Allen Park — Here are some quick-hitting notes from Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell’s Friday morning press conference.
Never forget
Any American who was alive during the 9/11 attacks remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing that day. Those events impacted so many of us, but the emotions are understandably stronger for New Yorkers.
Campbell was in his third season with the New York Giants when two planes were intentional flown into, and ultimately toppled the World Trade Center buildings 25 years ago today. The team had opened the season on Monday Night Football in Denver the night before and arrived back to New York the morning of the attacks.
Thinking about that day and the ensuing weeks are still raw for the Lions head coach, who got emotional when asked for his memories to open Friday’s media session. .
“It's something you never forget,” Campbell said. “Being up there, it was a little bit of — you get the worst of humanity, and you get the best all in a matter of minutes, really. And one of the most inspiring things that you could ever witness, be around, is in the middle of a tragedy, especially in New York where people, man, they're in a hurry, right? And it's about getting from one spot to another, and you've got places to go, things to do, and that happens. And man, everybody just pitches in to help. They just want to help and do whatever it takes.
“And not just the people there, but people (around) the country that are sacrificing their time, being away from family to just go help,” Campbell said. “And anybody that was up there at that time, to even want to go help, to get into the city after that, that took a lot just to even get up there. So, it definitely pulled our country together and it was one of those things that you just don't ever forget. A lot of people lost — there was a lot of loss and those things you don't forget. I can't believe it's been 25 years.”
On Sunday, for Detroit’s season opener, the team will honor dozens of Detroit’s first responders during the playing of the National Anthem, including 16 who traveled to New York to help 25 years ago.
Campbell was also wearing a Detroit Fire Department cap during his press conference.
Earlier in the morning, the New York Giants released a video of former players sharing their memories from that week, including Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber, who talked about the Giants players going to Ground Zero to help in any way they could.
Campbell shared his memories of that experience, as well, focusing on how surreal it was that the team’s presence was uplifting to the first responders.
“Yes, and you don't understand that, I didn't understand that,” Campbell said. “We just wanted to help. We could do nothing, I mean, compared to what they were doing. Those guys didn't sleep, man. Those first responders, I mean, there was no sleep, there were no showers, there was no food. The fact that we were able to go when we did, just to help wherever we could, we were just trying to, 'What can we grab? What can we do?'
“I think us being there meant a lot to them,” Campbell said. “I just remember thinking how humbling that was like, 'We're not doing anything. But it did. I think it gave them a little pep and it's a reminder that you may not think it can be powerful, but just your presence and being around there and letting them know, man, you're thinking about them and you just want to help them help others, goes a long way. You talk about sacrifice. A lot of people sacrificed a lot to help and that was a tough time.”
Game-day decisions
Regarding the Lions’ upcoming opener, Campbell said both Christian Mahogany and Ben Bartch have had good weeks of practice in their ongoing left guard competition.
Campbell said there’s a good chance Mahogany starts Sunday’s contest.
In terms of injuries, both defensive back Christian Izien (groin) and rookie edge defender Derrick Moore (hamstring) have been limited in practice this week, but there’s a strong chance one or both suit up against the Saints.
Moore sounds more likely to play based on Campbell’s comments, while the team could opt to hold Izien back a few more days with the Lions playing on short rest Week 2 in Buffalo.
Travel strategy
The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers took very different approaches toward traveling to Australia for the teams’ season-opener. The 49ers got out there a week early, while the Rams came in the day before the game.
It’s difficult to say how much either strategy played into the result, but the 49ers dominated the matchup.
The Lions play overseas for the first time in more than a decade this year, going to Germany in November to battle the Patriots. Detroit’s plan is to fly out late in the week. Campbell was asked how they reached that decision.
“We've put in a lot of work with a lot of specialists,” Campbell said. “Our crew talks to a lot of people. Man, I've basically been over there a number of times, three different times. That wasn't Germany, but it was England and it's not that far off. So, I've got a pretty good idea of what both (strategies) are like. You go out there for a week, you go out two days early, and ultimately, man, it’s the team that is ready to go is ready to go and you’ve got the most energy and you're locked in.”
Avoiding a slow start
With the two games that have already been played, only the 49ers didn’t look out of sorts. Both the Patriots and Seahawks slogged through Wednesday’s contest, and, as noted, the Rams struggled mightily in their 27-7 defeat.
Given their are only 17 games, adding significant weight to each matchup, it’s a unique challenge for coaches to have their team prepared for Week 1 without overdoing it during the offseason. Those are the decisions Campbell has to sift through every year, regarding live tackling in practice and playing starters in the preseason.
I asked him about the challenge to hit the ground running in Week 1, given it counts the same as games we perceive as more critical, in November in December. He laid out the differences between having success early and late in the season.
“We do the best that we can to prepare them that way, physically, mentally, emotionally,” Campbell said. “There's no secret to it; the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is probably going to win the game. I'm talking about early in the year, game one, game two. Whereas late in the year, it's about who makes the most plays. But early, it's about who makes the least amount of mistakes.
“It's something we've talked about, but you practice that way, you coach that way, but you don't handcuff your guys,” Campbell said. “You don't drive them into fear of cutting it loose either. So, there's that fine balance, but we’ve just got to play clean football, man. Take care of it. Let's get one or two (turnovers) on defense and let's eliminate those discipline penalties, the pre-snap, the post-whistle. Those are unacceptable. We will not and we cannot have those. There'll be things that come up in this game just from the nature of the way you play. We'll live with those and we'll coach off of those, but it's those other things that just deal with the focus of what you do.”
Campbell is SUCH a GREAT GUY.
Too often, I believe, we - and I’m as guilty of this as anyone - forget how bad the SOL decades were and how good we/fans have it with that guy changing the whole CULTURE.
No longer embarrassed to say we’re Lions Fans. Now proud.
I tried to explain to someone while we were still losing games why I still believed in Dan. It's hard to quantify in a succinct way but it has everything to do with his ability to communicate. He's real. He's not grammatically correct so he sounds a meathead to some. But what he says and how he says it are so sincere that you have to love him.