Allen Park — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell met with media on Monday ahead of the team’s bye week. Here are the highlights from the conversation.
Hunting for a new return man
Campbell confirmed the unfortunate news that wide receiver and return man Tom Kennedy has been lost to a season-ending knee injury that will require surgical repair.
That has the Lions on the hunt for a new returner, which includes exploring internal and external options. Campbell made it clear he would prefer All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown not serve as the team’s full-time option on punts after filling in following Kennedy’s exit on Sunday.
The coach did leave the door open for St. Brown to situationally handle boots in critical moments.
Campbell noted general manager Brad Holmes and his staff are already scouring the outside options. In terms of internal candidates, Campbell acknowledged 2025 seventh-round pick Dominic Lovett could be in play.
Two other practice squad options, Lawrence Keys and Lucky Jackson, also handled punts in the UFL this spring.
Kennedy was off to a strong start in his first season as Detroit’s primary punt returner, averaging 13.2 yards per attempt. He also served as one of the team’s kickoff specialists alongside Jacob Saylors.
Strong debut
Campbell was encouraged by rookie Keith Abney’s first start at safety.
“I thought he was solid,” Campbell said. “The things that popped up for him were the, hey, I haven't done this before, which is what you want for a rookie, like he's learning as he goes. But we feel very confident that he will learn from those and he won't make those mistakes again.
“I thought he played a good game,” Campbell continued. “First start, first NFL start at safety, never played safety. He's banked some reps for us (in practice). You know, we've been cross-training him. But just, man, there's meat on the bone there, and he's got room to grow, and we feel like he can continue to grow and get better.”
Campbell said the biggest challenge for a young cornerback moving to safety is learning how to retrain your eyes to see the big picture, starting with how you process opposing formations, whether it’s two-by-two or three-by-one with their receiving options, and how your responsibilities are shaped within those looks.
He said that can be too much for some players to process, but Abney is showing the ability to handle it, which makes him worthy of continued development at the position.
“He's kind of got a feel,” Campbell said. “He's got a feel for it. He's kind of crafty that way. He's a little bit of a jack of all trades and just a young, growing player. That was a step in the right direction yesterday. That was good to see. I mean, he's worth continuing to work with at safety.”
Sticking with starters
I knew Campbell had address the topic before, but since it was circling social media again after Sunday’s game, I asked him when he knows it’s the right time to pull his starters from a game.
Here’s the answer in full, because the coach added some layers of reasoning related to the current team.
“There is a fine line,” Campbell said. “I've mentioned this before. First of all, we've gotten in a couple of these games where they've — just for this season alone — to where all of a sudden, man, something doesn't go our way and now, within four or five minutes, we're back in this tight game that doesn't need to be a tight game. And so you want to make sure, you want to feel dang sure that you've got it wrapped up.
“But you also, when you feel like you're starting to play some of your best football, you want them to get that feel, that flow. Those are valuable reps to get on offense and defense. And so, look, there's an argument to have pulled some guys on defense on that last drive, but I just felt like it was important that our guys play together. You know, it's the best defensive performance we've had to date in 2026, and I wanted those guys to play together. To me, that was important in the moment.
“To go back to what you said about (when I was coaching in) Miami, what happened, we were up huge. We were up, like, three touchdowns, and I think there was eight minutes left, and I pulled the starters, and all of a sudden, man, within a matter of three minutes or whatever, they scored two touchdowns and we couldn't do anything on offense. So, I had to go and put starters back in the game.
“That's the worst scenario, because now, you hate to say it, but if you're going to do that, your mind is different. You know, I'm out of the game now, and now you've got to try to get them restarted again, and that's not fair to the players. It's not.”
Is anyone else really worried about Gibbs' workload?