The Detroit Lions roster was reeling following the stunning loss to the Washington Commanders.
Wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown texted head coach Dan Campbell at 4 a.m. following the Lions 45-31 loss in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
"I got a text from (Lions WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown at four o'clock in the morning yesterday," said Campbell at his season-ending media session. "So, I know the guys it eats away at, and they’re the right guys, they’re our guys for a reason. And that’s what will always give me hope and let me know we’re only going to be better. We’re going to come back stronger, we’re going to learn from this, and it’s just more fuel on the fire is what it is.”
Detroit's fourth-year head coach admitted the team fell short of their goals, as they were among a few seriously considered as Super Bowl contenders.
"I just go back to this, when you have the right guys and you’re made the right way, failure only makes you stronger. You only come back better, I believe that, and unfortunately I’ve had a ton of those. But man, I think God, it makes you hungry," said Campbell. "I’ll tell you the hard thing, is when you – I think when you have success on a certain level and trying to reload and do it again. That’s why I think what New England did for years and Bill Belichick, that’s unbelievable. that is unbelievable. But with where we’re at, we had these goals, we fell short."
Falling short also eats at Detroit's head man, who indicated he would use the stinging loss as motivation for next season.
"Man, we met two of those goals this year and, in a sense, went above and beyond what we were a year ago, but yet we didn’t get any further, and man, that’s disappointing," said Campbell. "But also, it eats at me, that drives me, that motivates me."
