The Detroit Lions have adopted a new motto for the 2024 season to ensure they don’t take a step back.
Ever since the minutes following their devastating loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell has been preaching that the team’s climb back to a Super Bowl run will only get harder from here. His postgame quote about how the Lions may never be back—albeit somewhat misinterpreted—was a strong statement to the team that they can’t grow complacent now.
That message is clearly continuing throughout the entire offseason, as tight end Brock Wright revealed a mantra the Lions are adopting for 2024.
“We’ve kinda been talking, the motto next year is ‘it takes more,’” Wright said. “So, I think everybody will have to step up their game.”
It takes more.
It’s a simple, yet strong statement—the two hallmarks of a classic Dan Campbellism.
Wright went on the explain the statement.
“I think it’s everything. It’s a holistic approach,” Wright said. “Starts at the top with Brad (Holmes) and Dan all the way down. Coming here, starting OTAs, it takes more to prepare, and then getting into training camp and the season. Just got to go above and beyond in every aspect, knowing that we got so close last year, but there’s even more that we’ve got to do if we want to win it all this year.”
Part of the team’s motivation appears to be proving to the public that they weren’t just a fluke or flash in the pan last year. Holmes has already talked about how he didn’t like being characterized as a “Cinderella story” last season, as he believed they truly belonged—and will continue to belong. Left tackle Taylor Decker had a similar sentiment during his media session on Tuesday.
“We showed throughout the season last year and in that game that we belong in that position. It’s not a fluke,” Decker said. “But (the 49ers) made more plays than us, so they were the better team that day, which was, like I said, a disappointment for us. But I don’t think that’s gonna change our mindset or how we feel about ourselves, that we came up short. I think we’re just gonna keep moving forward and like I said, we have bigger goals ahead of us.”
The Lions believe that the thing that got them as far as they went last year was the hard work and determination that has embodied their current culture of grit. So while, yes, it’s going to take more this year, another focus of the team is to just maintain the dedication to work that got them here.
“Obviously, the expectations and our standards will rise and the outside expectations will rise, but internally, we’re going to be doing the same things we’ve been doing,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “Try to raise our internal expectations and standards.”
The Lions begin that process of putting words to action this week as Detroit opened offseason activities. Though now, in Phase One, they are only allowed to work on conditioning, rehab and meetings. Still, it was clear the gang was excited to get it going.
“It’s good to just get back and the amount of guys that we have back, I think it speaks to the kind of mindset of the entire team, how we have a goal,” Decker said. “We want to reach it and we’re all gonna be here and we’re gonna work together, get better and just kind of get this thing rolling.”
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