Dan Campbell Reveals Standout Players From Preseason Opener
Despite losing their preseason opener to the Atlanta Falcons, the Detroit Lions were not without moments to build on.
Perhaps the highlight of the team’s Friday night game was the first team offense marching 10 plays down the field to score a touchdown on the game’s first series. Rookie Aidan Hutchinson’s tackle for loss ignited the crowd as well.
Head coach Dan Campbell spoke to the media for the first time following the loss Monday and shared insight as to who stood out to him during the opener.
Among those players was rookie safety Kerby Joseph, who finished the night with a team-high seven tackles. The Illinois product was targeted on a touchdown throw during the game, but appeared to be in the right spot making plays for most of the night.
“I would say Kerby showed up,” Campbell said. “I would say Kerby, didn’t quite know where he was gonna be at or what it was gonna look like, we’ve been on his rear in practice, we’ve been pretty hard on him. Now he’s needed it, but he showed up. When the lights came on, he did some things on special teams and on defense that is extremely encouraging.”
Joseph wasn’t the only rookie to catch his head coach’s eye.
“I would say Rodriguez didn’t disappoint,” the head coach stated. “He’s got a lot of room for improvement but you can tell it’s not too big for him. I think those are two guys that really kinda come to mind. There was a number of guys that played pretty well, showed up. Certainly Hutch made some plays there, I thought Mack did a good job, stepped up and did pretty good. The first one that came to my mind is Kerby.”
Value of joint practices
With the Falcons in the rearview mirror, the Lions will now prepare to travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. Detroit will hold joint practices with the Colts throughout the week before culminating in a preseason game Saturday.
In Campbell’s eyes, the joint practices offer plenty of opportunities to improve as a team.
“You can almost get, it feels like you’re getting two games in a week,” Campbell said. “Two games in two days. You won’t have all those reps, but we’re gonna get almost 30 reps with our starters against good competition. Full pads and it’s structured.”
The Lions and Colts offer interesting skill sets against one another. Throughout the week, Detroit will have to plan and perform against Indianapolis’ talented running back Jonathan Taylor.
Though the Lions’ may not give their starters a ton of reps during the actual preseason game, the experience of facing another team in practice is not without its benefits.
“Between (Indianapolis head coach) Frank (Reich) and myself, we’ll get all the looks we need to get, all the situations,” Campbell noted. “It’ll be good. They’re a good team over there, they know how to win. It’s a winning program.”
From his days as a player, Campbell remembered joint practices often resulting in fights. He told a story about his time with the Dallas Cowboys in which head coach Bill Parcells addressed the team and threatened to cut any player who got in a fight.
The Lions’ head coach didn’t go that far but reiterated a point he made earlier in training camp.
“We just have to make an emphasis of that,” Campbell said. “I know they will, and we will. We’re not out there to fight, but we’re gonna compete and have good work.”
Notes
Campbell spoke about his relationship with Frank Reich, Indianapolis’ head coach, Monday as the two prepare to practice against each other throughout the week.
“I just know him through the league man,” Campbell said. “When I had the chance to re-interview or interview for the head job in Miami full time, he was one of the first guys who called, he was with the Chargers. Things had kind of transpired out there for them. He had the number one offense, but wasn’t able to keep the job. So, shoot, I called him, we talked for a long time. I just knew from afar, I had a lot of respect they did, what they ran. Then we’ve just kind of talked throughout the years.
“I interviewed for the Colts job, with (GM Chris) Ballard, and certainly Frank got that job, and we talked about it. So I’ve just known him a long time, known him through the grapevine and just have a tone of respect for him.”
When it comes to defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the expectation is clearly that he will be an important contributor on the defensive side. Campbell laid out his expectations for the rookie heading into his second preseason game.
“Just continue to progress,” Campbell said. “Let’s see what’s next. He, you know we’ve said it every day he’s been here, he’s improved just a little bit more each time. And you know, he got in the game and did some good things. Now, let’s see how he does against these guys. There are good players he’s gonna be going against. So let’s see what happens out there.”
