When Ben Johnson departed the Lions in 2025 to become the Bears head coach, the Lions replaced him with John Morton.
Midway through November, head coach Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties. Morton was then dismissed after the season ended.
The club took a different approach to revamping its offense in the 2026 offseason, hiring Drew Petzing as coordinator. While Morton had previously been with the Lions as a senior offensive assistant under Campbell, Petzing — who served as the Cardinals’ OC from 2023-2025 — did not have those ties to the organization.
On Monday, Campbell said Petzing and quarterback Jared Goff have forged a solid partnership as the beginning of the season approaches.
“I think just their ability to work with each other and I feel like pull the best out of each other, if you will,” Campbell said in his press conference when asked what he’s liked about the connection between the two men. “I think Drew brings clarity in some areas, which is good and that’s always going to help Goff. But, I think at the same time, Goff has these things that he sees, that he likes, that we’re capable of doing with what we have. And he knows he can do it, to where Drew is open to those and we’ve used some of those.
“I think that’s a good thing, man, because I think that’s how you don’t stay stale, man. You continue to grow and with where our quarterback is, playing at a high level to be able to continue to test him and push him but also allow input and allow him to do things that even though it may be a little new, a new wrinkle that he feels comfortable trying, it’s a good thing. And then in regard to something Drew wants, he may not love it, but he’s willing to go and give it a go. I think that expands his own horizon. I just think it’s a good give and take, and I think those guys to this point have worked really well together.”
The Lions will open the season at home against the Saints on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Lions Clips
The Lions have filled one of the openings on their active roster.
They announced that they have signed linebacker Joe Bachie off of their practice squad. Bachie spent the offseason and preseason with the team and signed to the practice squad after failing to make the initial 53-man roster in Detroit.
Bachie opened last season with the Colts and started five games before landing on injured reserve. He moved on to the Titans after being released and played in 10 more games on special teams. He finished the year with 29 tackles and had 48 tackles in 51 games for the Bengals and Eagles earlier in his career.
The Lions still have one open spot on the 53-man roster after waiving center Seth McLaughlin and running back Jabari Small last week. They announced that both those players have been signed to the practice squad on Monday.
The Lions have the highest-paid running back in the NFL, Jahmyr Gibbs, as their starter. Behind him, they have two other running backs on the roster: Sione Vaki, who has seven carries for 18 yards in his NFL career, and Jacob Saylors, who has two carries for 11 yards in his NFL career. That makes depth at running back a major concern.
Or at least it would seem to be, but Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the Lions will be fine playing running-back-by-committee with Saylors and Vaki if needed.
“It’s by committee,” Campbell said. “I see Vaki getting some reps too. I don’t see it like Saylors is running back 2. Saylors brings special teams value and there’s things he’s been able to do. We’ve seen more of him than Vaki in games, preseason games, but Vaki had some pretty good reps in practice, and we know Vaki is a very valuable special teams player, too. But we feel like Vaki is ready to take some of this on as a runner and pass protector and receiver. So we feel good with either one of those guys in there when Jah needs a breather.”
After trading David Montgomery to Houston, the Lions expect to give Gibbs a bigger workload than he’s ever had before. But Gibbs won’t be on the field for every play, and Vaki and Saylors also will get a heavier workload.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell was briefly Drew Brees’ teammate in New Orleans, and was on the Saints’ coaching staff for the last five seasons of Brees’ career. And Campbell says that in Detroit today, he sees a quarterback who reminds him of Brees.
Some might say Jared Goff hasn’t earned the comparison to Brees, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot this year. Campbell says Goff absolutely has.
“I mean, he is massively underrated,” Campbell said of Goff, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “This is a quarterback that plays the quarterback position—he knows how to play quarterback. When you gotta have it, [he] can stand in the pocket, make an accurate throw, an accurate read, and that’s what the quarterback position is. And he’s a rare breed of man.”
Campbell said Goff can read defenses as well as any quarterback.
“His processing speed reminds me of Brees. He sees it, he sees it. And every year it’s gotten faster and faster. And then watch him under duress. Nobody makes a more accurate throw under duress than Jared Goff,” Campbell said.
Campbell and Goff are heading into their sixth season together in Detroit, and although they’ve already turned the franchise around, Campbell believes Goff’s best football is still ahead of him.
The Lions cut ended the Terrion Arnold experiment five days after he was arrested on eight felony charges arising from an armed robbery and kidnapping in Florida.
On Wednesday, the man who picked Arnold in the first round of the 2025 draft addressed the decision to sever ties with Arnold.
“I mean, look, the whole situation obviously was unfortunate,” Holmes said, via Colton Pouncy of The Athletic. “You know, the kid made a mistake. The more information we got throughout the process, that was the result of us doing what the best and right thing was for the club, which was to move forward. We appreciate everything that he did. . . .”
Holmes’s use of the word “mistake” stands out. Is Holmes saying he believes Arnold did it? Or was the mistake simply putting himself in a position that resulted in charges being brought, regardless of whether they stick?
The Lions still haven’t answered the ultimate question of why they released him. Was it simply due to the arrest? Did they conclude he hadn’t told them the truth about the situation when it first came to light that he possibly was involved? If he’d been a Pro Bowler in 2024 and 2025, would they have circled the wagons and hidden behind catch phrases like “innocent until proven guilty”?
Holmes also has been criticized for not having a better plan at the cornerback position, via free agency and the draft, to replace Arnold. Rock Ya-Sin and D.J. Reed are the starters at the position.
“We like the guys we have, we like what we’ve done, we feel good about what’s in the room right now,” Holmes said.
Either way, the Lions moved on. Even if they hadn’t cut him, Arnold wouldn’t be available; he’s on paid leave. If/when he’s cleared to return, he’ll be playing for the Seahawks.
Alphonso Smith Jr., a former NFL cornerback and the 37th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has died. He was 40.
Via TMZ, Smith died by suicide at a Florida housing community on Wednesday.
Before his passing, Smith posted a troubling message on Facebook that made his struggles clear.
Drafted by Denver, Smith was traded to the Lions in 2010. He played through 2012, appearing in 42 regular-season games with 11 starts.
Smith spent four years at Wake Forest. He was a consensus All-American in 2008. He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
We extend our condolences to Smith’s family, friends, teammates, and coaches.
Brian Branch, Jack Campbell, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta are the four remaining members of the Lions’ 2023 draft class still in Detroit. General Manager Brad Holmes has made clear his desire to keep them “around for a long time.”
Campbell has signed a four-year, $81 million extension, and Gibbs signed a three-year, $67.5 million extension.
The Lions continue to work on deals for LaPorta and Branch.
“We still want to keep those guys around; those plans haven’t changed,” Holmes said Wednesday, via Richard Silva of The Detroit News. “There’s a couple factors that we’ve still got to sort through. But in terms of us wanting those guys around? Absolutely. Hopefully, we can get that done.”
Branch (Achilles) and LaPorta (back) had their 2025 seasons cut short by injury. The defensive back will miss at least the first four games on the reserve/PUP list, while the tight end was fully cleared before training camp.
Since taking over in 2021, Holmes has signed nine of his draft picks to multi-year extensions. The Lions have committed more than $1 billion in total contract value for extensions for Jared Goff, Campbell, Gibbs, Derrick Barnes, Kerby Joseph, Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
The Lions created a pair of openings on their 53-man roster on Wednesday.
They announced that they have waived running back Jabari Small and center Seth McLaughlin.
Small’s departure comes after Isiah Pacheco was placed on injured reserve and leaves the team with Jahmyr Gibbs, Jacob Saylors, and Sione Vaki at running back. Small signed with the Titans after going undrafted in 2024 and spent time on Detroit’s practice squad last year, but has never appeared in a regular season game.
McLaughlin was behind Juice Scruggs on the team’s offensive line depth chart. He spent last season on the Bengals’ practice squad.
The Lions could look to bolster their receiving corps with one of the open spots. They currently have four players at that position.
Former NFL assistant coach Kippy Brown died this week, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle reports. Brown was 71.
Brown spent 22 seasons as an NFL assistant, coaching for seven different teams. His final job was the wide receivers coach with the Seahawks on Pete Carroll’s staff from 2010-14. The Seahawks’ win in Super Bowl XLVIII gave Brown his only Super Bowl ring.
Brown was Jimmy Johnson’s offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Dolphins and served as the Lions’ associate head coach under Rod Marinelli during Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. He interviewed for the Texans’ head coaching job in 2006 after Dom Capers was fired, but Houston hired Gary Kubiak instead.
Brown coached Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson in his four seasons in Houston.
In addition to the Dolphins, Seahawks, Lions and Texans, Brown also coached with the Bucs, Jets and Packers.
Brown was head coach of the Memphis Maniax in the short-lived XFL in 2001.
As a player, Brown became the first Black quarterback to play at Memphis during his time there from 1974-77.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said last week that he couldn’t say anything “definitive” about running back Isiah Pacheco’s status for Week 1, but the picture cleared up on Tuesday.
The Lions announced that Pacheco has been placed on injured reserve. Pacheco dealt with a sprained MCL earlier this summer, but Campbell indicated a back injury is the greater concern at the moment.
No matter the main ailment, Pacheco will miss at least four games as a result of Tuesday’s move. Jacob Saylors is now in line to be the No. 2 back behind Jahmyr Gibbs for the first month of the season.
The Lions filled the open roster spot by signing tight end Tyler Conklin. Conklin was released on Sunday.
Guard Elijah Klein and wide receiver Dominic Lovett joined the practice squad in other moves.
