Dan Campbell Reveals Most Difficult Roster Cuts

Dan Campbell spoke to fans in a virtual meet-and-greet.

The Detroit Lions have been making a concerted effort to reward their fans who continue to be season-ticket holders. 

In a virtual question and answer session with head coach Dan Campbell and moderated by play-by-play voice Dan Miller, members were able to ask head coach Dan Campbell questions about the team and the upcoming 2022 NFL season. 

This week, the team established their initial 53-man roster. 

Along the way, some very difficult meetings were had between Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes. 

Campbell revealed to ticket members that the roster cuts for running backs and wideout Tom Kennedy were the hardest ones for him. 

Kennedy embodies everything a coach like Campbell would want on his team in terms of intangibles, while the battle at running back was very close. 

Veteran running back Justin Jackson pushed the others on the roster and was close to making the roster, based on his play in the preseason. 

Jermar Jefferson initially made the active roster, but his roster spot was short-lived, as he is expected to join the practice squad with the waiver claim of defensive tackle Benito Jones. 

He also said roster cuts for running backs and Tom Kennedy in WR were the hardest ones for him!!

— Sweta Patel (@sweta2311) September 1, 2022

Are Lions a playoff team? 

General manager Brad Holmes was asked at his annual media session, ahead of the regular season, if there was enough talent on the current roster to make the playoffs this year. 

“We’ll just take it one week at a time," said Holmes. "Again, if we have the right mentality and we control what we can control, then we’ll just see what the results are going to be. But, we’re not going to guess a record, ‘We’re going to be this win team or that win team.’ We’re just going to control what we can control. With that same mentality, we stay aligned, and we’re competitive every week, but we’re very optimistic.”