The Detroit Lions roster was shaken after their unexpected loss to the Washington Commanders.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown sent head coach Dan Campbell a text at 4 a.m. following the Lions’ 45-31 defeat in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
“St. Brown texted me at four in the morning yesterday,” Campbell shared during his end-of-season media session. “It shows how much it eats at these guys.
They’re the right players for us, and that’s why I’m confident. It’s what gives me hope—we’ll come back better, learn from this, and use it as fuel to keep pushing forward.”
Detroit’s fourth-year head coach acknowledged the team didn’t meet all their goals, despite being viewed as serious Super Bowl contenders.
“I keep saying this: when you have the right people, the right mindset, failure only makes you stronger. You come back better.
I believe that,” Campbell said. “I’ve had my share of setbacks, but they make you hungrier.
The hardest thing is sustaining success, like what New England and Bill Belichick did for years. That’s incredible. As for us, we had big goals, and falling short stings.”
The loss also weighs heavily on Campbell, who plans to channel that disappointment into motivation for the next season.
“We achieved two of our goals this year and even exceeded expectations compared to last year, but we didn’t progress further, and that’s tough to swallow,” Campbell admitted.
“It eats at me, but it also drives me and motivates me to push even harder.”
