LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL QUOTE SHEET

December 11, 2023        

Opening Statement: “Really nothing different than yesterday. Really was a story of our own issues, own errors that we just couldn’t overcome yesterday. It was just too much, dug ourselves in a hole and we’ve just got to clean those things up. And we sharpen up our own issues here and get back to what we do, take care of the ball and we’ll be alright.”

On if Lions DL Aidan Hutchinson has the ability to make his own pass-rush stunts within the calls at times: “Yeah, those guys have abilities to – depending on the protection. And sounds like he took accountability, right? So, we’re good.”

On if it is common for defensive linemen to decide their own moves based on what they see: “Yeah, inside of what the call is. They know.”

On if there is a need to expand Lions WR Jameson Williams’s route tree to get him more involved: “Yeah, we’ll keep working with him. He’s improving, he’s improving. So, we’ll keep working to find some different ways to get him more involved because he is, he’s putting the work in and he’s improving and – but he’s really no different than (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint. Keep finding ways to get Saint more involved. (Lions WR Josh) Reynolds did some good things, find a way to get him involved. So, look, we’re going to do what’s best for us and ask our guys to do things they do well. And so, yeah, absolutely. He’s earned that, so we’re going to keep working at it.”

On if there is a chance Lions C Frank Ragnow will return from injury this week: “Yet to be determined. He is improving, he’s improving. But there again, I won’t know for a little bit here.”

On if there is potential for Lions LB James Houston to return to practice this week: “No, no. I think it’ll be a while before that. Look, I do think there’s a chance, but I think it’s – we’re looking late December, January possibly.”

On if there is a chance for Lions DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson to return from injury before the end of the season: “Yeah, I think there’s a chance. I think there’s – Lazarus has a chance. I think he does. He’s improved – both of those guys have, but C.J., man, he’s kicked it into overdrive. And he is, he’s healed quick and is healing quick. And most of it’s going to be about is he – is his body ready for that? Will he be able to do it without re-injuring and is it stable, strong enough? And I know this, he’s taken off, but we’ll see. Probably the same timeline if there is a chance, it’d be late December, January probably.”

On if Lions DL John Cominsky’s performance against Chicago is encouraging moving forward: “Yeah, I mean anytime those guys up front play well for us it’s good, and to get some production on the inside. I thought he did play well and one of the best plays he made was early in that game, probably the third series, they – one of the read-runs there, and (Lions LB Derrick) Barnes did a good job of keeping him boxed in, he surfed it and then came back and made the play on (Bears QB Justin) Fields. That was really good because that’s not easy on him now. That’s not easy on any player, but that was something that even in practice last week we had some trouble with and that was good to see. That was just one of a few plays that he did really well for us, so he showed up.”

On what the Denver game means to him going against his mentor in Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton: “It means we better be on our stuff because he’s going to come here to try to embarrass us. That’s what it means. And so, that’s our motivation, that’s my motivation and it’s about winning, man. All we’ve got to do is find a way to win and we’re going to have to be at our best, and we will be at our best.”

On why he was able to say early in the season that Denver would be playing their best ball when they face the Lions and what Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton taught him about digging out of a hole: “Man, you don’t do this (waves motion), you just do this (steady motion). You just keep putting in the work. You don’t overreact to what it may appear to be. Man, you just go by the facts. You look at, what is the issue? What is the problem? Is it turnovers? Is it the fundamentals? Is it your first step? Are we not getting the call fast enough? And when you go back and look at anything that has hurt us, it’s our own issues, and it’s the little things that come from day one. And honestly, the teams that are winning and consistently win, are the ones that do the little, little things right. The fundamentals, they take care of the football, they get takeaways and those are the most consistent teams. And so, all we’ve got to do is get back to that, man, playing clean football. And it really is as simple as that. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is that simple. And it’s all in our hands, it’s all in our control and that’s the great thing about it.”

On if he saw anything in the team after the Packers loss that could have projected the possibility of more adversity ahead: “No, I just – man, I’ve been a part of all of it. I really have. I’ve been in the lowest lows and the highest highs and inevitability, you just – you don’t always know when and why and what necessarily, but I know this, if you’ve got the right guys, the right coaches, you’ll find your way out of it. And the most important thing is that we don’t buy into the narrative that is not inside of our building and what the tape says. Man, that’ll always – you’ve got to honor the tape, man. Honor what you put on film Sunday and what is the issue, and that’s as simple as that. So, man you just stay consistent. We stay consistent. We start acting like the house is burning down, I mean it’s going to get worse. We know what we’ve got to do. I know exactly what we have to do, and I know this, it all starts tomorrow. We’ve got to go back to work. And I know today, we’ve got to put together a great gameplan. We’re on a short week and this team’s playing at a high level, they get takeaways, number one in the League, they’re efficient on offense. And so, we’ve got our hands full.”

On if he thought Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson was too conservative in the Chicago game: “I thought Ben called a great game. I loved what he called. It’s exactly what I wanted him to call. It was a hell of a job. And the way we played that first half was perfect. We knew what kind of game that was going to be in those elements and we just didn’t execute. We didn’t execute. And look, (Lions QB Jared) Goff has played better, but yet, man, he did some things well for us. That fourth-and-3 was an outstanding throw. The turnover that really got us was the snap. That was the one. The other two on fourth down – like the first one, fourth-and-10, I love the throw. He gave us a chance. Not going to punt from the 35, so. I love that. He gave us a chance. And the other one, fourth-and-24, I mean we’re just trying to get a DPI. That’s a hope and a prayer there at the end. So, those to me weren’t even turnovers for Goff. I mean, it was the snap and that was really – that’s between a couple of people, so. But yeah, to answer your question, I like what Ben did. I really did, man. We had a chance. And we come out at halftime, we find a way to score or get back on the board at some point there, I felt like we would’ve gotten our momentum back, we just couldn’t do it.”

On if it is tough to regain a high level of play during a rut and how to make sure they understand adversity happens to everyone: “Good question. Here is the most encouraging thing about what happened yesterday. Some of our best players on the team did not play well and that’s encouraging going into this one because those are prideful guys, and those are our dudes. And believe me, those guys are going to come back – no different than us as coaches. We’re going to be at our best. And I just know what kind of locker room we’ve got, what kind of players and we will respond. We will respond.”

On if Lions DL Bruce Irvin’s ankle injury is what prevented him from being elevated for the Chicago game: “Yes. He’s improving too.”

On Lions CB Kindle Vildor’s performance and what he anticipates his role to be moving forward: “Yeah, I thought it was solid. He did some good things for us. There are a few things that just getting up to speed with our terminology, how we do things that we’ve got to get him caught up a little bit more on, but all in all, I thought he was what we thought he would be. He’s competitive, he’s smart and he’s pretty crafty. So, yeah, I still see him and (Lions CB) Jerry (Jacobs) kind of working in there a little bit together.”