Dan Campbell can sense the criticism, even if he doesn't see it or hear it. He knows he's under increasing fire for the Lions' 0-10-1 start, especially for his role in the team's last-second loss on Thanksgiving. Campbell said Monday he does his best to avoid the outside chatter "because I think it will sway you one way or another if you're not careful, and neither one of them is good."
"That being said, I get plenty of the texts and the calls, ‘Hey man, hang in there.’ So the more I get, the more I know there is chatter," Campbell said with a smile. "Otherwise, I wouldn’t be getting all of these calls out of the blue. I know that."
He also knows that it's fair, that it comes with the territory of being the head coach of a winless NFL team. The only way to stop it is to stop losing.
"As far as being warranted, when you don’t win a game, I should be getting criticized," Campbell said. "I don’t blame anybody for that. That’s the reality of it right now. I would love to be able to say something that’s going to make everybody feel better, but it’s about winning and we haven’t done that yet.”
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Campbell and his coaching staff let their players down on Thanksgiving. Questionable strategy and general disorder allowed the Bears to possess the ball for the final 8:30 of play, ending with a chip-shot field goal to seal the Lions' fate.
Meanwhile, Detroit's offense scored 16 points or fewer for the third game in a row since Campbell took over play-calling from Anthony Lynn. Only the Texans and Jaguars have averaged fewer points per game this season than the Lions.
With December looming, Detroit is running out of chances to avoid setting another ugly NFL precedent as the first winless team in a 17-game season. Campbell said his message to his team is that "we're playing spoiler now."
"We’re trying to ruin peoples’ day, is what we’re trying to do," he said. "Now it’s all about, how do we make these last six opponents have to deal with what we’ve dealt with for the season? That’s the message.”