Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell joined "Costa and Jansen" on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Tuesday morning to share his thoughts on the Lions' 32-26 "Sunday Night Football" loss at the Carolina Panthers and to look ahead to Detroit's Week 5 date at the Arizona Cardinals.
Jon Jansen opened the interview by asking coach Campbell what the No. 1 thing is that he wants to see the Detroit Lions' defense do better this week if he could only pick one thing.
"I want our guys to be where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there. We need to be on point. Our discipline has got to clean up. And what happens is, it goes back into that, when one guy makes an error, man, we've got three more trying to cover for him instead of just doing
your job.
"We've got a little bit of a trust issue right now. And so, we've got to get back to the basics of doing your job. Simply be where you're supposed to be. Listen, we applied a lot of pressure the other day, and if we get in these spots we're supposed to be in, either it's a sack, it's a stop, or it's a turnover," Campbell said.
Through four weeks, the Lions' defense is ranked last in the NFL in both passing defense (304 passing yards allowed per game) and total defense (423.8 yards allowed per game). Detroit is ranked second-to-last in the NFL in scoring defense (31.8 points allowed per game).
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was the latest signal-caller to light up the Lions' secondary, throwing for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Second-year receiver Tetairoa McMillan registered career-highs in both catches (14) and receiving yards (192) yards. McMillan caught both of Young's touchdown passes.
Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard also ran for 122 yards and two scores.
Jansen asked Campbell if he's surprised that the Lions' defensive shortcomings are as big of an issue for Detroit as they are.
"Yeah, I would like to believe that we would have cleaned some of this stuff up, but I also know it's a work in progress, and you continue to coach it up. We'll make a tweak on some of this personnel a little bit. We're going to get some other guys an opportunity and go man. But we're not going to accept mediocrity. That's not what we're doing here. So, we've got too many guys playing at a high level, and we're going to raise the floor on this team," Campbell said.
Detroit (2-2) plays Arizona (1-3) on Sunday, Oct. 11 with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox. The Lions will look to slow a Cardinals offense that features quarterback Jacoby Brissett, running back Jeremiyah Love, and tight end Trey McBride.
The Lions opened as favorites.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions' Dan Campbell shares 1 thing he most wants to see from defense vs Cardinals
