Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell appeared to at least slightly reverse course on Monday, declaring that he didn’t consider running back Jahmyr Gibbs accidentally leaking some of the team’s audibles and protection calls on social media to be a big deal.
“I don’t really give a crap,” Campbell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “If we’re going to lose because of code words then we’re not good enough anyway. So I think we’ll just post the whole fricking playbook out there and every code word we’ve got. And it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to hurt us, it won’t affect us and it’s all good.”
Campbell previously said he’d “rather our stuff not be out there” and then declined to comment on the incident.
With a bit more time to reflect on the situation, though, Campbell noted that most of the information contained in the post was probably readily available anyway.
“It’s on tape. The TV copy. I mean, you guys at home get more than we do, until after the game,” Campbell said. “I’m telling you, it’s crazy. Listen, it’s all out there and you can find any and everything that you need on the tape and how to attack people, how they’re going to attack you and no, listen, I’m not losing sleep over that.
“Now, do I want us posting stuff up from our locker room or our players or whatever? No, I don’t because you don’t know what’s going to happen with something like that. But no, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal.”
A few of the more notable calls that could be seen on a whiteboard behind Gibbs in the team’s running backs room included “Khloe-Kardashian” for a naked concept, “Caitlyn-Jenner” for a keeper, “Julia-Roberts” for a stutter, “Winfrey-Ellen” for a rollout and “Purple-Michigan-Wolverine” for a base run. (Teams will often use words containing either L or R to signify left vs. right in their audibles, so the different terms could involve checking to the same play on a different side of the formation.)
Given that these terms are out there now, though, it seems likely that the Lions will have some new checks ready for their Thursday night matchup with the division rival Green Bay Packers.
