00:00All right, let's get to Dan Campbell.
00:10Football season. It's back, Dan. Good to have you aboard again. Good morning.
00:14Hey, good morning. How are you guys doing?
00:16We're doing great. Well, yeah, now the football season's finally here. We're doing wonderful.
00:21What's the first game like for you as a coach?
00:24Well, I mean, it's exciting, you know. I mean, it's probably, as most people would, the feeling that I think
00:33everybody gets, all the fans get, you know, we get here too, players and coaches.
00:38So it's been a long time coming. And I think the crazy thing is it's only Wednesday. I'm like, man,
00:46it's time to play tomorrow. So we're ready, man. We're excited.
00:51You and I have both been through that first game as an NFL player. Is there anything that you'd talk
00:56to the rookies about, whether it's Blake Miller, Derek Moore, any of the rookies?
01:00Is there any conversation you would have with them using your experience going into the first game?
01:07No, honestly, I've kept it pretty simple. Like, I don't, every once in a while I may say something to
01:13one of them.
01:13But honestly, most of what I said was the beginning of training camp for the young players.
01:19And I know what we've got on this roster. And I know the way that the competition has been and
01:26the way that they've, they're wired.
01:29And, you know, they're ready. They're ready for week one. They're ready for game one.
01:34And it doesn't need to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect.
01:36But, listen, you've been tested now for four weeks. And we've done it the right way, man.
01:42We do it in pads. We play real football. We practice real football, real situations.
01:48And for somebody like Blake Miller, you've been going against freaking Hutch for 28 days, man.
01:54And you can't help but get better. And the kid has gotten better.
01:58So all those guys have improved.
02:01How would you compare this team to the other teams that you've had here in Detroit?
02:07Well, I mean, that's hard to say until we get through some of these games here.
02:10But I just I like the makeup of where we're at, because really, we're not old.
02:16We are we are mature and veteran and our really our leadership role, our core, our playmakers, you know,
02:26and then our young players are we're hungry, man.
02:31We're hungry in positions that that we need to be that can take a beating, deliver a beating.
02:39Tate Ratledge, Blake Miller, for example.
02:43You know, I just think we got the right mix, the right balance of of the playmakers.
02:52We got the right balance of of role players, important role players that we're going to need to do their
03:00job,
03:01because they without them, it's hard to get get done what we need to get done.
03:05And then just knowing what all these guys are made up of, man, it's our kind of guys.
03:10They're all about team.
03:11They're all about putting in the work and they're all about competing.
03:15What you still have to roster spots, when do you plan to fill those?
03:19And are those just going to be guys elevated from the practice squad?
03:22And I guess to follow that up, one of the role players might be a guy that fills the punt
03:27return position.
03:29Yeah, that's correct.
03:31I mean, I think probably, you know, that could happen by the end of the day.
03:36It could happen within the next day or two by Friday.
03:39But I think I think we'll have that field.
03:43I think we'll have that field by before the game that we'll we'll be at 53.
03:50And look, I already said I'm not letting some cat out of the bag.
03:53Tom Kennedy's going to this game and we're using him.
03:56And and and yeah, he's probably going to be our returner.
04:01You know, he's proven that.
04:03So the guy's reliable and he gets the job done.
04:06Talking to Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
04:08Well, Drew Petsing, what was the install like with him?
04:10Maybe some some tweaks or added flavor.
04:13And what are you anticipating with him running the offense?
04:16Oh, I think it's going to be a lot of what we've been.
04:19I mean, there'll be a few things that that that he sees that he likes that that are suited well
04:25for us.
04:26But I don't think you're going to see some crazy deviation on what we've done.
04:31I mean, it's going to be things that that our quarterback is good at and is comfortable with.
04:38It's going to be things that Jameer Gibbs is good with.
04:41This old line is good with things that St. Brown's good with.
04:44JMO, Laporta.
04:46I mean, it's about matchups, man.
04:49And let's find these matchups, put our guys in position and let's go to work.
04:53And it's there's no secret.
04:56It starts with the ground game for us, because when we get the ground game going,
04:59it opens everything up for all of our guys to move to football.
05:04You look at Jared Goff, and I think he is not given the credit that he is due.
05:10And I'm curious, now that he's been in the NFL for 10 years,
05:13he's kind of in that sweet spot as a quarterback.
05:15Where do you see him continue to improve?
05:19And what does what are your expectations for him this season?
05:23Everything that he does every year, he gets he does things faster.
05:30So he gets much more proficient.
05:32He gets faster.
05:35But yet he's still on the money, man.
05:38I think that comes with, you know, his own maturity, his own growth, his leadership.
05:44But just the more time on task, the more he's seen at real time games.
05:49I mean, his growth has been exponential.
05:51And I just think, man, he's got a really good grasp of what defenses are throwing at him.
05:57But he can make adjustments in real time.
06:00He doesn't get bogged down.
06:02I just think he's playing at a high level.
06:05And I feel like this camp, he took it another step.
06:07So I say it all the time.
06:09I'm going to say it again.
06:10We're fortunate to have this quarterback, man.
06:12He is a special, he is a special freaking dude and that can play the quarterback position
06:19at a high level.
06:20And I mean, our focus is on winning.
06:24You win and everybody gets the credit that they're due.
06:28The secondary is seen as a soft spot.
06:31I know Brad was asked about, should you have done more?
06:33What are your thoughts on the back end of the defense without Kirby, without BB, and some
06:37of the changes at corner?
06:39This is the best position we've been in, in the secondary, without those two guys in a
06:44long time.
06:46Maddox and Chuck are very reliable, dependable, smart football players.
06:52Highly competitive.
06:53Rock and Reed, man, are highly competitive, man.
06:57Get the job done.
06:58They're going to compete.
06:59They're going to battle.
07:01Nothing's too big for them.
07:02We got McCrary.
07:04We got Abney.
07:04We got Rake.
07:05Listen, I like where we're at.
07:08And you can go anywhere you want, across the roster, different spots, different positions,
07:13and it's, okay, what does this guy do well?
07:17What does he not do well?
07:19Oh, this, it's about a team, man.
07:21And does everybody have a role to play, and can they be good in that role?
07:27And that answer is yes.
07:28So I feel good.
07:30I feel really good with where we're at going into week one.
07:33What about at the left guard spot?
07:34I know you had said those guys are going to compete this week.
07:37You could end up playing multiple left guards.
07:40Does that concern you at all?
07:41Would you like the continuity up front?
07:44Yeah.
07:44Look, I'll be the first to tell you, I don't like rotating guys.
07:47But if we need to do it, we'll do it.
07:49And, you know, I'm about consistency, man.
07:55And that doesn't mean perfect.
07:57I'm not asking for perfection.
07:58I mean, we always try to be perfect.
08:00I mean, any player will tell you that.
08:01You're striving for perfection knowing you never will be.
08:04But it is the consistency of, you know, man, getting your job done, battling,
08:13making sure that you give your best attempt to keep that quarterback clean
08:17behind you, to give this running back a lane that we've got who's pretty special.
08:22Both of those guys are special.
08:24And whoever gives us the best chance to do that, they're going to be the guy.
08:29And I would love to have this done.
08:30I'd love to say by the time we roll into this game, it's one guy and he's playing 65 snaps.
08:36But if I don't feel that way, we're going to play them both until somebody distinguishes
08:40themselves as he truly is the most consistent, most dependable player for us.
08:45It's as simple as that.
08:46You guys go into this season, coming off a season where you didn't make the playoffs,
08:51you didn't win the division, having won it the previous two years.
08:54Is there added pressure?
08:56And how tough is the NFC North this year?
09:01Yeah, I don't.
09:02Pressure is, listen, we've lived in pressure for six years now.
09:08Pressure is three and 13 and one.
09:10Starting one and six in 2022 is to double up on an NFC North championship game.
09:16It's to go, you know, whatever we were.
09:21You win 14 games and then you lose and you're 14 and two or whatever and the sky's falling
09:28out.
09:29And you're what's happened to us when you're still the one seed that, you know, so we've
09:34lived through all of this stuff, man.
09:36And it's not about the pressure.
09:38And I'll say this for me.
09:40It's always about not letting these players down, man.
09:42It's about giving them the best opportunity to have success to help us win.
09:47Because if we put them in the right position and they handle their business, which they
09:50will, we'll be hard to beat.
09:54And so our guys, we've thrown them into pressure situations.
09:59That's what this is.
10:00We're in a very good division.
10:01We have been for a long time and it is tough, but we wouldn't want to need the other way
10:06because you get through this division and, and you get yourself into the playoffs, man.
10:13You are prepared to make a run because you had to go against the very best.
10:18And that's what our division is.
10:20Let's kick things off already.
10:22We can't wait to see what you guys are made of this fall.
10:24Dan Campbell, thanks for joining us.
10:27All right.
10:27Thanks.
10:28Have a good one.
10:28It's 97-1.
