Dan Campbell Warned Officials How Defense Handling QB Scrambles

Amon-Ra St. Brown explains specific point of emphasis for defense in Week 13 win.

Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) tackles Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions had a solid plan in place for the Chicago Bears' offense, especially one specific tendency that rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has.

When the rookie scrambles, he has a habit of staying close to the sideline. Lions coach Dan Campbell identified this in a pregame film session, and alerted both his team and the game officials to it.

It was made clear by the coach that when he was running in bounds near the sideline, the players were to treat him as a runner and take him to the turf. In the game, the Lions displayed this when linebacker Jack Campbell had a hit on Williams, as he hit the quarterback in the thigh with his shoulder pad in a legal manner.

Discussing this on the latest episode of the 'St. Brown Bros,' Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown explained that this was a point of emphasis for Detroit's defense entering last week's game.

"The craziest part is before the game, in our team meeting, Dan was talking to us and was showing us clips of Caleb going out of bounds, going back in, going back in, going out," St. Brown said. "He said, 'No you don't.' The beginning of it was, 'No you don't,' and then it was clips of him doing that. (Campbell) said, 'I already warned the refs, the refs already know.' So when it happened in the game, I'm like, I already knew there was no flag because he was about to go out of bounds, came back in. Jack hit his ass, everyone was like, 'Yeah.' All the bears were like, 'What the? That's a flag.' We're like, 'Bro, he literally went out and came back in and took it.'"

"He goes, 'If he does this, we're going to hit his a**. I already warned the refs, the refs know.'"

Amon-Ra St. Brown said Dan Campbell told the Lions to hit Caleb Williams if he's not clearly going out of bounds. pic.twitter.com/lI3neK7LlI

— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) December 4, 2024

Responding to Xavier McKinney's comment

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney had a bold claim when asked about St. Brown during a media session earlier in the week, stating that he and his teammates were, "not worried," about what the All-Pro wideout could do in Thursday's game.

MORE: Xavier McKinney Says Packers 'Not Worried' About Amon-Ra St. Brown

St. Brown got the opportunity to respond to those comments during his podcast, offering a similar response.

“Am I worried about anybody? I wouldn’t say I’m worried about anybody, no," St. Brown said. "Me personally, I can’t talk for everyone, but I’m not worried about anybody. I’m not scared, it is what it is, man. I’m not worried. Just like he’s not worried, I’m not worried. So it’s gonna be a good one, can’t wait. I’ll see him Thursday.”