His rookie season as head coach of the Detroit Lions has not gone as well as hoped for Dan Campbell, no question about it. Campbell’s Lions are 1-11-1, owning the worst record in the league, and are now dealing with crippling injury issues and a COVID-19 outbreak.
But Campbell, a former hard-nosed NFL tight end, isn’t relenting. He’s still competitive and fighting to win every possible game he can.
Campbell made it clear in his press conference on Monday after the Week 14 blowout loss to the Denver Broncos that he expects the players to keep fighting hard. He won’t accept the elimination from the playoffs as an acceptable crutch.
“You’re playing for the love of the game. You’re playing for the name on your back and you’re playing for the guy who is next to you, no different than what I’m doing as a coach,” Campbell told reporters. “I’m competitive and I still want to win.”
Campbell will not be in awe of the team’s Week 15 opponent, the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona plays on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams with a chance to be the first team to 11 victories on the season.
“We’ve got a good opponent this week. People say they are the best in the NFC, and so this will be a great test for us, no different than what we said we wanted to do two weeks ago,” Campbell said, referring to the Lions’ one win over Minnesota. “We’re trying to find a way to win a game and we want to compete and have a chance to win it at the end. Nothing’s changed as far as that’s concerned and I don’t care who we have, we’ll go to war with the guys that we’ve got.”
The energetic head coach believes his players feel the same way he does. They want to win and will give their all to make it happen. He took up for the attitude and competitive integrity of his team when asked if he believed the players were still fired up to try and win despite the terrible record.
“Yeah, I do. Look, they fought yesterday. It just wasn’t good enough, but the effort and the intent and all of those things are there,” Campbell responded earnestly. “So look, I think these guys, they understand what’s expected and I think there is enough pride in the vets that we have that trickles to the young guys.
So yeah, I think we will. Now, we’ve got to be able to put together a good game plan and we’ve got to be able to adapt and function well with that game plan. And, certainly goes without saying, but one or two mistakes will be one or two too many against this opponent.”