Harris). So, he’s been a good asset for us.”

On how difficult it is to game plan when an impactful player like Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is dealing with an injury: “Yeah, it’s – look it’s not easy. When the potential of not having a guy like Saint – it makes it hard because he is, he’s a very productive, impactful player for us. And above all, he’s very dependable, he’s very dependable. You don’t have to worry about him being where he’s supposed to be, do the job he’s supposed to do, and that’s run and pass game. I mean there’s so many things that people don’t even notice about him that he does behind the scenes whether it’s opening up a teammate in the pass game or blocking for the running backs, I mean he’s just – he’s very productive for us. So, it’s not, but the good news is, is that we feel like, there again, man, we’re by committee here and we’re going to use all the pieces we have, all the resources if he’s not able to go, because we’ve got enough. We’ve got (Lions RB David Montgomery) D-Mo, we’ve got (Lions RB Jahmyr) Gibbs, we’ve got (Lions TE Sam) LaPorta, (Lions WR Josh Reynolds) J-Rey, (Lions WR Marvin Jones Jr.) Marv. I mean – so we’ve got plenty here. You get (Lions WR Jameson Williams) Jamo back so look, we’ll spread that ball around and we’ve got something for a little bit of everybody and it’s just when their number gets called they’re got to show up. And our players have got to show up this week, man. You get the ball in your hand, you’ve got to make something happen, you’ve got to secure the football.”

On Carolina’s pass rush: “Well, (Panthers DE Derrick Brown) 95, that’s part of it. (Panthers OLB Brian) Burns, that’s part of it, (Panthers LB Frankie) Luvu, that’s part of it. These guys are difference makers. They’re productive rushers, they’re explosive, they’ve got length. Burns has got speed and then moves off of it. So, I mean they’ve got some dudes. They’ve got some dude and they play hard, they play hard. So, yeah, this defense is playing good football right now and this coordinator mixes up his looks, his fronts, his coverages. You’re not going to get the same thing twice. He’s going to keep you guessing. And so, yeah, this defense is playing at a high level.”

On how emphasizing the little things for the pass rush after the Seattle game has led to recent success: “Look, I think it always helps because you can show it, and we’ve shown it in the meetings after Atlanta, after Green Bay. It’s just another lesson into, ‘Hey, man, look what happens when we all do our job and everybody’s unselfish, and you just handle your responsibility, and look what happens.’ And it’s really everybody’s in on it. And we’re getting a lot of production and the more we get inside like out of (Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac for example, the more you really see Hutch shine. It’s taking stress off of some of these other guys and vice versa. You see (Lions DL) Charles (Harris), you see (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes, you see (Lions LB) Alex (Anzalone), you see (Lions LB Jack) Campbell, so they’re all playing off of each other, but they’re all doing their job and it’s important.”

On if Lions G Halapoulivaati Vaitai is trending toward playing Sunday: “Yeah, he’s getting better. We’re hopeful that we’ll have him for this game in some capacity.”

 

Lions host the 0-4 Carolina Panthers Sunday at Ford Field

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