Tag: Sam LaPorta

Lions Dan Campbell says the real fun starts now; injury update on LaPorta, others

ALLEN PARK — The wildcard home matchup against the Los Angeles Rams excites Lions coach Dan Campbell. No surprise there. He lives for this.

The coach loves that the Rams are a hot team – they’ve won seven of their last eight. They are also a team the LIons haven’t faced since 2021, a regular season loss in L.A.

“I like that, I like the newness of it,’’ Campbell said on Monday.

The Lions wrapped up the regular season with a  30-20 win over the Vikings on Sunday at Ford Field and a 12-5 record. They clinched the NFC North title a few weeks ago.

“It’s been fun, but this is when it gets really fun. This is why you do, this is why you coach, why you play for these moments right here,’’ Campbell said.

While he is more into game-planning he certainly does understand the underlying storyline of Matthew Stafford returning to Detroit and Goff facing his former team. Oh, and GM Brad Holmes came to Detroit via the Rams.

The coach gets it.

“It’s a reminder too, though, and Goff knows this, for example. We win as a team,’’ Campbell said. “This is about the Lions vs. the Rams. We win with three phases here and he’s a huge part of that and all he has to do is his part and he knows that, do what he’s been doing all year.’’

Injury update

Tight end Sam LaPorta has an outside shot at playing on Sunday, according to Campbell. They will know more in 48 hours. LaPorta left Sunday’s game with a knee injury. The coach said he is  talking days, not weeks. 

Immediately after the game, Campbell said LaPorta’s injury wasn’t as bad as it looked. It would be a boost if he can get in against the Rams.

The coach also said WR/PR Kalif Raymond (knee) is basically in the same situation as LaPorta although maybe a little behind.

WR Jameson Williams, who did not play Sunday due to an ankle injury and illness, is expected back at practice this week and should be ready to play against the Rams. 

LB James Houston (ankle) will practice, but it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to go. TE Brock Wright (hip) could also practice this week after missing a month of play.

Also, DE John Cominsky was inactive Sunday because Campbell wanted to give him a rest. Said he’d put on a lot of hard miles this season with all the dirty work he does.

NEXT UP: Los Angeles Rams (10-7) at Detroit Lions (12-5), 8 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field in the wildcard playoff game.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back with a 42-17 win over the Broncos

DETROIT — After losing two of three, and coming off a loss at the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions were able to get back in gear with a 42-17 win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night at Ford Field.

“We just needed a win and we did that today. Look, we just cleaned up a couple things, focused on our job at hand, the details of it,’’ Lions coach Dan Campbell said “Honestly we didn’t start real hot early, we didn’t. We can’t do that, we can’t accept that – not with where we’re going. But we got out of it, the defense played well and found a rhythm. I thought (Jared) Goff played a really good game, a number of guys did.’’

With the win the Lions climb to 10-4 and can clinch a playoff spot with some help on Sunday. Two of their remaining three games are against the Vikings who lost on Saturday in overtime to the Bengals.

The Broncos had won six of seven entering Saturday’s game but were no match for the Lions who played one of their best games in several weeks.

Five reasons the Lions won: 

1. Jared Goff set a career-high with five touchdown passes. He started the game passing on the first five snaps which seemed odd but in the long run it worked. The ice was broken with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta early in the second quarter. Goff was poised and never threw an interception. In fact, the Lions never turned the ball over which had been an issue. Goff was 24 of 34 for 278 yards and five TDs.

2. While the offense took a bit to get heated up, the defense ran out of the tunnel on fire. They held the Broncos to just 75 total net yards in the first half and just 1 of 6 on third-down attempts. “I just thought we were well prepared, we had a real good feel on what we were going to get, we knew what we had to take care of, we couldn’t let (Courtland) Sutton get going, we couldn’t let him launch,’’ Campbell said. Sutton was held to five catches for 71 yards.

3. In the loss at Chicago, LaPorta and Amon-Ra St Brown never were much of a factor. That all changed. When you’ve got offensive weapons like those two, you get them the ball. LaPorta had 5 catches for  56 yards and an amazing 3 touchdowns. St. Brown had seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. 

4. Campbell gave credit to defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for calling a good game. It was the same with offensive guru Ben Johnson. Nothing risky was needed since the Lions held a 21-0 lead at the half. They got key guys involved and made a few effective changes on defense.

5. Much of the game was about attitude. You didn’t expect this bunch to shrug their collective shoulders after losing two of the previous three games and they certainly did not. Campbell keeps them on track. “The ability for our team to win against somebody of (Sean Payton’s) stature, a Super Bowl winning coach who does it right. It’s good, it’s a good win because I know what he’s about,’’ Campbell said. “I’m happy for our guys, that we got the win here, we needed it. We got to 10, now we’ve got 3 to go.’’

UP NEXT: The Lions play at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Dec. 24, then at Dallas on Dec. 30 and finish the regular season at home on Jan. 6 or 7.

Lions rookie TE Sam LaPorta continues to impress and shatter records

Campbell was an NFL TE, but won’t compare himself to LaPorta

ALLEN PARK — Lions coach Dan Campbell was an NFL tight end for 10 seasons so he has a little insight into Sam LaPorta’s world, but apparently not too much.

Campbell is first to admit he didn’t have near the impact as LaPorta has shown through 12 games of his rookie season.

“First of all I don’t know what that’s like, I know what the run game part of it is like. I have no idea what it’s like to go out there, get open, run routes and catch some balls. I was never even close to that,’’ Campbell said on Monday. 

Sure enough in Campbell’s rookie season with the Giants he played in a dozen games with one start and had zero receptions. In his 10-year career he had 91 catches and 11 touchdowns.

It’s fair to say that LaPorta, who was drafted 34th overall, is a different animal. In fact it’s scary to think how good he can become. 

LaPorta received the game ball after his nine catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 33-28 win at New Orleans. He became the first tight end in NFL history to produce at least 60 receptions, 600 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns through the first 12 games of a player’s career.

Not bad. And, as Campbell said, it’s not all about the stats, he is a complete player.

“It is not easy to play this position as a rookie and to do all we’re asking him to do because he does it all, it’s in the run game, it’s protection and then you see the pass production. That’s what everybody sees, the numbers, the separation,’’ Campbell said. “But nobody has any true idea of all the other stuff he does for us. That’s what a tight end does. I’m glad he’s ours.’’

Campbell said LaPorta just keeps growing.

“He doesn’t say a word, he just goes to work, he’s hard on himself but he never gets down, he never feels sorry for himself when he makes a mistake, it drives him,’’ Campbell said. “I know this, in critical times of the game he always shows up. It’s not easy but he’s making it look easy, I know that.’’

In a solid four-year college career at Iowa, LaPorta had just five touchdown catches. He’s surpassed that mark and the Lions have five regular season games remaining.

Here’s a few other crazy stats from Sunday’s win:

— He became the sixth rookie tight end in NFL history, and first since 1995, to produce a game with 140 receiving yards and a touchdown. 

— He recorded his sixth touchdown reception of the season, passing TE David Hill (five in 1976) for the second-most a Lions rookie has produced.

— LaPorta has produced seven five-catch games this season. This ties for the second-most by a rookie tight end in NFL history and for the second-most by a tight end in franchise history. 

— His 64 receptions are the second-most a Lions rookie has had in a season, regardless of position. The team record is 90 catches, set by WR Amon-Ra St. Brown in 2021.

INJURY UPDATE: Center Frank Ragnow, who injured his knee Sunday, got good news from tests on Monday but Campbell says that doesn’t mean he will play Sunday … LB Alex Anzalone (hand) could have a chance to play this week after sitting Sunday. … DL Alim MacNeil, who was injured Sunday, could miss this week’s game.

UP NEXT: Lions (9-2) at Chicago Bears (4-8), 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10. The Lions beat the Bears, 31-26, in their first meeting.