Dan Campbell has a soft spot for his players, a former player himself. He respects the cost of success in the NFL, the struggle and strain to survive. But there are certain players who really resonate with the Lions head coach, like the first player Detroit drafted after Campbell and Brad Holmes walked into the building.
"Look, I can’t say enough great things about Sewell," Campbell said Friday.
Entering year three with the Lions, Penei Sewell is on the move. He's growing quickly into a team leader, a tone-setter and one of the best right tackles in the NFL, all at the age of 22. When Sewell followed Campbell and Holmes to Detroit after they drafted him seventh overall, he knew from the moment he arrived in Allen Park that "I’ve got to bring myself into this building knowing that I’m something different and believing that God blessed me with different gifts than anybody else," he said.
"There’s a reason why he was the first pick we had two years ago, because we wanted to build around a guy like him. He’s our foundation," said Campbell. "He’s one of those pillars that we talk about."
Sewell, a pillar-sized man, embodies everything Campbell and Holmes see in their team. He's as tough as he is talented, as gritty as he is gifted, a fearless football player who's driven only to win. He snarls on the field, like when he got in the face of Aaron Donald as a rookie. He sticks up for his teammates. He stalks the sidelines when the offense is between drives, burning to get back in the game.
"Whatever you hear Coach Campbell say we are as a team, that’s exactly it, I’m out here trying to put that on display and be an example for the boys," Sewell said Friday.
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In 625 pass-blocking opportunities last season, Sewell allowed two sacks and six quarterback hits. Think he's got a friend in Jared Goff? He's about to have two more in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Sewell is even better as a run-blocker, a road-grader rolling downhill. Not that he's satisfied; not that he's ever satisfied. Sewell wants to be such a master of his craft that he never slips up, so sharp on the details that he smooths out every edge of his game.
"Everyone knows the great ones in this league do it every play, every day, every Sunday," he said. "To be one of those, I’ve got to come in and work with a purpose to lock in those techniques.”
This is the ambition that Campbell admires. Sewell is a lot like another pillar of the Lions' first draft class, Amon-Ra St. Brown, in that they're always striving for more. Both went to their first Pro Bowl last season and have returned like they're fighting for jobs. They're perfect models for a team that's making headlines and hasn't accomplished a thing. Campbell would tell you the Lions were good last season, not great. Sewell, no doubt, would tell you the same of himself.
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"He is something else," said Campbell. "I feel like we’re a team on a mission, but he is a man on a mission. You talk about being wired right, a guy that comes in every day and puts in the work. He’s got so much ability, but he’s got the right attitude, too, and I think that’s what makes him dangerous if you’re the opponent. If he loses, it bothers him, bad. And that’s what you want. You want a guy who believes that there’s no way he should lose any rep, no matter who he’s playing."
He doesn't lose often, of course. As he was getting his wrist taped between snaps at practice Friday morning, Sewell stared into the distance like he was picturing the next defensive lineman he planned to uproot. Then, as Detroit's first-team offense waited its turn, Sewell stood behind the action with Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow and Jonah Jackson, four hulking humans reflecting the soul of this team. The Lions don't just want to beat you this season. They want to bully you.
"I set high goals and have high expectations for myself," said Sewell. "But you gotta put that behind you, because there’s a bigger preference than myself, which is the team.”
And what are those goals?
"I want it all, man," said Sewell. "Nothing less. That’s it, simple as that. I don’t want to give you guys specifics, that’s between me and the man in the mirror. I want it all."
Through two years, Sewell has given the Lions all he's got. Scary thing is, he still has more.
"He’s lean, he’s mean and I’m glad he’s ours," said Campbell.
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