ALLEN PARK — [Detroit Lions](https://detroitnews.sports.gracenote.com/football/nfl/team/1) offensive coordinator John Morton said all the right things following his demotion from play-calling duties this past week.
Facing the media for the first time since Dan Campbell [took over the role in Sunday’s 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders,](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2025/11/09/detroit-lions-plaster-washington-commanders-with-dominant-offensive-performance/87180886007/) Morton was unwilling to dwell on his new reality while showing appreciation to Campbell for his transparency throughout the situation.
“I fully support it,” Morton said. “Listen, man. I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve been with head coaches that are offensive guys, play-callers, so I’m used to that. I feel very prideful of things that I was doing. There’s some things I’ve got to learn, no doubt.
“But listen, I want to do whatever it takes to win. I mean, as soon he said (that), I’m like, ‘All right, let’s go. What do we gotta do?’ That’s the way I’ve always been in this business. I’ve been cut six times (as a player), I’ve been fired. Man, you just march on, because it’s always about the team. It always is.”
The offense took off under Campbell’s play-calling, as the team scored on all eight offensive possessions (before the final one, which ended with kneel-downs) and put up a season-high 546 yards of offense. The Lions averaged 8 yards per play (including 6.8 per carry) and converted on 50% of their third downs.
The Lions used play-action on 51.4% of pass plays, their highest rate of the season, and were in under-center formations on 64.7% of their snaps, their second-highest rate of the season. The Lions’ Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush was their highest of the season (+0.24).
Under Morton’s play-calling, Detroit still averaged the second-most points in the game, but something just felt off. The Lions’ run game was inefficient, resulting in sporadic success on early downs. This frequently got the offense off-schedule and created a number of third-and-longs, where drives went to die.
Morton acknowledged that the offense had a better “flow” to it in Washington on Sunday and that “the players felt it, too.”
“You saw it last week. For one series, we had all first downs. I talk about CFL football, first, second — it wasn’t even that. I don’t even know what it was. Might’ve been Tecmo,” Morton said. “But you can feel it, you know what I’m saying? It’s just first down, second down, first down, second down, first down, second down. And we had those moments this year, but it’s just like everything was clicking last week.”
Prior to the season, Morton spoke about how much he cherishes the opportunity to be an NFL play caller, which he’d only done once before, in a miserable situation with the 2017 New York Jets.
He’d obviously prefer to keep the situation intact but responded well to the awkward situation by saying he hopes to observe enough to eventually regain the position, and went as far as to say that he doesn’t see the new situation as a demotion. Campbell left the door open on Monday for Morton to return to his play-calling role, saying Morton can put himself back in that seat by gaining a better understanding of what Campbell is looking for.
“That’s just like, ‘OK, I was a starter. Now I’m not. OK. What do I got to do to become a starter again?’ If someone tells you (that) you’re demoted, you’re not going to be here anymore, you’re going to work for high school games. What are you going to do? You’re going to keep fighting, right? That’s what we do,” Morton said.
“That’s what the Lions do. … That’s the way we tell our players, right? A player loses his starting position, what is he going to do? He’s just going to mope around and quit? No, he’s not. Because we don’t hire guys like that, or we don’t draft players like that. We hire guys that are fighters and will do whatever it takes.”
In the meantime, Morton said his responsibilities from Monday through Saturday won’t change. He’ll still prepare the gameplan as if he’s going to be the one who’s calling it and be ready up in the booth to offer input whenever asked. Campbell has referred to play-calling as a “collaborative” effort.
“When I was calling it, I’m like, ‘OK, you want this, you want that.’ I’m waiting … for a call, at times,” Morton said. “Now, Dan’s just calling it, and then he’ll say, ‘Give me a pass. What are you thinking? And boom, I’m ready. During the game, I’m ready. Whatever the down and distance is, whatever it is, I’m ready for the pass. As soon as he says it, I’m giving it to him. That’s how I’m approaching it.”
Asked how he’s remaining positive, Morton said it’s something he learned from his father, who worked on the assembly line for General Motors for more than 30 years, as well as some of his coaching mentors, such as Jon Gruden, Sean Payton and Pete Carroll.
He doesn’t want his situation to disrupt the players’ mood.
“Jon Gruden, that’s all I’ve learned. I’ve learned everything through him and how you approach the game and the team and how you prepare. Everything’s been through him, and that’s what he’s always told me,” Morton said. “He’s like, ‘Man, if you’re ever freaking sick, you just fake it. You don’t ever let them know. You’re miserable, you’re in a bad attitude, you don’t let them know.’”
If Morton does have negative feelings about the new play-calling setup in Detroit, he did a great job of heeding Gruden’s advice.