Campbell recap: On needing more edge rush, Christie's criticism and Montgomery avoiding serious injury

Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell usually shoots it straight during his press conferences. If it’s overcast, he's won't tell you it’s sunny.

So when Campbell was asked about the effectiveness of his team’s pass rush against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, he didn’t shy away from saying it needs to be better.

“An area where we can be better is — there were some things where our coverage really had to, you know, we asked them to do a lot and we had to hold on a little bit,” Campbell said. “So there were a number of things where we (manufactured) some rush, we got there a few times, but to answer your question, we need just a little bit more. There were a couple of them that got a little bit long, a couple of these plays that you'd like to believe we can get somebody there just a little bit sooner.”

According to Pro Football Focus, the Lions generated 15 QB pressures against the Vikings. In his last full game before suffering a season-ending injury, Aidan Hutchinson racked up 15 on his own, while his teammates contributed another 22 in that game against Seattle.

“Look, we'll keep working with it,” Campbell said. “AG (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) is going to keep developing a great plan. He's a stud as a defensive coordinator. He just maximizes everything we have and we'll figure it out.”

Keeping it classy

After former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called Campbell classless for running up the score on the Dallas Cowboys a week ago, the coach was asked for his reaction. Not surprisingly, he had a zinger queued up.

“The last time somebody called me classless, I was drinking wine out of a bottle,” Campbell said.

Christie, a Cowboys fan and close friend of the team’s owner, Jerry Jones, took exception to the Lions continuing to dial up aggressive play calls when up big in the fourth quarter.

"That's Dan Campbell. He's got no class, never has," Christie said on the "Mad Dog Unleashed" podcast. "So, it's fine. Look, Dan Campbell, that's the way he is, and what goes around comes around."

Campbell was asked how he knows when to let his foot off the gas and he explained it can be a delicate balance in the NFL.

“I remember when I was the interim (coach) at Miami — and it was really the second game I coached — we got up on Houston big,” Campbell said. “We were up, man, three or four scores early in the game. I remember going into the fourth quarter and we still held a pretty good lead and I started pulling starters. Man, they started roaring back, they started coming back. They scored, I don't know, a couple of touchdowns. All of a sudden, you're sitting there and we had to go get our starters back in.

“Once you let off the gas, it's hard to get them back going and accelerate again,” Campbell continued. “It's just kind of the mindset of it. So you just have to be careful. It's the same way, you go too conservative too early, teams in this league, man, they'll come back on you.”

Campbell undersold how badly his Dolphins were beating the Texans in that 2015 contest, jumping out to a 41-0 lead at the half. But early in the fourth quarter, the Texans nearly halved the deficit to 41-20, before the Dolphins put it away.

Sigh of relief

It was stunning to see running back David Montgomery return to Sunday's game after he had to be helped off the field by multiple trainers in the first half of Sunday’s win over Minnesota.

I asked Campbell what happened on the play and if there was any long-term concern stemming from the knee injury.

“No, he's good,” Campbell said. “It was really one of those that he obviously had pain, and he's knows it's in that area around the knee, and it's kind of in the back. So you're trying to figure it out and it's painful. Once we got him off and tested it, looked at it, he started feeling better.

“You're trying to look at it on the monitor — we don't have the TV copies like you did, we've got these little (screens) you can't see anything on them,” Campbell said. “He got kneed in the back of the knee, which is kind of the meaty part, so it's more of a bruise or contusion, which is great. He'll bounce back and nothing should come from this. We're thankful for that and I know he is, too.”

Failed fake

On the game’s opening possession, the Lions ran a punt fake on fourth-and-7 in their own territory, directly snapping it to personal protector Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who was stuffed after gaining just 1 yard.

Asked why the play fell apart, Campbell was vague.

“Man, you want every one of them to work, you believe they'll work, and if you don't have the look, you check out of it and it's all good,” Campbell said. “The look was there and if we tweak a couple of things execution-wise, it's there.”

The Lions have had extraordinary success with fake punts during Campbell’s tenure, and even though this one failed, he won’t stop looking for opportunities to run the next one.

“Look, I'm disappointed it didn't work, like anybody (would be), but that's not going to deter me,” Campbell said. “If the look is there, the look is there. We're going to keep looking for it and keep coaching it up and put it on our guys.”

Historic stretch? I suppose

Quarterback Jared Goff has been playing out of his mind the past month, generating effusive praise and MVP talk from the national media.

Campbell was humorously a little more ho-hum about his QB’s performance.

“I’m just not surprised, I guess is the best way to say it," Campbell said. "I hear these numbers and I’m just like, ‘Yeah, he’s playing good. He’s a good quarterback.’ So, I don’t really see this like I’m blown away. I expect that from him. He’s playing at a high level and there are so many little things that he does. We put a ton on his plate this week, we put a ton (on him) mentally.

“…But, to me, that’s him,” Campbell said. “He’s playing at a high level. He’s a damn good quarterback, he’s competitive, he’s tough, and he’s very accurate. Once again, when it’s crunch time, the guy just — his heart rate just levels out. He doesn’t get frazzled, and he makes big-time plays for us. I’m glad he’s with us. I’m glad he’s ours.”