Detroit Lions Jack Campbell Adapts to Playing SAM Linebacker

The Detroit Lions certainly picked up their pass-rushing efforts in their Week 3 win against the Atlanta Falcons. After starting off the season with just one sack, Detroit sacked Atlanta quarterback Desmond Ridder seven times on Sunday.

Rookie linebacker Jack Campbell joined in the sack party, recording the first sack of his young career.

“It felt good, obviously any time you can make a play like that and help your team in any way you can,” Campbell said of bringing Ridder down to the Ford Field turf Sunday. “But, for me right now, it’s still just in this phase of learning from the veterans, trying to improve every single day and be the best version of myself every single day.”

The Iowa product delivered the sack as the clock hit zero on the first half, and instead of doing any kind of fancy celebration to commemorate it, Campbell decided to simply run off to the locker room.

Playing SAM linebacker

On top of the sack, Campbell recorded six total tackles, including a tackle for loss, all while taking on a new position: SAM linebacker. It was the first opportunity he had this season to take snaps at the linebacker spot most commonly designated for pass-rushing specialists.

“I mean, right now, that’s something that obviously, I haven’t really gotten a lot of experience as an on-the-ball backer,” Campbell expressed regarding playing SAM linebacker. “But, right now, I’m taking anything that’s been given to me. Whatever role I get, I’m going to own it to the best of my ability, and just be that piece of the defense that, if the coaches expect that out of me, then they’re going to get that out of me.

“Right now, obviously, just starting to kind of morph into some pass-rush stuff, like setting edges… Honestly, it helps me learn the whole defense, because now that I’m playing a different position, I know kind of what they’re feeling back in the middle. So, honestly, it’s fantastic, and I’m just going to own my role, in whatever way I can help the team.”

He’s also proven to be a stout run defender early on during his NFL career, earning a Pro Football Focus run-defense grade of 75.7 through three weeks. Additionally, he helped the Lions’ defense limit Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson to just 33 rushing yards, a week after the first-year back accumulated 124 yards on the ground against the Green Bay Packers.

For Campbell and his defensive counterparts, now it’s on to Green Bay Thursday and to attempting to limit the production of Packers quarterback Jordan Love and running back Aaron Jones. Campbell knows that Detroit will have its hands full with Green Bay’s offensive weapons, including its running back duo of Jones and AJ Dillon.

“I feel like Green Bay does a really good job. They have a couple of veteran guys upfront and also their back, No. 33 (Jones), they’re probably expecting him to be back this week. So, with just what they present and No. 28 (Dillon), they’ve got dynamic playmakers,” Campbell said. “I feel like their receivers, they can do a lot of unique things. And, I feel like their quarterback (Love) leads that offense in a great way. Obviously, it’s his first season leading that team. I think he’s done a tremendous job, so we’re going to have our hands full.”

Low-key celebration

According to the former Hawkeyes linebacker, the low-key celebration and his business-like approach to his play are a result of his upbringing, both on and off the field.

“I would say that it (his style of play) is a blueprint of all the people who have poured into my life, whether that be my family or the coaches at the University of Iowa and now here. I just feel like I’m just kind of who I was mentored by,” Campbell told reporters Monday. “But, yeah, I’m enjoying it. I’m having a lot of fun, but again, for me, it’s just like how I was brought up. I’m always trying to look to do another thing.

“But, at the end of the day, yeah, I do sit back, and I’m proud of what I’ve done. But, right now, at this point in time, I’m not worried about what I’m doing. I’m worried about what the team is doing, the defense is doing, because ultimately, if we want to reach where we’re going to reach, you can’t have people thinking on an individual basis. That’s something I learned from Iowa. When I say who I am, it’s from everyone who’s poured into me to create who I am today.”

To Campbell’s credit, early into his pro career, he’s also learned the importance of never getting too down on himself after a negative play. According to the first-year linebacker, it’s one of the biggest ways in which he’s grown since training camp.