It’s not just kneecaps opponents have to worry about when playing Dan Campbell-coached teams.
One of Campbell’s former players with the New Orleans Saints said Campbell, now the Detroit Lions head coach, had him ready to disfigure a different body part.
“Dan, he’s awesome,” Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater told reporters Wednesday. “His energy is contagious and I’m pretty sure those players in Detroit love playing for him. I was able to spend those two years with him in New Orleans and the things that he was able to do with those tight ends in that room — whenever he stood in front of the team and talked, you’re ready to just storm out of that meeting and punch a guy in the face for no reason.”
INJURY UPDATE: Lions RB D’Andre Swift ‘improving,’ but misses another practice
MAILBAG: Assessing Brad Holmes’ first draft as general manager
Bridgewater played the 2018-19 seasons in New Orleans, when Campbell was the team’s assistant head coach and tight ends coach.
He spent last season with the Carolina Panthers and was traded to Denver this offseason — after the Lions turned down a chance to acquire him as part of a trade for Matthew Stafford.
Stafford had a short list of preferred trade destinations that did not include Carolina. The Lions and sent him to the Los Angeles Rams for three draft picks and quarterback Jared Goff. The Panthers offered Bridgewater and first- and fifth-round picks in 2021.
In 12 games with the Broncos (6-6) this season, Bridgewater has thrown for 2,775 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Teddy Bridgewater because I think he’s a winner in this league,” Campbell said. “Man, he’ll hurt you in play-action pass. He’s going to be smart with the football. Even what happened last week (in the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs), they can possess the ball. We’ve got our hands full defensively.”
In New Orleans, Campbell said Bridgewater exuded leadership and was the type of player “who made everybody around him better.”
[ The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our best Lions content. ]
“He was a guy that on Saturdays would pull all of the young guys out,” Campbell said. “He was our backup quarterback, so he would take all of the young guys, all of the practice squad guys, any of the backups, and he would take them out and go through the whole game plan with them and run, run the routes, talk through them, talk to them, tell them what he wanted, everything.
“And so, not only is he going through the game plan himself to prepare, he’s making these young guys grow. He’s developing these young guys. He was ultra-competitive on practice squad. Our defense hated him. They had friendly wagers on who would connect, who wouldn’t, who would score, who wouldn’t. It was very competitive, but he made everybody around him better. That to me, that’s a sign of a winner.”
Shoulder bump
Any thought the Lions had of giving rookie offensive tackle Penei Sewell a week off to rest his ailing shoulder was put to rest last Saturday when Sewell went to Campbell and told him, “I’m playing.”
“There was no talking him out of it,” Campbell said Wednesday. “Man, he went in there and he helped us win. You never want a player to go in there and put themselves behind or (play with) an injury that you could make worse. But for a guy who knows what he’s capable of, especially a young guy and is willing to go in there and just bang away and help us win and produce, I think speaks volumes of this kid.”
Sewell missed one day of practice with flu-like symptoms last week and was listed as questionable to play against the Minnesota Vikings after being limited in practice last Friday with a shoulder injury.
Campbell said Sewell, who has started eight games and left tackle and four at right for the Lions this season, initially injured his shoulder on Thanksgiving.
Asked if there was a chance the Lions would have sat Sewell before he talked his way into the lineup, Campbell said. “There could have been. There may be might have been.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.