Jack Campbell isn't changing the way he plays, and his defensive coordinator doesn't want him to. Campbell's penchant for punching at the football to force fumbles was spotlighted by the NFL on Friday in its weekly officiating video on points of clarification.
"They just sent out a memo and the tape of the way that Jack is doing it," said Kelvin Sheppard. "It’s violent, it’s aggressive and it’s the way we play. We won’t make excuses. I hope it continues to show up and I hope it upticks as we progress in the season."
Sheppard, a former linebacker himself, said the message from the NFL was "to make sure you’re punching the ball and not the player -- whatever that means."
Back in camp, Sheppard called for his defense to hunt the ball this season like "a pack of wild dogs." The Lions have so far forced seven fumbles, one off the NFL lead. Two of them have come from Campbell, the first on a strip-sack of Lamar Jackson, the second on a punch-out of Bengals running back Chase Brown.
So Campbell didn't make much of the memo from the league. The ball is too valuable to stop trying to steal it.
"I don’t know how many people have played in an NFL game, but when you’re going full speed and you’re trying to get the ball out, punch-outs are hard to come by. So I don’t really care," he said. "I’m gonna keep punching. And if I miss it, 'F' it. Screw it."
As Campbell understands, the NFL intends to start calling personal fouls on punch-outs that miss the football and serve as body blows, "so I’ll probably have 150 personal fouls by the end of the year, so that’ll be fun," he cracked.
The Lions' leading tackler by a wide margin, Campbell said the NFL's report didn't highlight any specific play or technique of his: "They just got mad at me for punching somebody. But, I mean, they got pads on. If anything, it hurt my hand more than the other guy."
Campbell picks his spots with his punches. He doesn't bother if he's one-on-one with a ball-carrier in the open field because "the chances of that are not very good."
"It’s more like when you’re the second guy in or the guy’s on the ground getting up, it’s a great chance to get a punch-out because if the guy catches the ball, falls on the ground and gets back up, he’s pretty loose with the ball usually," Campbell said.
The punch-out technique is growing increasingly common around the league. Lions defensive back Amik Robertson is an expert. After Aidan Hutchinson forced his first fumble this season with a punch-out on Derrick Henry in the Lions win' over the Ravens, he credited Robertson for showing him how it's done. Robertson had two punch-outs in one game last year. Hutchinson has forced an NFL-high four fumbles this year.
Campbell credits the Lions' coaching staff for placing an emphasis on the punch-out, which goes back to Sheppard's predecessor Aaron Glenn. He said -- "with all due respect to Iowa" -- that he's "hunting the ball more than I ever have been." The NFL might not like how it looks. Campbell and the Lions don't particularly care.
"It’s a way to get a turnover," Campbell said. "But to each their own. The NFL’s — changing."