NFC Notes: Dan Campbell, Sam Darnold, Kevin O’Connell, Lions, Vikings

Lions

During a recent radio appearance, Lions HC Dan Campbell revealed that he wasn’t surprised by the team’s slow start this season and also added he won’t be shocked to see it continue with hopes to be working like a well-oiled machine at the bye week.

“I’m not shocked. I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t be shocked if we’re not cooking by the time we get to the bye. Sometimes it takes a minute,” Campbell said, via LionsWire.com. “All those great offenses we’ve had in New Orleans, the great offenses we’ve had here over the last three years, man, it’s not always perfect early, so I’m not rattled or shaken by this at all. We are so much closer than a lot of people realize. Our players understand it, the coaches understand it. But we just have to correct, really, those issues that came up the other day. Just the small little details and the nuances of the game plan per the opponent, because we made so many improvements from the Rams game.”

Lions

Lions DL Levi Onwuzurike said DC Aaron Glenn challenged them to become playmakers given Detroit is mostly known for their explosive offense. 

“That’s the emphasis AG put on us this offseason,” Onwuzurike said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s site. “The offense is our focal point and he wanted us to be the focal point. Everybody took that into their hands, and you see our linebackers flowing when the D-line is holding the gaps. You see the DBs playing better than they’ve ever played. It starts with AG and how he wanted us to play, and we’ve all grown through this defense. We are just growing and continuing to grow.”

Lions HC Dan Campbell had high praise of Onwuzurike’s performance in Week 2, along with DT D.J. Reader. 

“That D-line, like Levi (Onwuzurike) played out of his mind,” Campbell said. “Levi played outstanding and having (DJ) Reader made a huge impact. He was in there 25 snaps, but they were impressive, valuable snaps to have.”

Onwuzurike is excited to get DL Marcus Davenport back from injury. 

“I’m excited for that,” Onwuzurike said. “DJ came back and it’s already looking more dangerous. We already know once Marcus comes back, we saw what he does Week 1. It’s only going to get more and more dangerous … we have a squad upfront.”

• The Lions hosted CB Morice Norris for a workout on Tuesday, per Aaron Wilson. 

Vikings

Vikings QB Sam Darnold has had a career resurgence over the first two games of the 2024 season, leading Minnesota to a 2-0 record. Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell talked about putting Darnold in the best position to succeed and reflected on the impressive throws Darnold made.

“I view it as my job on a minute-to-minute, daily basis to get a great coaching staff and a lot of really great players around him,” O’Connell said, via SI.com’s Albert Breer. “My goal has been to build him up with a unique opportunity here, give him as many resources as we can within our offense, but also allow him to truly feel that he’s supported, he’s believed in. His teammates absolutely adore the guy.”

“That was just a guy playing with big field vision and putting a ball on a rope exactly where we wanted, placing it where it just becomes a long handoff. It’s a good coverage, good defense, good play call by them. We got ourselves a chance on that. He makes a throw right there that I’m not sure many guys playing today are making.”