By admin 
Here is everything Detroit Lions Dan Campbell said, following a 32-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
Opening statement
“All right. Got to give those guys a lot of credit. They did a heck of a job. We knew coming in here that those guys were going to lay it on the line. They still got plenty of weapons and the fight was going to be there and they showed up. That team showed up. We got ourselves in a hole there, which is frustrating, you know? The penalties that showed up in critical moments hurt us. And then at the end of the day, we had our opportunities. Our defense came up with a stop and we had the ball with about two minutes left to go win the game and we just couldn’t get it done. So that’s frustrating, but if you told me we’re going to get the ball to go win it at the end, I believe we’re going to win a lot more of those than we’re not. So that’s probably the silver lining, that we had our opportunity. What’s not good is we were down two scores and had to fight our way back.”
Do you feel like the team took a step back defensively?
“Well look, really to start the game, we didn’t do well enough in the coverage aspect. They had a couple of things in there, the RPOs (run-pass-options) that got us. They put your run-pass-hook defender in conflict there a little bit and he’s got such a quick release. That got us a little bit early. I thought we handled some of that in the second half, but the issue was, then the run got us and we started bleeding yards there in the second half. That’s the one thing we couldn’t let happen. We couldn’t start giving up those run yards because now you’re opening up everything for them. But I think even bigger is we got no takeaways. We have to get takeaways. We just have to. We got nothing. So not good enough.”
If he needs to dive deeper into this defense, especially in the secondary?
“Well it’s, there, again, I need to see. I think one of the things coming into this game was for me it was about discipline and effort. You know, effort’s always going to be a big deal, but, man, those two combined going into this game, I wanted to see discipline, I wanted to see effort. I’m going to be anxious to just look at the tape and see what that looked like really in all areas. Look, it’s not good enough right now. That’s the bottom line. It’s just not good enough. We got to score more points. We got to be more efficient than we’ve been. We got off to a slow start. We had two opportunities there at the end and we didn’t get it done. So, we got to be better there and got to get takeaways on defense. That’s going to have to be our recipe.”
Do the Lions have the right personnel on defense?
“Man, I’m not even going to worry about all that. My job is to get these guys going, man. We’ve got guys on the back end that can cover. We’ve got guys that can hit. We got to pull this thing together and find the right combination of coverage versus pressure and job responsibility, putting guys in the right spot to do what they do and so this is a work in progress. We’re four games in. There again, we just have to find a way to get better. I thought we would play better than we did last week and as a whole we didn’t. We did some things that were good. The fact that we fought our way back into that game, that always gives you hope. But, man, we had our opportunity. We got to finish it out. So you always want to be able to clean up the errors after a win. When you don’t, it gets tough. Certainly not good enough.”
On wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and thoughts on guarding him coming into the game
“Yeah, we knew he was going to be an issue, especially since [wide receiver Jalen] Coker got hurt. That would be a guy that they would probably try to get the ball to and really a lot of those were those RPOs [run-pass-options] early in the game. Those were just those quick strikes right up the hash, right up the seam. That’s something we didn’t — I mean, we worked but that was a little something that they kind of mixed in, some of that more of it than the norm. I think we finally settled in a little bit there in the second half, but there again we gave up the run. Look, he’s a really good receiver and he made some plays, none of them bigger than that one at the end to extend the game there. We ended up getting the stop. That was a huge catch over there on the sideline. The guy’s got range and he’s got outstanding hands. And there again, look Bryce (Young) is — nothing that Bryce did shocked me today. Bryce is a hell of a quarterback, man. He just is. He’s dangerous, he’s got a quick release. He can process it, he can see it, he’s mobile, he can move around in the pocket. He was tough, tough today.”
Is there a timeline for considering a change at defensive coordinator?
“Yeah, I’m not talking about all that, man. I’m talking about getting better right now with what we got and that’s what we’re going do. We’re going to find a way to get better with what we got.”
On what gives you the most confidence that you can get better on defense?
“There’s other things that we can do. We’ve tweaked a little bit every week here. There’s still some things that we can try that we haven’t yet, try to settle some things down and see if we can help. Look, it’s all a work in progress. You just keep working through it and find a way to improve. We didn’t today. It wasn’t good enough.”
Read more How Did the Broncos Offense Do in Week 4 vs. 49ers? The Numbers Behind the Loss
If maybe playing a little bit more man coverage and other things that can be done differently on defense?
“Yeah, there’s some things we can mix in here that we haven’t done a ton of this year and that’s next step. Let’s see what we can do. I want to exhaust everything here. Let’s exhaust everything we have. It’s the same thing on offense. We got to find a way to be a little bit more efficient here. We can’t stall out. When we do, we got to get a faster start, which we haven’t done. Let’s look at it and let’s get it fixed. But I know this, we go into panic mode when we’ve got 13 games left and we’re 2-2, that’s not the right thing to do. I just don’t believe that. I never have. So, you know, I know there’s frustration. Look, I’m frustrated. I know the players are frustrated. But it’s also, and you’re a few plays away, a few penalties away. Whatever it is from now you’re not in a two-score game and now you’re back in control instead of having to fight your way back from the deficit we were under there.”
Could you potentially make a move at the coordinator position later in the season?
“Yeah dude, I’m going to always do what’s right by this team. What I truly believe is the best thing and the right thing to do, always. I’m always going to do that. That’s the most important thing is what’s right for the players and what gives us the best opportunity to win.”
On his impressions of the discipline on both sides of the ball?
“Absolutely. I can tell you it’s one thing to say it. Like honestly, it’s 100% on me, because it’s one thing to say it, it’s a different thing when it’s not coming across. You can talk about being in a stressful environment, what goes on in those type of situations, but the bottom line is I’m not getting that across. I’m not getting it done right now, because it’s still happening So, I put that squarely on my shoulders, that I’m not getting it coached properly. I’m the one who’s going to get this fixed. I’m the one who is going to fix this whole discipline thing, whatever it takes.”
On deep balls on the last drive:
“Yeah, we had a double move with J-Mo (Jameson Williams) and they rolled over the top there. It just took a minute with a safety that far back over it so it ended up being a ball holder and it got sacked. It was unfortunate, but he was trying to give it a go. We hit a couple things down field today on double move, but also just kind of spreading the field and letting him run. I thought [quarterback Jared] Goff did a heck of a job stepping up, making some of those throws. Those are big plays. That one just got us, ended up getting strung out a little bit and ended up being a little long.”
Today’s best reads
- Detroit Lions Are Small Betting Favorite Against Panthers
- Beat Writer Calls Out ‘Disingenuous’ Stat Dan Campbell Shared
- Everything Dan Campbell Said After Lions Win Over Jets
- Takeaways From Detroit Lions 32-26 Loss Against Carolina Panthers
- 89 Percent of NFL Experts Predict Detroit Lions Will Defeat Panthers
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/lions/onsi as Everything Dan Campbell Said After Disappointing Panthers Loss .
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Read more Raiders vs. Chiefs: Winners & Losers From Las Vegas
This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 3:00 AM.