After the Detroit Lions defeated the Denver Broncos, microphones picked up a “Dan Campbell” audible call from Sean Payton the following week.
The play, an inside run that netted a significant gain, caught the attention of the NFL viewing audience, especially among Lions’ supporters.
“We’ll do some things at times. Sean was always good about that. He always, depending on if it was someone you’re getting ready to play or something that, for whatever reason, it hits your brain so you’re gonna give it to the players and then here’s the call,” said Campbell, when asked his reaction and Lions’ audibles. “Honestly, we’ve been pretty vanilla with ours, all in all. I don’t want to give what ours are. I don’t know, I don’t know what to say. It was good. I think it was a trap.”
Young players developing
With decisions being made regarding veterans on the roster, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn updated the developmental status of two young players on the roster.
“In practice, that’s exactly what we’re looking for in those guys. I mean, the one thing about (Stephen Gilmore Jr.) Gilly, and I think we all saw this here in training camp, he’s a guy that can get the ball back and he’s doing that in practice also,” Glenn said. “But, man, there are other guys that we have that are playing. I mean, it’s hard to just play everybody.
“Same thing with Brodric (Martin0. I mean, he’s a guy that came from a smaller school. And man, I said this before, the things that he has to understand, man how to use his hands, how to – pad level and it’s hard for a man that’s about 6’ 7” to do that. So, he has to continue to work on those things and our coach is doing a good job of working with him on that.”
Fake punt against Cowboys a success
The Lions have one of the top special teams units in the entire National Football League.
Dave Fipp, who was voted as the fourth-best special teams coordinator, reflected on Jalen Reeves-Maybin successfully tossing the football on a called fake punt.
“God, the throw was incredible. And I mean that really is the thing right there, it’s the throw. I mean it was the throw, it was the catch, there was definitely great protection,” Fipp explained. “Those guys all did a good job and – but it was an incredible throw and that’s really what all these plays come down to. I fully believe this with everything in me, this game is ultimately a player’s game. That’s what the NFL is, and it’s also what makes it great is your matchup of your players, their players and these guys in the heat of the moment being able to make plays.”
Khalil Dorsey was on the receiving end of the pass, impressing Fipp.
“And that’s really what Germ did in that moment. I mean he just made a play. He just threw a great ball,” Fipp stated. “(Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert) 18 wasn’t terrible in coverage for them, he wheeled back around and then (Khalil) Dorsey made a great catch. He saw the ball all the way in with his hands, his eyes, he locked it away on the way down. So, it was a great job by those guys.”
Numerous offensive players are productive
This season, Detroit has four players with over 850 yards of total yards from scrimmage.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson expressed having so many offensive weapons that are productive is a wonderful problem to have for a coach.
