Why a Meeting with Dan Campbell Will Make You Want to Throw Punches

Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell share memories from their time together with the New Orleans Saints.

When the Detroit Lions (1-10-1) and Denver Broncos (6-6) square off Sunday, Lions head man Dan Campbell will be going up against a quarterback that has tons of intel on him (and vice versa). 

The Broncos are led under center by veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who played in New Orleans from 2018-19 while Campbell was the team's tight ends coach and the top assistant to Saints head coach Sean Payton. 

During that time, the now 29-year-old Bridgewater got used to the first-year Detroit head coach's fiery messages. 

"Dan, he’s awesome," Bridgewater told reporters Wednesday. "His energy is contagious, and I’m pretty sure those players in Detroit love playing for him. I was able to spend those two years with him in New Orleans, and the things that he was able to do with those tight ends in that room -- whenever he stood in front of the team and talked, you’re ready to just storm out of that meeting and punch a guy in the face for no reason.”

Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports

Similarly, Campbell remembers Bridgewater being a strong leader that helped the Saints' young players grow. 

"He was a guy that on Saturdays would pull all of the young guys out," Campbell said. "He was our backup quarterback, so he would take all of the young guys, all of the practice squad guys, any of the backups, and he would take them out and go through the whole gameplan with them and run, run the routes, talk through them, talk to them, tell them what he wanted, everything. 

And so, not only is he going through the gameplan himself to prepare, he’s making these young guys grow. He’s developing these young guys. He was ultra-competitive on practice squad. Our defense hated him. They had friendly wagers on who would connect, who wouldn’t, who would score, who wouldn’t. It was very competitive, but he made everybody around him better. That to me, that’s a sign of a winner.” 

Through 12 games this season, Bridgewater has thrown for 2,775 yards and 16 touchdowns, while tossing just seven interceptions. He's also recorded a 47.4 QBR, which places him 22nd among all qualified quarterbacks. 

In case you were wondering, Lions signal-caller Jared Goff ranks just 29th in QBR, with a mark of 31.0. 

"I’ve got a lot of respect for Teddy Bridgewater, because I think he’s a winner in this league," Campbell said. "Man, he’ll hurt you in play-action pass. He’s going to be smart with the football. Even what happened last week (in the Broncos' loss to the Chiefs), they can possess the ball. We’ve got our hands full defensively.”

Campbell & Co. will take on Bridgewater and the Broncos Sunday at 4:05 p.m. (EST) from Empower Field at Mile High.