What's with the Detroit Lions' inability to stay healthy these past two seasons? Is it the turf that was installed prior to the 2023 season? Is it general manager Brad Holmes' tendency to bring in guys with an injury history? Is it a nearby electrical substation? Is it just bad luck?
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner has a theory, and he suggests a change that Lions head coach Dan Campbell should strongly consider making.
In his appearance on the St. Brown Bros. podcast, starting from the 22-minute point, the injury conversation turns to physicality at camp. Warner suggests that Campbell's tough and physical practices and camps are the reason Lions players have trouble staying on the field.
Lions wide receiver and show co-host Amon-Ra St. Brown asked Warner if the 49ers "go full tackle" at camp, to which Warner responded, "No, no, we'd never do that."
"See, at some point old Dan (Campbell) going to come to his senses, man, and be like, 'Listen, this ain't making nobody better, brother. All right. We could still get our work in without bringing guys to the ground.'"
St. Brown laughed and referenced how new players will come to the Lions and ask him, "Y'all practice like this all the time?" Warner says that he gets "the mindset" that Campbell is "trying to instill in" his players, but Warner argues that it's okay to practice the phases of tackling without completing it and bringing that player to the ground.
"Half the time, guys are just in desperation trying to get somebody on the ground where you’re putting yourself and the person who you’re tackling at risk, right? That’s not even; that's improper tackling technique, but if you’re doing it correctly, you can be in a position where you can tackle and be like, ‘Okay, I ain’t bringing you all the way to the ground.’"
St. Brown responded with, "Yeah, that's facts" before changing the subject and asking Warner about his takeaways from the 49ers season.
Lions need to find solutions for their injury problems
Warner certainly has a point, even if he's not the best person to be making it.
The four-time First-Team All-Pro LB was one of a long list of injuries the 49ers suffered in their 2025 season, fracturing and dislocating his right ankle in October. He said on the St. Brown Podcast that he intended to return for the NFC Championship game had the 49ers made it, but they were ultimately blown out in the Divisional round by the Seattle Seahawks 41-6.
However, despite being one of the few teams more banged up than the Lions were this past season, the 49ers did still make the Divisional round. Both Holmes and Campbell can learn a lot from how the 49ers approached last season from a roster-building and coaching standpoint.
Dialing back the physicality at practice isn't a bad suggestion. The Lions are molded in the image of their tough "knee-cap biting" head coach.
That also increases the wear and tear on players. The schedule says the Lions played 17 games. However, physically, they may have three or more extra games' worth of wear compared to many of their opponents due to their added efforts during training camp and in-season practices.
READ MORE: Dan Campbell may have had Mike Kafka on his mind weeks before hiring him
Over the course of the season, that wear and tear becomes more difficult to manage and can negatively impact situations that could be advantageous, such as having more rest days than an opponent. The Lions finished with a 3-5 record in those games in 2025, continuing their trend from the 2024-25 playoffs, where they had a disastrous performance coming off a bye week.
The Lions' star players aren't getting any younger, and many of them have suffered noteworthy injuries themselves, like safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. Being too physical at practice and training camp likely doesn't mesh well with that roster-building tendency of bringing in cheap, high-injury-risk, high-reward guys like defensive end Marcus Davenport.
Five years into his time in Detroit, Campbell still has much to prove in the Lions' pursuit of a Super Bowl. After two seasons that were plagued by injuries, adjustments need to be made one way or another. If dialing back on physicality outside of games increases the odds of a relatively healthy Lions team entering the playoffs for once, it's a chance Campbell must take without hesitation.