Lions coach Dan Campbell said the team’s Super Bowl window remains open and that “we’ve got players in every pivotal position you can ask for to have success.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said the team’s Super Bowl window remains open and that “we’ve got players in every pivotal position you can ask for to have success.”
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — In the hours after the Detroit Lions‘ NFC divisional round upset loss to Washington, head coach Dan Campbell received a 4 a.m. text from All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The defeat, after earning the No. 1 seed for the first time in team history, continued to disturb both of them.
“I know the guys, [the loss] eats away at [them],” Campbell said Monday. “I know the right guys — they’re our guys for a reason and that’s what will always give me hope and let me know we’re only gonna be better.
“We’re gonna come back stronger, we’re gonna learn from this, and it’s just more fuel on the fire, is what it is.”
After experiencing a wave of emotions in the wake of Saturday’s 45-31 loss to the Commanders, Campbell said he “absolutely” feels that the Lions’ Super Bowl window remains open.
“Yeah, I do,” Campbell said. “We talk about that core. That core group is still intact — and we’ve signed some back, some are up on contracts and that’ll be ongoing. But, yeah, we absolutely do.
“I think the most important thing is you want to know you’ve got your culture, you’ve got your identity and you’ve got players that fit into that, and we’ve got that. And we’ve got players in every pivotal position you can ask for to have success and those guys are made the right way, so, absolutely, our window is open.”
The Lions are expecting to lose both coordinators — Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson — to NFL head coaching jobs. Campbell said it’s his job to “replenish and find the next man up” if they head elsewhere, and he plans to be heavily involved in evaluating future candidates from inside and outside the organization to make sure the team keeps rolling after a record-setting 15-win season.
The Lions want to keep their terminology intact and will prioritize starting quarterback Jared Goff‘s comfortability to keep him playing at a high level.
The win-now mindset won’t change, Campbell said.
“We’re not gonna allow that to happen,” Campbell said. “Does it hurt to lose those guys? Absolutely. They’re a part of what we’ve been here. They’ve been here for four years and they’re one of the major reasons why we’ve been able to get to where we’ve been.
“We came out of the dump and got to where we’re at, so I will forever be grateful for those guys and our team will. And is it a loss? Absolutely, it’d be a loss, but yet we move forward. This train rolls on and I’ll find the next best guys for us.”
Entering the postseason, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs felt this year’s team was better than the 2023 roster that reached the NFC Championship Game. Campbell and the group remain frustrated after coming up short of their goal.
“We had these goals. … We met two of those goals this year and in a sense, went above and beyond what we were a year ago, but yet, we didn’t get any further and man, that’s disappointing. But it also eats at me. That drives me. That motivates me.”
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