When head coach Dan Campbell was coaching in New Orleans, he got to see Carolina's five-time All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly up close and personal twice a year.
Kuechly was one of the best MIKE linebackers in the NFL from 2012-2019 with at least 100 tackles in each of his eight career seasons. Asked Wednesday who Lions MIKE linebacker Jack Campbell reminds him of, Campbell quickly referenced Kuechly.
"Just being at New Orleans, as a coach for that period of time and watching Kuechly out there. Now Kuechly, for a linebacker, had rare speed. But as far as all the other stuff, there's a lot of similarities," Campbell said.
"Freaking smart, he knows what's coming before it's there, high energy, never gets tired. Freaking runs all the way down the field, runs back to the huddle, gets everybody lined up. He's constantly barking out communication, going after the football. You may get him once. You're not going to get him twice. So, there's those things that show up. They show up."
Campbell is coming off a 12-tackle performance in Detroit's win over Dallas last week where he also chipped in a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble and quarterback hit. He now has 129 tackles, 5.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles on the year, becoming just the second player in franchise history to produce a season with at least 120 tackles and 5.0 sacks (Chris Spielman - 1989).
Campbell has started every game for the Lions this season and leads the team in snaps played with 842 but also has 73 special teams reps playing on kick coverage.
Campbell is in the middle of everything that happens defensively for the Lions and he could be headed to his first Pro Bowl in his third season as he leads the fan vote among inside linebackers.
"Well, I mean, I don't know if you can put it into words. He's extremely valuable," Campbell said. "He doesn't come off the field, he's our bell-cow, green-dot. And the guy is smart and he's instinctive and he is snap-to-whistle all-out, all the time, in practice too. And he doesn't take plays off, he doesn't take days off, he goes after the football, he's a ball guy. So, he's invaluable."
MAHOGANY BACK AT PRACTICE
The Detroit Lions are inching closer to getting some reinforcements back along their offensive line.
Second-year starting left guard Christian Mahogany, who suffered a leg injury Week 9 against Minnesota and has been on injured reserve, returned to practice Wednesday as the team began his 21-day return-to-play clock.
At any point during that 21-day process, the Lions can activate him. While that seems unlikely to happen for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams, it's good news Detroit could be getting a starter back upfront for the final stretch run the last few weeks of the season.
The Lions have been using a combination of Kayode Awosika, Trystan Colon and rookie Miles Frazier, who worked himself into 26 reps at left guard in his NFL debut last week. Awosika missed last week's game with a foot injury but was back at practice Wednesday.
Mahogany was playing well for Detroit's top-ranked scoring offense and No. 5 rushing attack before the injury, allowing two sacks and four total quarterback hits in eight starts.
"I told him he's still a rookie because he played two games (last year) because he came back so late. But he was doing good," Lions run game coordinator and offensive line coach Hank Fraley said of Mahogany's play prior to the injury. "He was playing physical and fast. A lot of stuff we just needed to clean up because it was really his first year as a full-time starter.
"He brings a physicality to the table and stuff like that but the more you learn from your mistakes and turn them into positives and I'm excited to get him back on the field and see where he's at. We're all excited to get him back."
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Al-Quadin Muhammad is coming off a career performance in the win over Dallas last week and has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week because of it.
Muhammad played 46 percent of the defensive snaps and registered four quarterback hits, three total tackles, 3.0 sacks and three tackles for loss. The 3.0 sacks give Muhammad 9.0 on the season, the most on the team through 13 games with Aidan Hutchinson second at 8.5.
"We felt like getting him on the edge opposite of Hutch on some stuff," Campbell said of Muhammad's increased reps against the Cowboys. "He had some early production too, so you're just going to keep going back to the well there. But he did a great job.
"I mean he does anything you ask him to do, and he cares about it, and he works at it and whatever you need, he'll do. So, proud of him. He helped us win that game the other day."
Muhammad and Hutchinson are the first duo in franchise history to each produce at least 16 quarterback hits and 8.0 sacks in the same season.
EXTRA POINTS
- Linebacker Alex Anzalone and left tackle Taylor Decker did not participate in the portion of practice open to the media Wednesday, but safety Kerby Joseph, safety Thomas Harper, wide receiver Kalif Raymond, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, tight end Shane Zylstra and Awosika did take part.
- Safety Brian Branch had successful Achilles surgery, according to Dan Campbell, with a prognosis of 8-to-12 months of recovery time post-surgery.
