Justin Rogers
Jan 07, 2025
Allen Park — The Detroit Lions earned this weekend off, and, by God, coach Dan Campbell intends to give his players, staff, and himself a brief breather before the team’s sprint to the finish line begins next week.
The Lions will practice once this week, a non-padded session on Thursday, before enjoying a long weekend away from the facility.
“Enjoy it, just sit back for a minute,” Campbell said he'll tell the players. “It’s really one of those things where, for the players, you just want to keep the engine idling. That’s probably the best way to say it. You don’t want to turn it off. Let’s just leave it in idle.
“…We’re going to bring them in Thursday, we’re going to go good-on-good at practice. Most of it will be situations; end of half, end of game. …It won’t be in pads but it will be end-of-game situations, probably an hour, just to stay in flow.”
It’s not a surprise the players are being given a long weekend to reset, but NFL coaches rarely get that kind of break. Still, Campbell wants his staff sharp, and without knowing who they're playing until late Sunday night at the earliest, he doesn’t want the assistants expending unnecessary energy preparing for
multiple possibilities.
“I’ve been a part of it as a player and a coach,” Campbell said. “You don’t know who you’re playing so then you start doing — you do leg work on another opponent and then you find out it’s not that opponent. I don’t want to do that to the coaches.
“My plan is to give them off three days this weekend, refresh, get your sleep, get your rest,” Campbell continued. “We’re going to know, hopefully by Sunday night, and then we come in (Monday morning) and we’ll know the opponent. Then we are full force on that.”
With everyone else enjoying some downtime, Campbell is going to make sure he gets some, as well.
“I’m going to get a little bit of work over the next two days,” Campbell said. “Like I said, we’ll practice and then I plan on getting out of here a little bit. I’ll have stuff with me, and there will be some little things that I’m working on — things I know that I can do better, get better at, things that I want to look at, do my own checklist as it pertains to us like over the last five weeks, six weeks — but other than that, I want to spend time with my family and just sit back for a minute and just charge back up and be ready to go.”
The time off should prove particularly valuable for Detroit’s coordinators, Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. It will allow them to focus on head-coaching interviews. Their window to conduct virtual interviews for those positions runs Wednesday through Sunday this week.
Had the Lions not received the bye, they’d be trying to juggle those opportunities while preparing for the upcoming opponent.
“I think that’s actually better,” Campbell said. “This time last year, they’re trying to do it, we didn’t have a bye or anything, and so you’re trying to get things — they’re trying to figure out ways to fit this in. You’d love to have the opportunity to go to the next thing, but you also have an obligation with the team you’re with. That’s impossible. That’s an impossible task.”
Glenn and Johnson are hot commodities for the six vacancies, with three teams requesting to talk to Detroit's offensive coordinator and Glenn drawing interest from four teams. With Las Vegas dismissing coach Antonio Pierce Tuesday afternoon, the request tally could grow for one or both.
Campbell offered a particularly strong endorsement for Glenn — who he brought to Detroit from New Orleans in 2021 — to open Tuesday’s media session.
“He’s as good a coach as you’re going to find, “ Campbell said. “He’s an even better human being. Look, if nobody wants him, I’ll take him again. I can tell you that right now. The thought of going through another cycle and he’s not somebody’s head coach is ridiculous. I mean this guy is as good as they come, and he can do it all. He understands how to manage a game, he understands offense, defense, special teams. He knows how to communicate. He understands discipline of players and he’s motivating, he’s inspiring.
“I don’t want to lose him, but I also root for the guy because I just think he’s a hell of a coach,” Campbell said.
