Ben Johnson Feels 'Ready' to Call Offensive Plays for Detroit Lions

The decision regarding who will calls offensive plays will likely be made close to the start of the 2022 regular season.

New Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson acknowledged when he addressed the media that he does not have much experience calling plays in the National Football League. 

After being elevated from his role as the tight ends coach last season to work more in the passing game, the 36-year-old assistant coach is now in charge of the Lions' offense. 

Despite the lack of experience, Johnson believes is his abilities and would be more than ready, if head coach Dan Campbell eventually made the decision to allow him to be the primary play-caller. 

“Honestly, I’m confident I’m ready,” Johnson told reporters. "You've got to be put in those situations to truly know, but our game-planning process is so detailed that I think on game day, it takes care of itself, because you know exactly what you want and where you want. It's really just reading the sheet, in my opinion. The five percent that gets hard is the end-of-the-game, end-of-the-half situations where clock is running. You got to think quickly and those are the situations I actually have experience with from my time in Miami, doing that in practice with some of our guys. So I know what pitfalls there potentially are. It's a learning experience, no doubt about it, but it's one I certainly feel confident about."

Again, Campbell was asked if he was leaning in one direction regarding who would call the majority of offensive plays in 2022. 

The decision is likely not going to be revealed anytime soon, and may not actually be announced until the start of the regular season. 

"Look, I’m really not even worried about it right now, to be honest with you," Campbell said. "I just want to take it as it comes and see how he goes with it and see how he handles running the offense, doing what I need to have done on my end and kind of my viewpoint and see how the quarterbacks are and just everything, and then go from there. I think you guys know this, I’m a gut guy, so I’m going to trust my gut to make that decision when the time’s right.”