Campbell: Goff Better Now Than Days with Rams

Dan Campbell reveals why he believes Jared Goff is thriving in Detroit.

Jared Goff's second half of the 2022 NFL season lifted the Detroit Lions to another level. 

Behind a nearly flawless 10-game stretch, the team finished 8-2, and secured a winning record. 

On Tuesday, Lions coach Dan Campbell spoke of the veteran quarterback's growth through two seasons with the Lions. He mentioned the uncertainty Goff faced when he was first traded to the organization. 

After a rocky start to his tenure in 2021, last season showed how much the signal-caller has continued to develop.

"You're trying to find your way with a new staff, new offense, but he just hung in there. What you're seeing is a guy who just put his head down, went to work, tried to improve on what he could and now his confidence has really grown," Campbell said. "Along the way, he's matured as a quarterback. I mean, he's a better quarterback than he was there, in my opinion. Because he can do more things, he's mentally on it. We've come lightyears ahead of where he was two years ago, when he walked in and just started teaching him protections. He's got a real good grasp of where the issues are, where the problems are, and that's something we wanted him to get good at. That's something he wanted to get good at, and he's worked at it and he's improved." 

The two began their time with the Lions together. In watching Goff's progression, Detroit's third-year coach noticed his comfort within the scheme. 

Now, the coach has added enough to his plate that he feels the quarterback is doing more for the offense than at any previous point in his career. 

"We ask him to do a lot more, in my opinion, than what they were actually doing out there," the coach explained. "They had a lot of pretty good pieces out there, good defense. I just feel like I know, from speaking with him and watching him the past two years, we put a lot of things on him where I'm not so sure that was ultimately what they were doing."

Injury updates

The Lions will once again be without running back David Montgomery and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. Both players were injured during the team's first open practice of organized team activities.