Dan Campbell Reveals Where Lions' Defense Is Lacking

Read more on Dan Campbell's comments after the Detroit Lions' 27-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in their preseason finale.

The Lions just finished off an 0-3 preseason, after losing 27-17 to the Indianapolis Colts Friday night at Ford Field. On top of that, the Lions gave up 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. 

Yet, Lions head coach Dan Campbell is still "encouraged" by what he saw out of his team throughout the exhibition season. 

"There's things that I see from all three phases that we're improving in. We are. Guys are improving. We're getting better. It's just, it's a process. And we're getting there," Campbell said after the loss to the Colts. "And, the most important thing is that, man, we get better from where we're at right now to the end of next week, before they (the players) get off for three days. And then, we're better against Green Bay than we were San Fran (San Francisco). And better against Baltimore than we were Green Bay. That's the most important thing. We just have to get a little better every week and improve."  

Despite the woes of the team on the field in recent memory, including the winless preseason, Campbell believes that the Lions have a chance to be competitive in 2021. 

"But, I do believe we have the right makeup of guys and the right core of players on this team to give us a chance," he said. 

Now, for Campbell and his coaching staff, it's on to trimming the Lions' roster down to 53 players in time for Tuesday's 4 p.m. (EST) deadline. 

As Campbell said Friday, it won't be an easy task to accomplish for him and the staff. 

"I'll be with the staff tomorrow morning, and we'll kind of go over final thoughts on what they think will help in their own areas," Campbell said during his postgame presser. "AG (Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn), A-Lynn (offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn) and Fipp (special teams coordinator Dave Fipp), and we'll kind of dive into all that. Where they rank those players at their positions, as a total offense, defense and special teams." 

Campbell also noted that he and Lions general manager Brad Holmes will sit down around 2 p.m. Saturday to start going through who will comprise the team's season-opening 53-man roster. 

Some tough decisions lie ahead, including determining who will be the No. 5 wide receiver and who's going to garner the majority of the reps at nickel cornerback. 

Campbell stated Friday that he's looking for a nickel defensive back that can play not only in the slot, but also on the outside and on special teams. The players in contention for the starting spot at nickel are undrafted rookie cornerback AJ Parker, as well as free-agent acquisitions Corn Elder and Nickell Robey-Coleman.

Campbell isn't confident that any of the three can be productive on the outside, though.   

"I think that right now, that's the one thing that we're lacking a little bit: a nickel defensive back, like those three, that you know can go out and play outside," he said. "Not that they can't function in it, but I don't think that's what we're going to want to do. And (on) special teams, we have to get better there, out of that position."

Despite the uncertainty with some roster spots, Campbell believes that the organization will go into its Week 1 contest with the San Francisco 49ers with its best possible roster. 

"We're going to come out of this with the best 53 and the best practice squad we can get. So, I think it's going to come down -- I'm not sure you'll see much until Monday," Campbell commented.

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