Detroit Free Press

Dan Campbell is genuine. It’s one of his most endearing qualities as head coach. There is no pretense about Campbell, no charade. What you see is who he is, and if you’ve followed the NFL long enough, you know for people in positions of power that isn’t always the case. Campbell isn’t the first NFL

MINNEAPOLIS — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett breaks down the Detroit Lions’ 19-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and looks at players who helped and hurt their stock Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium: Stock up LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin: Maybin has seen the most extensive defensive action of his career the past three weeks, since the

Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Lions fans learning a lot about team with another tough loss Free Press sports writers Dave Birkett and Jeff Seidel break down the Detroit Lions’ 19-17 loss to the Vikings on Oct. 10, 2021, in Minneapolis. Dave Birkett and Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press MINNEAPOLIS — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell

MINNEAPOLIS — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 19-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Quarterback Turnovers have killed the Lions this season, and Jared Goff has been the primary culprit. Goff committed his sixth and seventh turnovers of the season Sunday, losing a fumble on

MINNEAPOLIS — He rearranged the recorders in front of him, scratched nervously at the corner of his mouth and looked off into the distance with glassy eyes. For 7 long seconds, Dan Campbell tried to keep his emotions in check Sunday, but after the Detroit Lions lost their second heartbreaker on an improbable field goal

The Detroit Lions’ already-thin receiving corps is down another weapon. Second-year receiver Quintez Cephus suffered what Lions coach Dan Campbell called a likely serious shoulder injury with 59 seconds left in the first half of Sunday’s 19-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Cephus, who had emerged as the Lions’ top receiver in recent weeks, was

Don’t you dare say it. If you have an ounce of sympathy or, at the very least, if you bothered to closely watch the Detroit Lions’ 19-17 last-second loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, you don’t dare say it. Because you can’t say it about this Lions team. They don’t deserve the ignominious indignity

Free Press sports writer Carlos Monarrez answers three questions about the Detroit Lions’ 19-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday: Was Dan Campbell too conservative? A week after being too aggressive in Chicago, when he went for it and failed on two critical fourth downs, the Lions’ coach learned his lesson and didn’t pass

Free Press sports writers make their predictions for the Detroit Lions‘ game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium (1 p.m., Fox) in Week 5 of the NFL season: Dave Birkett Dave Campbell held his fingers a sliver apart to illustrate how thin the Lions’ margin for error was when I sat down with

Jared Goff has seen it before. Lived it, in fact. Goff was a rookie in 2016 when the Los Angeles Rams were one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Rams went 4-12 that season and finished the year on a seven-game losing streak that sucked the life out of the locker room. “It

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  When it comes to looking for their first win of the season, the Detroit Lions aren’t exactly trending in the right direction. A disheartening loss in Chicago against a bad Bears team doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for this week’s road game against the Minneapolis Vikings, who took an early lead on the 3-1

A.J. Parker was one of three undrafted rookies to make the Detroit Lions‘ Week 1 roster. Parker has been a key player in the Lions secondary this fall. He sat down to answer five questions for the Free Press this week. Who is the best cornerback in NFL history and why? The best cornerback in

T.J. Hockenson walked into his weekly news conference Friday with a beads of sweat on his forehead, a sign — perhaps — that the Detroit Lions‘ tight end will be ready to play Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. “I don’t know if that says anything, but obviously a couple more days left and we’ll see how

Detroit Lions secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant learned a valuable lesson from his sideline blowup with cornerback Jeff Okudah last month. “I learned that you don’t want to be clickbait,” Pleasant said Friday in his first public comments since the exchange. “Perception is reality at times. I also learned that I communicate very well and sometimes

Trey Flowers is ready to put a rough 11 months behind him. Flowers has missed 11 of the Detroit Lions’ past 13 games with an assortment of knee, shoulder and forearm injuries, but the outside linebacker is expected to return to action Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings after practicing Thursday for the second straight day.

Bobby Price had the worst game of his short NFL career last week. The second-year defensive back was victimized for four passes of at least 20 yards in the Detroit Lions‘ 24-14 loss to the Chicago Bears and benched in favor of undrafted rookie Jerry Jacobs. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said Jacobs will see an expanded

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify The Detroit Lions are preparing for the worst when it comes to Penei Sewell’s availability for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, but holding out hope the rookie will be on the field. “Right now, we’re planning on going without him, but if he’s ready, that’d be great,” offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn said

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify You can already hear the whispers around Allen Park, the mumblings and the grumblings. Oh-and-17. And this was just from the phalanx of media gathered for Wednesday’s news conference with Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell. Sorry, but enough of us covered this team in 2008 to still be triggered by a winless start

Evan Brown walked into the makeshift interview room in a garage in back of the Detroit Lions practice facility Wednesday and marveled at the setup: Light stands illuminating a lectern cordoned off by retractable ropes, with a gaggle of reporters waiting for him to step up to the microphone. “Look at this,” he said. For

Show Caption Hide Caption Crucial ‘What if’ moments of the decade in Detroit sports Our Detroit pro teams had plenty of “What if” moments in a mostly disastrous decade. Here are a few favorites for Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, Lions. Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press Here we go again.  It’s another milestone day putting into