Pressers and scrums: MVP talk dismissed, Lions loving NFC rivals keeping pace and Sheppard ready for DC opportunity

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Allen Park — Here are the greatest hits from Wednesday’s media access at the Detroit Lions practice practice facility.

MVP chatter not moving needle

The outside world might view this week’s game between Buffalo and Detroit as a matchup between a pair of MVP candidates, quarterbacks Jared Goff and Josh Allen, but that’s predictably not a conversation in the building.

“I guarantee you that’s not Goff’s focus,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Winning the MVP, that’s icing on the cake, but I know for us, man, if you just focus on the win and what it’s going to take to win this game, whatever comes out of that, the individual accolades will follow. You’ll turn around, look back and you’ll realize, ‘All right, this is what’s transpired because we’ve won.’ So, I’m not worried about it, he’s not worried about it, we’ve just got to find a way to win.”

Goff, who typically talks on Wednesdays, also wasn’t interested in the conversation. Asked what it meant to be listed among the contenders for the award this late in the season, the QB was dismissive.

“To be honest, not much,” Goff said. “Sure, I’ve been playing well, but a lot of guys have been playing well though. If you’re a quarterback on a good team, you’re probably going to be in that conversation and it’s a credit to all the guys on the squad. We’ve had a really good year up to this point, we’ve got to finish it off. Sure, it’s cool to be recognized in some ways but it doesn’t really mean anything. I want to be holding that trophy at the end of the year, and I know that’s what matters.”

According to FanDuel, Allen is the sizable favorite for the award at -450. He’s followed by Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (+550), Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (+1400), then Goff (+1700).

Allen pulled away from the pack with a six-touchdown performance in last week’s game against the Rams, throwing for three and running for the other half. On the season, he’s posted a 23-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio, while adding another 416 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. All totaled, he’s leading the league in QBR.

Goff, meanwhile, has a better completion percentage and has thrown for more yards and touchdowns, but has twice as many interceptions, with next-to-no impact as a runner.

Shootout on tap?

The Bills rank second in the NFL in scoring behind only the Lions, but the Bills' consistency is something to behold. They’ve scored at least 30 points each of their past seven games and 10 times this season, overall.

Last week, the Lions played another high-powered scoring attack, which factored into the team's decision to go for it on fourth down five times in the contest.

I asked Campbell if he was feeling a similar way heading into this matchup, believing the Lions will need to score at least 30 to keep pace.

“Yeah, I mean, certainly we need offensive output, that goes without saying,” Campbell said. “I mean, this team, even when you play good, it’s going to be hard to completely shut this team down, shut this offense down. But yet, there again, the guys that we do have that have only been here for a short period of time, I expect them to be better than even last week. And I made the point, all these guys(we added) are football players. It’s not like these guys can’t play football that are in here. So, I expect us to be better in that area.

“We’ll have a good gameplan and I just see us playing better defensively,” Campbell said. “I think we’re going to show up. We’re going to do some things, offense has got to, certainly, score points, preferably touchdowns, not field goals, and then we need something out of our special teams. Our special teams unit needs to show up for us. Field position will be huge in this game.”

What shines through in those comments is a confidence the defense will be better prepared with the newer additions having an extra 10 days to get acclimated to the scheme and their expectations in it.

The Lions could also be getting some reinforcements on that side of the ball, although it remains to be seen. All of Detroit’s injured players took part in practice on Wednesday, in a limited capacity. Their status for Sunday’s game won’t be revealed until later in the week.

Praise for ownership

Because she works behind the scenes and rarely comments publicly, the impact of owner Sheila Hamp doesn’t get the attention it deserves. But any chance Campbell gets to talk about what his boss means to the operation, he’s ready to lavish her with praise.

“In my opinion, without having the right ownership, it’s hard to get to a point where you can have success and sustain it,” Campbell said. “I think it’s very hard. So, we have the right ownership, and Sheila’s outstanding, she gives us everything we need, she is very supportive, and she speaks her mind with me, and I appreciate that.”

Loving the pressure cooker

Last week, ahead of the team’s game with Green Bay, Campbell made an unprompted comment about being happy the Vikings had pulled off a come-from-behind win to top the Arizona Cardinals.

That’s not a sentiment shared by the fanbase, who would prefer the Lions have more than a one-game lead over the Vikings in the NFC North race. Regardless, Campbell elaborated Wednesday, expressing a preference for constant pressure.

“I love it,” Campbell said. “I think it’s great. I think it’s great for us. I think it does, it keeps you sharp. I’ve mentioned this before, I think we do well with pressure and it’s the right kind of friction and stress that we need and it’s motivating. So, yeah, I love it, I think it’s great. Look, nobody’s going to lose, nobody’s losing, so we’re going.”

The Vikings moved to 11-2 over the weekend, beating the Atlanta Falcons and former quarterback Kirk Cousins. They’ve now won six in a row after back-to-back losses that started with a Week 7 home defeat to the Lions.

The teams are slated to play again in the season finale. If the Lions win the next three games, they’ll lock the division up. But if they slip up at any point during that stretch, and the Vikings maintain their winning ways, the finale would decide the division and potentially the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown used his time off this weekend to check out the competition. He watched both the Vikings and Eagles, the conference's other top contender, on split screens. 

"Yeah, I think you can never really exhale in this league," St. Brown said. "With everyone winning, it definitely keeps us motivated, keeps us going. Sometimes, at this point in the season, you're like, 'All right, let's get to the playoffs' or 'We can't wait for the regular season to end,' but we've got to keep going and build this momentum up to the playoffs. I think that's the biggest thing. 

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

Fans tend to ignore Pro Football Focus’ grading if it doesn’t tell them what they want to hear, but in the case of linebacker Jack Campbell, the publication is as high on the performance of the second-year linebacker as anyone.

Among players at the position who have logged at least half of their team’s defensive snaps, Campbell is ranked sixth out of 57 players.

Position coach Kelvin Sheppard agrees Campbell has been meeting and exceeding expectations.

“I couldn't be happier than the way he’s progressed,” Sheppard said. “I think if you go back to the spring, I spoke with some of you all about his progression as a player coming in last year; no matter the route he went, the vision me, (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) AG, Dan had for that player, from what we saw on his tape, we knew there were things that needed to be corrected. And Jack took full accountability. Now you're seeing that out there on the field.”

Sheppard said he told Campbell before the Green Bay game that he was playing among, if not at the best level of any linebacker in the league the past month.

Campbell is pacing the Lions with 98 tackles (five for a loss), 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Rounding a corner

After the second week of the season, when running back Jahmyr Gibbs caught seven passes for a paltry 22 yards, I asked position coach Scottie Montgomery what the back needed to do to unlock better production as a backfield receiver.

Montgomery acknowledged Gibbs still had some rust to knock off after missing a significant portion of the offseason program, but the coaching staff also needed to do a better job getting him the ball facing the defense.

It didn’t happen overnight, with zero receptions in the next two games, but Gibbs’ receiving role has been steadily growing. He’s now on the cusp of surpassing his rookie production while averaging 9.2 yards per grab vs. 6.1 in 2023.

“That’s what we get to see when we practice,” Montgomery said. “A lot of times people don’t get to see practice, but whether we’re in one-on-one drills or we’re in RVAs, which is what we call 'route versus air, you can just see the development. His feet are getting tighter, he’s got much better pad level, he’s changing direction with full-speed routes.

“…He does have the natural ability to run the football with speed, but there are vision things, also, that you have to do in the run game. And then in the pass game, really it's his body control. A lot of times, as a back, you’re always in control until you can burst full-speed. But at the receiver position, you’re full speed, and then you have to get body control.”

Montgomery also noted Gibbs has been putting in extra work with Goff in between practice segments, which is further bolstering the chemistry between the QB and the target.

Next coach up

Many are expecting Glenn to earn a head-coaching opportunity this offseason given the impressive performance of Detroit’s defense in the face of a staggering number of injuries.

If that happens, Sheppard is expected to be among the internal candidates to backfill the defensive coordinator position. On Wednesday, the linebacker coach was asked if he felt ready for that opportunity.

“I would be lying to you to say no,” Sheppard said. “Absolutely. And that's what happens here. It's not just the players within the building (who are developing), but it's the coaches, as well. I’m very appreciative of the way that Dan, (general manager) Brad (Holmes), AG have structured this thing to kind of put you in leadership roles within your own room. There are many times AG allows me to speak up in front of the defense and things like that. They don't have to do those things.

“I have friends that coach in other buildings, and I know that they're not afforded those opportunities, so I don't take them lightly,” Sheppard said. “Every day I step foot in this place, it's an unbelievable opportunity to grow as a person, as a player, being able to watch how Dan operates. I had the ability to watch him operate, being in the locker room as a player down in Miami, and now as a coach, so on both ends of that spectrum. I can tell you I would rather not have the opportunity to learn from another man than him. And then schematically, the things that AG has done with the personnel these last four years, I mean, he's (finally) just getting this kind of, I guess, recognition.”

Sheppard played eight seasons in the NFL. After a year as the director of player development at his alma mater, LSU, he joined the Lions coaching staff in 2021. Initially leading the outside linebackers, he was promoted to take over the entire room ahead of the 2022 campaign.

Injury report

As is our new tradition, here’s a link to the latest information on all of Detroit’s injuries.