Dan Campbell isn’t turning on Kelvin Sheppard after one ugly night in Buffalo.
The Detroit Lions head coach made that clear while fielding questions from local reporters, offering public backing for his defensive coordinator after the Week 2 loss to the Bills. Detroit’s defense was badly exposed in a 41-31 defeat, and Sheppard has taken plenty of heat for it since.
Campbell said the bigger issue isn’t one person - it’s a unit that has to get cleaner, sharper and more aligned after a rough start. He pointed to the defensive goals the Lions set coming into the season, especially being more aggressive early in series and forcing offenses into tougher down-and-distance situations.
“H knows what he's doing, man," said Campbell. "I think that he understands and has a real good grasp of, look, there are so many things that we came into this year from last year that we wanted to do. And one of the big boxes on that we wanted to check was being much more aggressive, 1st-and-10 to get them in 2nd-and-7 plus.
"I just said we'd lead the league in that. Now, after that, okay, I got that.
So, we've done the hard part here," Campbell commented further. "And so, now we’ve got to clean up some of this.
We got them in 2nd-and-10, we got them in 2nd-and-8. Now they're in 3rd-and-8, 3rd-and-7.
So, now it's alright, now once we get them there, now what do we need to change? What do we need to do?
What kind of packages do we need to run? And tighten up some of the players here on a few things."
That was the heart of Campbell’s message: the defense did some of the hard work, but the execution after that wasn’t good enough. He also made it plain that the coaching staff shares responsibility for what went wrong.
"I believe he's got a real good grasp of what offenses are trying to do. I think he's got a good grasp of his own personnel," said Campbell.
"I think he's doing a lot of the way we want to play here. And you know what?
It didn't work the other night and we didn't coach it up good enough. And then we'll adjust a little bit.
"We'll adjust and we'll get this thing back to where we need to get it. And it's not going to all happen overnight, but as long as we just tighten a few things up and play a little bit better and a little more sound, that'll go a long way.”
Detroit’s offense has also had issues, piling up too many penalties, but the spotlight after Buffalo has been squarely on a defense that got picked apart. Campbell’s response was less about excuses and more about trust in Sheppard - and a belief that the fix comes from sharper coaching and cleaner football, not panic.
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There is at least a path toward relief if the timing breaks right. Safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph remain on the Physically Unable to Perform list, but both may be nearing a return to practice, which could help stabilize a group that has been thinned out. Until then, the Lions may need these workouts to do more than just add bodies, because the back end of the defense has become a spot they may have to solve quickly. [Read more 🡒]
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Cade Mays absence has been part of that problem, with the starting center still working back from a wrist injury that has kept him sidelined. The bye week offers the Lions a natural reset, and there is at least a chance he could be back by mid-October, which would give Detroit a much-needed reinforcement right when the trenches figures to matter most. [Read more 🡒]