Dan Campbell Explains Impact of Illness on Preparations for Broncos

After 21 players missed practice on Thursday due to injuries and the flu, Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his ailing roster are getting players back in action on Friday.

“We’re gonna go out and practice today,” Campbell said. “We’ve got a lot of our guys back, we got them out of the infirmary.”

Many of the players had missed both Wednesday and Thursday’s practices. Among the players who missed due to illness were Jermar Jefferson, Jared Goff and Levi Onwuzurike.

Campbell announced Monday that the team was dealing with a non-COVID illness outbreak. Two players have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list: cornerback Bobby Price and center Evan Brown.

The Lions did walk-throughs with different units coming in at different times. Campbell said that only three or four players would be out of practice with illness Friday, a sign that the team had handled it well.

“We’re getting a lot back,” Campbell said.

Campbell was optimistic about guys returning to health before the team takes on Denver Sunday.

“You do feel like, we’re on the tail end of it with a number of these guys,” Campbell said. “Guys are coming back, and they’re out there practicing. So, you’d like to feel like that it was a step in the right direction.”

How illness impacted game prep

The Lions face a unique challenge Sunday when they travel to Denver. Not only are the Broncos a hungry team, but they have a special home-field advantage when it comes to the elevation.

With Detroit having practiced little due to the illness breakout, the team has little time to get ready.

“We’re just big on, they gotta be able to hydrate, they gotta be able to rest,” Campbell said. “It won’t be grueling, we’ll rotate the reps with some of these guys so they’re getting the work. But, it’s not too much, and then, they’ll get some live reps, just a couple. And then, look, it’s the altitude, but there again, we got oxygen over there. We’ll be fine.”

Campbell said the turbulence of this week will test the maturity of his team.

The team has weathered the storm, and now will be put to the test coming off the limited week.

“I just bring this up, it’s like just because we’re young, doesn’t mean we’re immature,” Campbell said. “I wanna hope and feel like we’ve grown and we’re growing up and we can handle this. And you know what, we have to. We’ve just preached to our guys, man, there’s no excuses. There’s just results. Nobody cares.”

Notes

The Lions will face T.J. Hockenson’s former Iowa teammate Noah Fant, who starts at tight end for the Broncos. Fant has caught 49 passes for 424 yards and three scores in 2021.

“He’s got length, he’s got speed, he’s explosive,” Campbell said. “It was funny, because I remember when he was coming out, he was more raw than Hock was. But, I think he’s a factor, and he’s got so much better at blocking. For him to be able to mix it up in the pass game, but then he’s got the speed to hurt you down the seam.”

The Broncos will be playing with heavy hearts Sunday, as former wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was found dead Thursday night in his home. Thomas, a four-time Pro Bowler, was 33 years old.

“It’s another one of those, man, when Superman becomes mortal,” Campbell said. “It’s kind of hard. You just think somebody like him would live forever…I don’t know him personally, but everybody just talks about the impact he had on so many lives.”

Running back D’Andre Swift is trending toward missing his second consecutive game with a shoulder sprain. “I would say it’s unlikely,” Campbell said.