Initial Campbell updates vague
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DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions are having trouble celebrating their win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Sunday’s 19-15 decision was a key division victory against the league’s last undefeated team, but the Lions played an enormous price.
The biggest loss was linebacker Jack Campbell, who remains hospitalized after a neck injury that left him face-down and motionless for about 10 minutes as players from both teams and 60,000 fans watched in silence at Ford Field.
The Lions have been careful in releasing updates on his condition, saying only that the Cedar Falls native and former Iowa All-American is still resting and recovering in the hospital, but coach Dan Campbell on Monday said the news was “positive.”
“The prayers are working, so we ask people to keep doing that,” said Dan Campbell, who was one of many coaches and players to visit Jack Campbell after Sunday’s game. “I got to see his parents and talk to his wife, and everyone is in good spirits.”
While Campbell’s injury received most of the attention on Monday, it wasn’t the only one sustained by the Detroit defense.
Linebacker Jimmy Rolder will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury. Rolder was also hurt on the Campbell play, which came while tackling former Hawkeye All-American tight end T.J. Hockenson of Minnesota.
Cornerback D.J. Reed is expected to miss practice on Wednesday with a hip injury. In another scary moment, safety Brian Branch and defensive lineman D.J. Wonnum had a high-speed collision that put both players into the concussion protocol.
That’s five key defenders battling injuries on a unit that has struggled badly at times this season.
“This is difficult, because we are all thinking about Jack,” Dan Campbell said. “It puts a lot of things in perspective for you, but with the world we live in, we still have to snap right back in and get ready for our next opponent. That’s not an easy thing to do.”
Four games into the season, the Lions were 2-2 and allowing 31.8 points per game. They were lucky to even be at .500, since the New Orleans Saints missed a field goal that would have won the game at the end of regulation and a 2-point conversion that would have won it in overtime.
Over the last three games, though, Detroit has gone 3-0 while allowing 17.7 points per game. The Lions trailed in the last two weeks against the Green Bay Packers and Vikings, but ended up with low-scoring wins.
What needs help
It probably isn’t a significant concern, especially given Minnesota’s top-tier defense, but Jared Goff had a rare tough day. He finished with season lows in completions (18) and yards (176), was intercepted for the first time this season, and took four sacks. Fortunately for Goff, the Lions eventually wore down Minnesota’s run defense, finishing with 232 yards, and the QB threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Jameson Williams in the fourth quarter.
Sione Vaki came into 2026 as a career special-teams ace who had only carried the ball seven times in his first two seasons, including just one in 2025. However, the offseason trade of former Iowa State Cyclone David Montgomery and the training-camp injury of Isiah Pacheco have left Vaki as Detroit’s No. 2 running back behind Jahmyr Gibbs.
He didn’t do much in the first six games of the season, but he picked up 65 yards on 11 carries against the Vikings, including some key gains as Detroit drove for the decisive touchdown.