Just before Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell had his Monday afternoon press conference, the team released the following statement on the status of linebacker Jack Campbell, who was sent to a nearby hospital after a fourth-quarter hit resulted in him, initially motionless, being strapped to a backboard.
“Jack Campbell continues to rest and recover at a local hospital. Preliminary indications are positive and out of respect for Jack and his family we will not share further information at this time.“
Campbell didn’t have a ton of substantive updates beyond that, but he did provide some important information. Here’s everything you need to know about what Dan Campbell said about Jack Campbell on Monday.
‘Your prayers are working’ for Jack Campbell
Campbell began the press conference reiterating that the initial news on Campbell is positive, and that the love, support, and prayers are helping.
“It’s positive,” Campbell said. “So your prayers are working. Please continue to do that. We’ll leave it at that. So, just continue to pray for him, but it is positive news on Jack.”
Players, coaches visited Jack Campbell in hospital Sunday night
Campbell said the team is updated on the specifics of Campbell’s condition, and some of them—including himself—were able to visit Campbell in the locker room, and the environment was optimistic.
“I got to go see him last night and it was good, it was positive,” Campbell said. “Got to see his parents, talked to his wife, and everybody’s in good spirits. ‘It’s about the recovery, and it’s a small setback.’ That’s the family. They’re very positive. So that’s good in that regard.”
As for the team, Campbell said “a lot of people went over there,” but not everyone got to see him with Jack going through tests throughout the evening.
How the Lions intend to proceed without Jack Campbell at linebacker
While it’s still unclear what Jack Campbell’s future in football looks like, the Lions will obviously have to proceed in the interim without him, and Dan Campbell expressed confidence that they have a deep linebacker room to get by. Unfortunately, they’ll also have to be without rookie Jimmy Rolder the rest of the way, who suffered a hamstring injury that will end his season and possibly require surgery.
“Luckily, we have some depth in there,” Campbell said. “With (Malcolm) Rodrigo and (Trevor) Nowaske and (Derrick) Barnes. Those three guys. And Amen’s (Ogbongbemiga) been up for us, which is good. And then we’ve got (Joe) Bachie ready to roll.”
That said, it certainly sounded like the Lions are open to adding some help at the position.
“We may need a little bit of help. We’re looking at everything. We’ll adjust as we go,” Campbell said. “(Lions GM) Brad (Holmes) and I will get together here this afternoon, tomorrow and figure some of this out.”
Keeping Jack Campbell in mind while going about their work
It won’t be easy for Lions players to be able to be present at work this week knowing that Jack Campbell is down, but Dan Campbell said they’ve already had discussions on balancing both headspaces.
“I think we acknowledge it. It’s not going away. That is what it is, and it’s important. He’s important to us, and that he’s okay is important,” Campbell said. “So we acknowledge that, we talk about it, and at the same time, we get ready for this next opponent. I think you kinda do a little bit of both, honestly.”
Jack Campbell’s an ‘unbelievable person’
You likely know by now how well respected Jack Campbell is, but Dan Campbell offered quite the character evaluation of Jack Campbell and what makes him such a special person.
“I don’t think I can really even put it into words. It’s one of the reasons why—look, you get voted captain. That says a ton, especially with this group of guys that has been assembled. He earned every bit of that. He’s a guy that—he’s trustworthy, he’s dependable. He’d give you the shirt off his back. He’s just all heart, man, all effort. And just an unbelievable person, he’s just an unbelievable person. Down to earth, very genuine, and he just—there’s not a man on this team that doesn’t respect Jack Campbell, care about him.”
Credit to Kevin O’Connell and Vikings’ classy response
Campbell made sure to make some time to thank Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell for his respectful response to Jack’s injury.
“The other thing I want to bring up—man, you go through these games in this league and the competition of it and everything you go through to try and win, and you’re going against an opponent like we were with the Vikings—just, Kevin O’Connell, man, he’s a class act,” Campbell said. “Just looking out for him, checking in on Jack. I know those guys said a prayer for Jack, and that just says a lot about the humanity of it. Man, we are highly competitive, this league is highly competitive, but it is a brotherhood. It just puts things into perspective, and these are human beings that have families, real lives. So it’s just a classy deal, man.”
O’Connell opened his post-game press conference Sunday afternoon talking about Campbell.
