Head coach Dan Campbell: Detroit Lions have to control ‘hype train’

The Detroit Lions are a team on the rise, but head coach Dan Campbell doesn’t want that notion to get in their heads.

Campbell said that the Lions have to stay focused and not pay attention to the overwhelming positivity being spewed about their program.

“I think as always, the thing that’s gonna worry you is the hype train,” Campbell told the Detroit press corps Sunday. “I mean, as with most coaches, this thing is just taking off and it’s out of control right now and that’s fine, as long as we stay focused on the job at hand and the work. I just keep going back to that. We’ve got to put the work in and earn it.”

Campbell is entering his third season as Detroit’s head coach. The Lions went 3-13-1 in his first season at the helm (2021), which was followed by a 9-8 season in 2022.

They had six one-score losses and one tie in 2021 and weren’t eliminated from playoff contention until the end of the 4 p.m. ET slate of games in Week 18 of last season. After the crushing news, Detroit put together a victory on Sunday Night Football against the rival Green Bay Packers, which knocked them out of playoff contention in what was a win-or-go-home game.

After an underwhelming debut season with the franchise, quarterback Jared Goff had a resurgent 2022 season with the Lions. He totaled 4,438 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 99.3 passer rating, while completing 65.1% of his passes. Second-year wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had a stellar season, totaling 106 receptions for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns. On the whole, the Lions averaged 380.0 total yards (fourth in NFL) and 26.6 points (fifth) per game.

On the other side of the ball, rookies Aidan Hutchinson (9.5 sacks and three interceptions) and safety Kerby Joseph (four interceptions) had encouraging seasons, while linebackers Alex Anzalone (125 combined tackles) and James Houston (eight sacks across seven games) had eye-opening campaigns, themselves. The Lions then selected Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell with the No. 18 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

A factor potentially working against the Lions, though, is their offensive turnover over the last year. They traded tight end and two-time Pro Bowler T.J. Hockenson to the rival Minnesota Vikings at last season’s NFL trade deadline. Detroit also has a new running back room, as it traded/moved on from Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift this offseason. In their place, the Lions added David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12 pick in the 2023 draft out of Alabama).

They also selected Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta at No. 34 in the 2023 draft. Wide receiver Jameson Williams, who the Lions traded up to select with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is suspended the first six games of the 2023 season due to violating the sport’s gambling policy.

As for Detroit’s competition in the NFC North, the Vikings are coming off a 13-4 season. With that said, they lost at home in the NFC wild-card round and moved on from several productive and/or high-profile players like running back Dalvin Cook, wide receiver Adam Thielen, cornerback Patrick Peterson, defensive end Za’Darius Smith and linebacker Eric Kendricks.

Meanwhile, the Packers traded future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets and are rolling with Jordan Love under center after an 8-9 season. The Chicago Bears are coming off a 3-14 season but substantially improved their roster, adding wide receiver DJ Moore, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and offensive linemen Darnell Wright (No. 10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Tennessee) and Nate Davis, among others.

As long as the coaches and players hold each other accountable, Campbell thinks the Lions will be just fine.

“I think you just keep the message consistent, and you call it what it is, you say what it is, and it just goes back to the work. And when you see it not going that way, or we have some guys that are deviating a little bit, or they think they’ve arrived, and they haven’t, you call them out on it,” Campbell said.

“I think as long as we do that as coaches and players as teammates, we’ll be fine.”

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