The Detroit Lions suffered multiple unfortunate injuries during Sunday's 48–42 loss to the Buffalo Bills, with some of those players forced to miss the rest of the season.
Hearing all this injury news would be difficult for any head coach to hear, especially at this point in the season, but Lions coach Dan Campbell found a way to twist the negatives into positives, of course.
He acknowledges that the Lions can't dwell on these injuries if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs. The team has to trust the backup players they have on the roster.
"We acknowledge the fact that we've lost players, we've lost really good players, but nobody cares," Campbell said. "I mean, nobody cares and nobody's gonna give us a pass or give us an asterisk next to your record. So what it means is some guys are gonna have an unbelievable opportunity. Because of what has happened, that means now, man, you're a guy who's on the vet squad or you're a young player or you're somebody who's been dying to get an opportunity, you're about to get it.
"So that's a pretty cool thing, that's a pretty inspiring thing. What are you gonna do with it? And it's up to us to give them a plan to where they can succeed. I've said it before: We play with three units here, and we'll do what we have to do to win a game. And that's all that matters. That's all that matters from here on out is that you just need to have one more point than the opponent. Period."
The four Lions players who received unfortunate injury news on Monday include running back David Montgomery with a torn MCL, defensive lineman Alim McNeill with a torn ACL, cornerback Carlton Davis III with a fractured jaw and cornerback Khalil Dorsey with an ankle injury. Davis is the only player in this list who has a probable chance to return in the postseason.
The 12-2 Lions already clinched a playoff spot, so they will be hoping to make another deep playoff run. Detroit will face the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dan Campbell Had Honest Admission on Mindset Amid Lions' Injury Issues.
