Going through his second offseason as the Lions’ starting quarterback, Jared Goff has drawn praise from head coach Dan Campbell.
Jared Goff had a mixed bag first season with the Detroit Lions. Somewhere between his nice closing stretch, with a 107.1 passer rating over his final five starts, and a five-game stretch where he threw just one total touchdown pass, is the quarterback he is.
The Lions made no effort to unseat Goff as their starting quarterback this offseason, from retaining both Tim Boyle and David Blough as his experienced backups to not drafting a quarterback or even signing one as an undrafted free agent.
So it’s ride-or-die with Goff in 2022 for the Lions, with the situation to be re-evaluated after the season. To that end, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has made it a priority to line Goff up for a good season.
Dan Campbell is in a must-lie position if he doesn’t truly believe in Goff. But on the first day of mandatory minicamp Tuesday, the Lions head coach praised the work his starting quarterback has done so far this offseason.
Dan Campbell cites Jared Goff work and improvement this spring
Via SI.com:
"I have no red flags with him,” Campbell said. “He looks good out there. He’s got a good grasp of our offense and what we’re doing. He’s commanding the huddle, he’s throwing the ball well. That’s one of his strengths, he’s a pretty good passer. I’d say up to this point he’s having a good spring.”I just know physically from this time last year, I feel like his feet and his procedure is quicker than it was,” “Ben and (quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell) are doing a good job pushing him and pushing his fundamentals, just really honing in on that little stuff. Sometimes, you get so enamored and so worried about the scheme and where the ball’s supposed to go that sometimes you forget about the little stuff."
This is heap praise on everyone from any angle if you can season, and Campbell is keeping it up in regard to Goff. But it’s also better that Goff is being praised for the work he’s doing right now, as the alternative would be Campbell really saying nothing of note about him (since it inherently wouldn’t be positive).
Putting in the work during the offseason lays a foundation for success when it matters. Goff certainly knows how crucial a season the coming one is for him, and being in his second season around most of the same coaches as a year ago can only help.