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Lions' Dan Campbell's epic interview: 'You forgot what it was like when you had nothing'
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- Lions' Dan Campbell's epic interview: 'You forgot what it was like when you had nothing'
Dan Campbell isn't down in the dumps about the Detroit Lions ' first loss in two months or the team's mounting injury woes . Quite the opposite.
Campbell gave an impassioned 3-minute answer complete with two F bombs when asked during his weekly radio spot Tuesday on WXYT-FM (97.1) what his message is to fans who are doubting the team after losing four more key players to potentially season-ending injuries in last week's 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
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"What happens is you get used to eating filet, and I'm talking to all of us," Campbell said. "And everything's good. Life's good, but you forgot what it was like when you had nothing and you ate your (bleeping) molded bread and it was just fine, and it gave you everything you needed, and sometimes you got to get punched in the mouth and remember what it used to be like to really appreciate where you are. And we'll do that. And so we got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys and you know what? It's exactly what we needed. This is exactly what we needed."
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks to a referee during the first half against Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.
The Lions are 12-2 and tied with the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings for best record in the NFC, but they saw their Super Bowl odds take a hit after Sunday's convincing home loss to one of the best teams in the AFC.
Defensive tackle Alim McNeill tore his ACL and is out for the season, running back David Montgomery injured his MCL and likely will miss the rest of the year , gunner Khalil Dorsey underwent surgery the night of the game for a broken leg, and cornerback Carlton Davis broke his jaw and is out indefinitely.
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The Lions entered the game with 18 players on injured reserve including defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson , Marcus Davenport , Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes .
Listen: Dan Campbell radio interview
Anzalone is expected back for the start of the playoffs, Davis could return late in the postseason and Hutchinson said in a podcast interview this week he plans to be back for the Super Bowl, but the Lions are currently without six of their 11 Week 1 defensive starters and likely will need to beat the Vikings in the regular season finale at Ford Field to win the NFC North and avoid having to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs.
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Campbell said Tuesday he expects players to rally around their injured teammates, and insisted the Lions still have more than enough talent to accomplish their goals.
"We're going to bounce back, we're going to respond," he said. "We got guys that are going to about to have an unbelievable opportunity here and we will play the game any way needed to win.
"We still got a good offense. We got plenty of defensive players. I can go rattle them off right now. We're going to put the best 11 on the field. We're going to freaking cut it loose. We're going to play with our special teams and I don't give a crap if we got to win by one point for the rest of the year, that's what we're going to do. And I'm going to be happy about it. We come out of the game with 50 yards of total offense and we win by one. You're going to see smiles on my face, I promise you. If it's the other way, defensively we give up 700 yards and we win by one point, you're going to see a (bleeping) smile from my ear-to-ear, I can promise you. So we're going to find a way and we're going to get it done."
Detroit Lions injury news: Dan Campbell provides updates on plethora of players
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Jon Jansen, co-host of the Costa & Jansen with Heather morning show, was able to bleep both of Campbell's F bombs before they got on air.
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett .
This story has been updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell's epic interview addresses Lions fans' doubts
