What They're Saying: How Lions Are Handling Super Bowl Expectations

Lions understand what is needed to reach ultimate goal.

Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions are facing elevated expectations ahead of their 2024 season.

After narrowly missing a trip to the Super Bowl last season, the national expectation is that the Lions will be in a position to once again contend for a title.

Here is a collection of quotes from Lions players about having such heightened expectations heading into the 2024 season.

Alex Anzalone

How the Lions have navigated the increased expectations

“Yeah, I mean, you have to just focus on each day and getting better. As a defense, we have a lot to get better at, and as a team, too. We’re starting back to ground zero. Nothing we really did last year matters. That’s kind of the hard part about going out like we did. You’re going back to square one, and we’ve just got to focus one game at a time when we get to that point. But, right now, we’ve just got to focus on getting better every day.” 

Alim McNeill

What more the team can do to reach the Super Bowl

“Not just a little bit more, there’s a lot more that we can do and that we can get done. The goal is to never lose a game. So, if we can go undefeated, that’s the goal. That’s how we’re gonna play every game. So, there’s a lot more work we can get done, 100 percent.” 

On what he envisions for the Lions' 2024 season

“Perfect season. We won the Super Bowl. We’re celebrating here in Detroit, in the city. That’s what I see when I close my eyes and when I go to workout and I go run, when I’m at practice working on different moves. That’s what we all think about. That’s what I’m thinking about. Everybody has the same attitude here, we just want to win. Whatever we can do to win.” 

Derrick Barnes

How the attitude of the team has changed from years past

“I would just say overall everything. Honestly, since my second year here, it’s always been the mentality. We come out, we goof around, but when we step on the field, it’s all business. That’s just the nature that our head coach has created. When we get in this building, it’s all work. But, like I’ve said, the guys are hungry. We want to win. The mindset has changed a lot, the competition out here also. People are trying to win jobs, people are trying to make the team, and you’re gonna see that every day. Got a little rough out there today, but that’s just how it is. It’s all love, and we’re just here to compete.” 

Jack Campbell

On how he feels he's developing ahead of his second year

“Year two has been good. It just started. For me, it’s the same mentality I’ve had my whole career, even though I’m only in my second year. I just try to be a true professional by how I do things. Also, with just the schematics of the defense, A.G.’s back, we’re going to be pretty much playing similar stuff. We might throw some new stuff in there, but just mastering that and focusing on that and also being able to help anybody I can along the way. This year, the standard is higher, especially for the defense. We carry that as a team.”

David Montgomery

On dealing with the heightened expectations for the running backs and team as a whole

“Yeah, the expectations are far more higher. You’ve been in a system for a year, and you have that room to mess up, like you’re allowed to do that. But now, there’s no messing up. We believe in each other and know that we can do that. But, in order for that to happen, we have to push each other harder than we pushed each other last year, and we will do that.”