Dan Campbell and his Detroit Lions have received major contributions from their younger players. Aidan Hutchinson, James Houston, Kerby Joseph, Malcolm Rodriguez, etc have all stepped up in a huge way.
However, Campbell didn't want others to be left out of the conversation. The Lions head coach took to the podium on Monday and gave credit to a lot of the team's veterans in the locker room.
“I am going to open with this because I think this is important,” Campbell said. “We're playing better for a number of reasons, and certainly the growth has a lot to do with that, but I certainly don't want anyone not to understand that part of all that, the biggest part of that, are guys like (Taylor) Decker and (Frank) Ragnow, J.D. (Jarrad Davis) being back, (Jason) Cabinda.”
Other players received shoutouts from Campbell. Among them were safety CJ Moore, pass rusher Romeo Okwara, and defensive tackle Michael Brockers. The Lions head coach wants everyone to know that contributions in the locker room are just as important as those you see on the field.
“Sometimes you lose sight of them. You don't ever want to take them for granted, but they play at such a high level week in and week out. They're a huge part of our success,” Campbell said.
The Lions began their surge with a Week 9 victory over the Green Bay Packers. They picked up two more on the trot before losing to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving. Detroit picked themselves back up with back-to-back wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.
The Lions head into their remaining four games with a chance to sneak into the playoffs. It would be their first playoff appearance since 2016. Their next test comes in the form of the New York Jets away from home on Sunday.
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