97.1 FM's Will Burchfield talks Lions win, Jack Campbell injury

Alright, Lions with a big win against the Minnesota Vikings, but all the concern is for Jack Campbell. Let's start there. Will Birchfield, Lions game day live, 97-1 the ticket here, and Will, on any other Monday, we would be going nuts over that win yesterday against the Vikings, and maybe there will be time to do that, but you were at the stadium yesterday, and I'm sure you could hear a pin drop when he was down. Yeah, you could. It was devastating. Deathly quiet in that stadium for a good 10 minutes. It was a horrifying, horrific scene. And we cover these players as just that most of the time as just pieces on a football field that can help the team win or lose. But as he's lying face first on his stomach, arms motionless at his side yesterday, for me anyways, I'm thinking about Jack Campbell as a husband and Jack Campbell as a father of a baby boy who... He will be five months old tomorrow, November 3rd, and it's a reminder that these players are humans. And from what I understand, his wife and their five-month-old baby boy were in the tunnel awaiting him as he was carted up the tunnel and off the field, and then with him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. So several players remarked about the challenge in having to Remove yourself from the game as a human and then immediately lock back in when play resumes just seconds later. And as Jack Campbell is being carted up the tunnel, strapped to a backboard, motionless, the intro to Hell's Bells is tolling because it's fourth and five and the Vikings are going for it and the Lions are desperate for a stop. And as Aidan Hutchinson is flying off the edge, pressuring Kyler Murray on that play, he still has tears in his eyes having just rebuckled Buckle this helmet for the biggest play of the game. So a highly emotional moment at Ford Field yesterday. When you paint that kind of a picture, it does invoke all kinds of feelings for these people as human beings. I mean, these players are human beings, and their brother out there was motionless. It was motionless. It's incredible. And to play an entire quarter of football. In a bruising game against that team, that was as hard hitting a game. And it wasn't just Campbell that went out. Two other Lions with head injuries that went out. On the same play, friendly fire, when Brian Branch collides head-to-head, helmet-to-helmet with DJ Wanham in a high-speed collision. Both those players are ruled out from that point on. Jimmy Roelder gets hurt on the same play as Jack Campbell. For a minute, it wasn't clear which injury was more severe of those two as they're both lying motionless on their stomachs on the field. So yesterday was a pretty clear distillation of the violence. of football. I do think the Lions did right by Jack Campbell in his absence. In some ways it felt wrong for the game to proceed so quickly and casually after such a horrifying injury. In other ways, Jack Campbell would never want the game of football to stop, especially on his behalf. And as Aidan Hutchinson said afterwards when I asked him, Jack is such a ball guy that He would have wanted nothing else than for us to lock back in. Finish that game and get the win. And that's what they did really on both sides of the ball by playing Jack Campbell football, which is smart. Physical and tough. And that's how they beat the Vikings yesterday. And we hope to get an update on Jack Campbell at some point today. Dan Campbell talks in his weekly Monday Press Conference today, as you said, at 3 o'clock. So we're hoping to get an update there. As quickly as they turned the page and played that game yesterday, let's do that here. That's about as big of a win in a must-win. I mean, if you have any thoughts Thought of winning the division, the Detroit Lions had to win that game yesterday. Yeah, you lose your three back with the tiebreaker in the Vikings' pocket with nine games to go. You're pretty much cooked at that point, but all of a sudden won back. And in the second half, they did things to that Brian Flores defense that no other team has done this year. And look, the Vikings were all over them in the first half. They were harassing Jared Goff. They were mostly smothering Gibbs and Vaki, who was pretty good, by the way, yesterday. But in the second half, Did the tables turn? The Vikings blitzed more than they have all season yesterday and had their lowest rate of pressure on the quarterback and also yielded the most number of explosive runs they have all season, which speaks to Drew Petzin. Scheming up the offense in the second half, the offensive line dialing in, tight ends blocking, and Jared Goff blocking as we see here flying down the field. He picked off Metellus a couple times. So the second half was a great tribute to the offense, both flexing its muscles and showing its brain power. 230 yards rushing, and I felt like for Gibbs, it was so important to have Vaki play well. Sione Vaki. Came out of nowhere and gave this rushing offense a huge boost. Especially early when there weren't many rushing lanes. Felt like Vaki was finding some hard yards, bouncing off tacklers. And that can really inspire an offensive line when you've got a back who is making... Runs look better than they were blocked by bouncing off tackles, by finishing runs. That does lift the guys around you. And then he was really good picking up blitzes all day, too. And that's a must against that Brian Flores defense. I've got about 30 seconds left. Brad Holmes, Lions general manager. Look, you lost Jack Campbell, potentially, for a while. Brian Branch, DJ Wanam. These guys are out. You don't wait to trade. At the trade deadline, do you? I mean, don't you have to go out and get some help now? Definitely, yeah. I mean, I still think a corner is essential to play opposite D.J. Reed, who has played really well now for three games. He's looked like the cornerback one they're paying him to be, but there are still holes in the secondary. It doesn't sound like Branch or Wanam will be out for a while, but I'm with you. Even when they're back on the field, they need more difference makers in the secondary. It is on Brad Holmes to go find one. Will Birchfield, Lions Game Day Live, 97.1 The Ticket. We could do this all day, maybe in the coming weeks we just might, but that's it for now.