Dan Campbell: They Clearly Were Not Ready to Play
Detroit Lions Dan Campbell does not like to second-guess his decision-making or how he goes about preparing his team for an NFL game.
But when a team loses by margin of 38-6, questions will naturally arise regarding a team's readiness.
This week, the Lions did not practice Wednesday, as the normally scheduled practice was turned into a walk-through to aid the team rejuvenate following a string of tough, physical opponents.
"I don't like second-guessing things. I didn't feel that," said Campbell. "There was a time last year when I felt that (poor preparation) leading into the game, where I didn't feel that this week. But look, I got to look at everything and make sure that I'm doing what's best for our team to get ready and not what feels good.
"Now I do that (practice hard) and you guys are going to be on my ass about injuries," Campbell explained further. "Like, aren't you pushing them too hard? I got that. Yeah, but no, I'm going to look at everything. I mean, my job is to get them ready to play in there. Clearly we're not ready to play, which falls on my shoulders, you know, and there's no way around that I know that."
Detroit's third-year coach can look to his team and have some trust in their ability to recover from tough losses.
Last season, Detroit won three consecutive games after losing to the Bills.
This year, the team rattled off four straight wins after losing to the Seahawks.
"I just think that you don't want these to happen, but when it when it does, it re-centered you, it refocuses you and that's all I know. I don't want it to happen. Nobody wants to happen," said Campbell. "Nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our ass. "Nobody thinks that's fun, but I know that motivates me for next week. It motivates our team.
"So, I know that you'll do anything and everything you can not to have that feeling again. So that's all I mean by that. I know everybody will just be like, 'How can you say that? How can you say it's okay to lose?' That's not what I'm saying. All right, so it's here. It happened. It'll motivate us moving forward. And the shame would be if we don't use this to get better for next week, and it bleeds over into the Raiders. That would be the ultimate shame."
