24 July 2023 , 16:46
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Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff believes there is fresh “hype” around the team created by head coach Dan Campbell.
The Lions are going into the new campaign on the back of a steady return in the 2022 NFL regular season. The NFC North franchise finished 9-8 and second in their division, ahead of rivals the Green Bay Packers. Despite winning the last two games of the season, the Lions could not reach the play-offs. But Goff feels that there is renewed optimism within the rosters going into the 2023 regular season.
Campbell has been the Lions head coach since 2021 and is preparing for his third season with the franchise. During his playing days, the former tight end played for three years in Detroit before retiring in 2009. The Lions head coach recently referred to the recent “hype train” around the team this off-season, and stated that the roster must remain focused in their preparations for the new season,
"I think as always, the thing that's gonna worry you is the hype train," Campbell told . "I mean, as with most coaches, this thing is just taking off and it's out of control right now and that's fine, as long as we stay focused on the job at hand and the work. “I just keep going back to that. We've got to put the work in and earn it."
Goff was asked about the comments made by Campbell, and explained how the head coach is good at making sure the players maintain the right perspective. “Yeah, he’s the greatest at it,” Goff said, when talking to reporters in a press conference. “Just keeping us where we need to be and the so-called ‘hype train’ is — I don’t know, I think it’s funny to me that like you go 9-8, you don’t make the playoffs and now you’re all of a sudden a favourite.
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Jared Goff is the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)“Of course, we’ve got good players, we’ve got good coaches, we’ve got a good team. But we haven’t done anything and we have a lot of work to do. “Minnesota won 13 games last year, Green Bay has won the division a handful of times the last handful of years, so we’ve got some work to do to put a stamp on who we want to be, and are nowhere near that yet. But we’re on our way.”
The Lions have a busy pre-season schedule ahead going into the new campaign. Friendly matches dominate August with the New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers their opponents. That will all be the build-up to the Week One opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on September 7. The Thursday Night Football will be the very first game of the 2023 regular season, and sees the Lions take on the reigning Super Bowl champions.