Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has now reached the inevitable point in his tenure we are all familiar with.
Lionized.
A simple word that encapsulates a worn down coach forced to watch his team play undisciplined football.
A simple word that describes a coach that is far too loyal to subpar coaches leading a unit that is trending towards being not only horrid, but one of the worst NFL defenses ever to take the field.
A simple word that describes a coach who used to boast a big personality now putting everyone to sleep during his media sessions.
A simple word that describes a coach who must deliver rah-rah messages to his team via the team’s radio parter. After only four games.
On Monday afternoon, Dan Campbell sounded defeated, resigned to the fact not many more players are going to arrive at Allen Park to save the defense.
On Tuesday morning, the former NFL tight end got fired up during his weekly radio interview on 97.1 The Ticket.
“I would like to believe that we would have cleaned some of this stuff up, but I also know it’s a work in progress,” said Campbell. “You continue to coach it up and we’ll make a tweak on some of this personnel a little bit. We’re going to give some other guys an opportunity. But, we’re not going to accept mediocrity. That’s not what we’re doing here. So, we got too many guys playing at the high level, and we’re going to raise the floor on this team.”
Campbell later added, “Our discipline is not good enough across the board, and we’re playing very average football right now. And that’s everywhere. That’s everywhere. That’s not just defense. We’ve going to pick up the slack on offense and special teams right now. That will alleviate a lot of our defensive issues. So, it’s certainly going to help. That’s what I’m tasked with, man. I’m about solving problems and I’m going after this thing, man. We’re not going to be mediocre. I don’t accept that.”
Prior to the season, the new mantra from the sixth-year head coach was to take a more serious, no-nonsense approach.
A far cry from the knee-cap biting message he shared back in 2021.
It appears the Lions are actually the ones in the deep end, drowing with a group of undersized cornerbacks that cannot cover a wide receiver or a tight end.
In the past, a public challenge to his team could be taken a little more seriously.
Now, you just have to chuckle at the thought of someone from the defense stepping up, actually wanting to guard Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride.
Sorry. My money is on McBride.
Lionized.
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