Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has recently come under fire after the team’s poor defensive start. Through two weeks of the NFL season, the Lions rank 31st in points allowed, yards allowed, and EPA/play. They’ve allowed the most first downs, the second-most passing yards, and fifth-most rushing yards. And after Thursday night’s disaster—which featured missed assignments and mental mistakes at every level of the defense—some have understandably wondered if the coaching staff is doing
their job properly.
Lions coach Dan Campbell is typically the first to put the blame on himself and the rest of the coaching staff. And on Monday, he did the same.
“The bottom line is when it looks like that, we are responsible as coaches,” Campbell said. “I’m responsible. And so, it’s up to us to make sure the guy—we put the right guys in positions to where they can be trusted to do what they do.”
It’s one thing to take accountability for a team’s performance, it’s another to lose faith that the coaching staff is incapable of fixing the problems. Later in the press conference, it became clear that Campbell still believes he’s got the right coaches in place, particularly when it comes to Sheppard.
“I believe he’s an outstanding coach,” Campbell said of Sheppard. “There is a bump in the road. I think the staff is outstanding, that defensive staff. I think it’s a veteran staff, and I think they’re versatile, and we have got to coach better—and they can coach better. I can coach better, but I believe they’re the right guys to get this thing done.”
When asked why he has faith in Sheppard, he spoke to his intelligence and grasp of defenses.
“He knows what he’s doing, man,” Campbell said. “I think that he understands and has a real good grasp of—look, there are so many things that we came into this year from last year that we wanted to do.”
One of those things was be more aggressive and dictate how the offense needs to play. Campbell pointed to the team’s ability to get opponents in second-and-long, noting that they lead the league in second-and-7+’s faced on defense. That’s one box checked, but now they need to obviously improve second and third down performances.
“So, now it’s alright, now once we get them there, now what do we need to change?” Campbell said. “What do we need to do? What kind of packages do we need to run? And tighten up some of the players here on a few things.”
Ultimately, it’s clear he trusts Sheppard’s knowledge and teaching abilities to turn around six bad quarters of football.
“I believe he’s got a real good grasp of what offenses are trying to do. I think he’s got a good grasp of his own personnel. I think he’s doing a lot of the way we want to play here,” Campbell said. “And you know what? It didn’t work the other night and we didn’t coach it up good enough. And then we’ll adjust a little bit. We’ll adjust and we’ll get this thing back to where we need to get it. And it’s not going to all happen overnight, but as long as we just tighten a few things up and play a little bit better and a little more sound, that’ll go a long way.”
